Attenkirchen brings together the Hallertau Beer Festival and architectural history around St. John the Baptist. The festival shapes the town center, while the Hallertau Hills Circular Route passes the parish church and a historic rectory. Together, they offer a distinctive event and several historical building periods.

Hallertau Beer Festival in the Town Center

Since 2010, the three-day Hallertau Beer Festival has transformed the entire town center of Attenkirchen into one large beer garden with a music stage and several beer-serving stations. The festival is considered the largest beer tasting event, with the widest variety of beers, in all of southern Germany. The 2026 edition will be held for the eighth time. The format may vary from one edition to another. If you are planning a trip specifically for the festival, check the details for the relevant edition before making your plans.

Parish Church and Historic Stops Along the Route

The partly Baroque parish church of St. John the Baptist dates from 1763 to 1768; its tower was built in 1848. The high altar dates from 1765. The church was rebuilt in the rural Baroque style, but financial difficulties meant that reconstruction progressed only slowly. The dates refer to different parts and building phases: the church, the high altar, and the later-built tower.

The Hallertau Hills Circular Route also passes the historic rectory at Hauptstraße 2. The building dates from 1762 and stands on the site of the former Hofmark castle. The route thus takes in two neighboring historic landmarks, whose dates are easy to distinguish: the rectory from 1762 and the church’s construction period from 1763 to 1768. For anyone interested in local history, this sequence offers a close look at different buildings and when they were built.

Freising: Culture and Landscape in the Wider Destination

Within the wider destination of Freising, the Amper Valley is a distinct focus for nature and landscape. The valley in the district of Freising is designated a protected landscape area and is home to numerous animal and plant species that are especially worthy of protection. These include four of the 16 dragonfly species in Bavaria that are threatened with extinction. The Amper Valley is also used as a local recreation area for hiking and cycling.

Freising itself offers an urban introduction to history and architecture: its historic old town features burghers’ and cathedral canons’ houses dating from the Gothic to the Baroque period, clustered around Marienplatz. A Marian column dating from 1674 also stands there. In Freising Cathedral, the crypt and the Beast Column are among its notable architectural features. The Freising City Museum presents around 350 selected objects and groups of objects relating to the city’s history. These three themes offer different perspectives: the old townscape, church architecture, and historical collections.

Contemporary art is also part of the wider destination of Freising. Schafhof is a center for contemporary art in Upper Bavaria and exhibits work by international and local artists throughout the year. Its annual events include the Johannismarkt and a Christmas market, where selected artisans present high-quality one-of-a-kind pieces. The Weihenstephan Art Trail passes almost 30 contemporary artworks across the campus. Each of its two circular routes takes a little over an hour. For a different kind of walk, the approximately two-kilometer forest experience trail in the Freising Forest features information boards, information, and activities at 23 stations.

Discover more destinations: Mauern, Zolling, Hallbergmoos, Freising, Au In Der Hallertau, Rudelzhausen, Moosburg an der Isar, Kranzberg.

Back to the main travel overview: Freising.