Winterbach combines a long history of settlement with a variety of church buildings: local landmarks span several centuries, from the Late Gothic structure in Waldkirch to the neo-Gothic brick building in the main village. The municipality of Winterbach includes the districts of Waldkirch and Rechbergreuthen. Churches, chapels and local history give a trip to Winterbach a clear cultural focus.
Churches and Chapels in Winterbach
The listed Catholic parish church of St. Gordian and Epimachus in Winterbach is a neo-Gothic brick building erected by Ferdinand Schildhauer in 1895–1896. Its distinctive architectural features include a recessed three-sided choir, buttresses and the north tower, with blind-arcade detailing and a pointed spire between triangular gables. The church also has furnishings.
The listed parish and pilgrimage church of Our Lady of Sorrows in Waldkirch has a different design: a hall church with rounded corners, a recessed three-sided end and a southern tower whose tall octagonal upper storey is topped with an onion dome. The choir and lower tower storeys are Late Gothic; the rest of the building is a unified new structure dating from 1745, attributed to Joseph Dossenberger the Younger. This church also has furnishings.
The listed parish church of St. Nicholas in Rechbergreuthen dates from 1681–1682. Its hall church has a three-sided choir and a southern tower with an octagonal upper storey, pilaster-strip detailing and an onion dome. Outside the village, to the north-northwest, stands the Frauenbrunn Spring Chapel: a hall church with a three-sided end and an open, lean-to porch, built in 1838 on older foundations and furnished. The field chapel at Eisingerhof is a small 19th-century rectangular building with a slightly recessed semicircular apse, a roof turret and furnishings. Their construction dates, basic designs and tower styles clearly distinguish the individual religious buildings.
Local History and Settlement Pattern
Around 900, monks from the original monastery of Kempten began clearing land in the upper Glött Valley, in the area where Winterbach and its surrounding fields are spread out. After 912, Benedictine monks built a small wooden church in Winterbach. They dedicated it to the saints of their monastery, St. Gordianus and St. Epimachus. The history of the church’s patronage therefore reaches back to the early history of the village.
The listed historic centre of Rechbergreuthen reflects a different historical period. It is a Central Swabian clearing village from the 14th century, laid out according to plan as a green village. The municipality thus brings together the history of land clearance and church building with Rechbergreuthen’s later settlement pattern—two different ways of exploring local history.
More Things to Explore in the Günzburg Destination
The Günzburg destination also offers individual attractions with different focuses. The Turncable Wakepark in Thannhausen offers wakeboarding and water skiing. Courses are aimed at beginners and advanced participants, as well as individuals and groups. If water sports fit your travel plans, check current course availability in advance.
Maria Vesperbild in the district of Günzburg near Ziemetshausen is considered the largest pilgrimage site in Bavarian Swabia. A Way of the Cross leads from the pilgrimage church to the Fatima Grotto in the nearby forest. The grotto was built in 1957 and restored in 2011; more than 1,000 votive plaques bearing words of thanks and testimonies to help received from the Mother of God stand there. The pilgrimage church, Way of the Cross and grotto form a distinct thematic ensemble.
The Günzburg destination also offers a variety of hiking routes: the DonAuwald Hiking Trail runs for around 60 kilometres between Günzburg and Schwenningen. The DonauHänge is an 18.5-kilometre circular trail through the slope forest between Günzburg and Offingen. Route length and whether a trail is circular or connects two places are useful points of comparison when planning; check current trail conditions separately.
For the wider travel overview: Haldenwang.
