Roßhaupten: Cultural Trails, Calvary Hill and the Forggensee

Roßhaupten offers different starting points for planning your trip: local history at the village museum, trails with different stated durations, and the Forggensee with its beach. If you are looking for a hotel for a stay in Roßhaupten, these themes can help you plan your days around your own interests.

Village Museum and Via Claudia Augusta

The village museum in the Pfannerhaus showcases village life in days gone by and traditional crafts. The exhibitions also include the story of four notable sons of Roßhaupten and a display about the manufacture of artificial flowers by entrepreneurs who were expelled from the Sudetenland after the Second World War. This brings local history and a distinctive chapter in the region’s craft history together under one roof.

A permanent exhibition at the museum is devoted to the Via Claudia Augusta. It provides information about the historic Roman imperial road between Donauwörth, Altino near Venice and Ostiglia on the Po. Roßhaupten also highlights the subject beyond the museum: with a milestone at the Hartenberg viewpoint and the art park of the same name on Forggenseestraße, the Via Claudia circular trail recalls the old Roman road.

A short detour from the Via Claudia circular trail leads to the renovated Fischhaus Chapel of St. Ulrich. The key is available next door on request. This lets you include the chapel as a separate stop on your outing, provided you ask about access on site.

Maria Steinach and Calvary Hill

The small Baroque chapel of Maria Steinach has a history of construction in several stages: Matheis Holl built it around 1650. Soon afterwards, it was rebuilt to plans by Johann Jakob Herkomer; Joseph Miller from Rettenbach completed the building in 1706. The altar, dating from around 1710, depicts the Visitation of Mary. The interior also contains wooden figures from the 18th century.

From Maria Steinach, 14 Stations of the Cross lead to the summit of Calvary Hill in Roßhaupten. The chapel and the Stations of the Cross can therefore be seen as two connected aspects of local history: the Baroque furnishings inside the chapel and the stations along the path up to the summit.

Comparing circular trails and a hike

The Dragon Trail is a local-history adventure trail for adults and children. Along the circular route are stops about the legend of St. Magnus, the stone cross, the stone bridge dragon in Tiefental and the Dragon Spring in the stream valley. The circuit is estimated to take about 1 to 1.5 hours. You can start at the car park by the Kurpark on the southern edge of Roßhaupten, at the Forggensee boat landing, or from the town centre with a short additional walk.

The Moosenweg is a shorter circular walk: the 2.8-kilometre route starts at the church in the town centre, heads to the edge of town and returns. Walking time is about 45 minutes, with an elevation difference of 15 metres. This makes it easy to compare the stated walking time with the longer circuit on the Dragon Trail, while the Dragon Trail’s local-history stops offer a different focus.

Allow about an hour for the ascent to the Buch-Zwieselberg viewpoint. From the western edge of town, the route climbs steeply via forestry tracks, a narrow footpath and a bridge. Sturdy footwear and sure-footedness are required. At the top, there is a cross and a panoramic information board; the viewpoint offers panoramic views across the hiking region. The tourist information office in Roßhaupten can provide information about cycling and hiking trails and supplies maps.

Forggensee, beach and boat trips

At Roßhaupten’s bathing beach on the Forggensee, the local tourism website lists swimming, snorkelling and diving as available activities. From there, views stretch across the lake to the royal castles, the peaks of the Ammergau Alps and Säuling. At the beach, water activities and expansive views of the landscape go hand in hand.

There is a landing stage for Forggensee boat trips at the Roßhaupten power station. If you are planning a boat trip, check the timetable in advance. Depending on whether culture, a particular trail duration or activities on the water are the focus of your trip, you can include the Roßhaupten experiences that suit you in your hotel and daily plans.

Discover more destinations: Rieden am Forggensee, Germaringen, Pfronten, Kaufbeuren, Schwangau, Marktoberdorf, Obergünzburg, Oberostendorf.

View the main travel overview: Ostallgäu.