Nassenfels: Roman Stones, Castle and Hiking Trails

Nassenfels combines hiking trails with striking traces of its Roman history. If you want to bring nature and culture together on your holiday, you’ll find a range of options here: trails connect places and landscapes, while inscribed stones and the castle tell the story of this destination’s long history. Which of these themes you focus on can also guide your search for a suitable holiday apartment in Nassenfels.

Hiking trails with a variety of connections

The Altmühltal Nature Park’s Magistrale Route 3 runs between Nassenfels and Möckenlohe and invites you to go for a hike. This gives you a specific route to consider when planning your outing. Another option is the Urdonautalsteig: a spur trail connects Nassenfels and Egweil to the route. Before setting out, check the latest route information to make sure your plans suit the current trail conditions.

The Gleßbrunnen springs lie near Nassenfels, between Nassenfels and Wolkertshofen. The five interconnected spring basins are five to nine metres deep. They can be reached via a field path, and a visit can be combined with the eight-kilometre “Mühlenrunde im Schuttertal” hiking route. This lets you choose between hiking a named route and visiting a natural feature when planning your day. Please observe the protected-area guidelines.

Roman Traces and Nassenfels Castle

Two Roman inscribed stones are built into the wall to the right of the portal of St. Nicholas Parish Church. They point to Nassenfels as the most significant Roman civilian settlement north of the Danube. One of the stones names the Roman settlement “vicus Scuttarensium”. The two inscriptions offer a specific point of reference if you’re interested in the town’s Roman past during your stay.

Nassenfels Water Castle is another historical landmark. A ministerial family serving the Bishops of Eichstätt at the castle is documented from 1189. The castle stands on the southern edge of Nassenfels, is privately owned and can only be viewed from the outside. Plan your visit with this restriction in mind; visiting conditions may change. Cultural days are held at Nassenfels Castle every year. This event information highlights another cultural theme, without changing the fact that the interior cannot be visited.

Choose Your Own Nature and Culture Focus for Your Holiday

For a nature-focused stay, the Gleßbrunnen springs and hiking trails offer different ways to plan your day. At the springs, the focus is on the five interconnected, deep spring basins and their location between two places; the Mühlenrunde adds an eight-kilometre route as a specific planning option. If you’d rather explore historical details, you can focus on the Roman inscriptions at the parish church and the history of the water castle. You can give these themes different levels of emphasis during your trip; no particular itinerary is prescribed.

Eichstätt itself offers another distinct cultural highlight. The Jura Museum Eichstätt devotes its exhibition primarily to the fossils of the Solnhofen Plattenkalk and displays the original Eichstätt specimen of Archaeopteryx. The Willibaldsburg was built in 1355 by Bishop Berthold, Burgrave of Zollern, and served as the bishop’s residence until 1725. Among the features that remain are walls and bastions, the arsenal, the 63-metre-long gate hall and the Gemmingen building with its two towers. In the 1,500-square-metre bastion garden, the Hortus Eystettensis, destroyed during the Thirty Years’ War, was brought back to life after 400 years; visitors can learn about many of the original plant species there. These places and their features are in Eichstätt, not Nassenfels.

Choose the Right Base for Your Trip

If you’re mainly interested in exploring the Roman traces and the castle, focus your holiday-apartment search on Nassenfels. For a hiking holiday, you can also consider which of the routes or nature destinations mentioned will shape your stay.

Discover Adelschlag as another destination. Discover more destinations: Kinding, Kipfenberg, Oberdolling, Dollnstein, Altmannstein, Kösching and Pförring.

For the broader travel overview: Eichstätt.