Titting: Moated Castle and Fossils

The former moated castle and its history

The former moated castle is in the upper part of the market town of Titting, at the foot of Kreuzberg. Its irregular octagonal layout is surrounded by two-storey wings dating from the 17th and 18th centuries. They enclose the courtyard and give the building a distinctive spatial form. The layout, courtyard and wings make the architecture a subject in its own right alongside the historical dates: you can take in the complex through its shape while also placing it within the town.

The castle is also associated with a long brewing tradition. In 1707, the Prince-Bishop of Eichstätt had a brewery established there; beer has been brewed at the moated castle ever since. This history adds another local connection to the architecture: the castle represents not only a building style from the 17th and 18th centuries, but also a use linked to brewing.

Traces throughout the municipality

The history of the municipality of Titting stretches far back. Grave finds provide evidence of settlement in the Anlauter Valley as early as around 1000 BC. The ruins of Brunneck Castle stand above Altdorf in the Anlauter Valley. The castle was built in the 14th to 15th centuries; only remnants remain today. The early settlement traces and the medieval ruins thus represent different periods in the history of the Anlauter Valley.

Another feature is the traditional building style of the Altmühl Jura region. The municipality of Titting has renovated examples of the Jura house style, with roofs covered in laid slate. These houses complement the castle and fortress with another aspect of regional building culture. In Erkertshofen, people visit the forest chapel each year for the Antonifest. The festival always takes place on the Sunday after 13 June—a fixed date to bear in mind when planning your stay.

Discover fossils for yourself

At the Titting fossil-collecting site, visitors may, with a little luck and patience, find fossilised plants, crinoids and, occasionally, ammonites. Since there is no guarantee of what you might find, patient searching is part of the experience. For families who enjoy discovering and observing things together, the subject offers a different way to explore regional history than looking at buildings or ruins. Smaller finds may be taken home as prehistoric souvenirs.

The fossil-collecting site combines observation with a search of your own: perhaps you will discover plant remains, crinoids or an ammonite. The potential finds vary, but all require luck and patience. If you would like to make the search the focus of a day, it offers an activity in its own right alongside the architecture and routes through the municipality.

Routes through the municipality

The Limes Hiking Trail, the Pilgrims’ Way and the Nuremberg–Eichstätt Way of St James all pass through the municipality of Titting. The three names give you different starting points for planning your own activities. If you would like to include walks in your stay, you can first decide which of these routes interests you most. The trails complement the established cultural and historical themes with an active way to spend time in the municipality.

When choosing a holiday apartment in Titting, you can use your preferred focus as a starting point: should the trip be mainly about architecture and local history, would you like to search for fossils yourself, or do you want to plan some walks? This lets you organise the local attractions around your interests without every outing having to be the same kind of experience. You could also combine them: one day might focus on architectural history, another on fossil hunting or a route.

Discover more destinations

Discover more destinations: Emsing, Pollenfeld, Dollnstein, Altmannstein, Kösching, Denkendorf, Wellheim, Kipfenberg.

Back to the main travel guide: Eichstätt.