From Kühbach to Unterwittelsbach—From Castle to Castle, Following in Sissi’s Footsteps

Today we’ll wander through the Wittelsbach region, following in the footsteps of Her Imperial Majesty. Who hasn’t heard of her—Elisabeth of Bavaria, who, through her marriage to Emperor Franz Joseph, became the future Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary. On our way to Duke Max’s moated castle in Bavaria, we’ll first visit the former Oberwittelsbach castle complex. It was destroyed in 1209. However, the Church of St. Mary, standing on the castle ruins, still serves as a reminder of what was once the ancestral seat of the Wittelsbach family. In Unterwittelsbach, we’ll enjoy the beautiful park and the charming little castle, which now houses a museum. > We’ll start at the parking lot directly in front of Kühbach Castle 01. We’ll cross the street and follow Wöresbacher Straße south through the village. The road climbs steadily, taking us uphill for a good twenty minutes. At the edge of town, it leads us across the B 300 and eventually joins a gravel path. We hike along a wide path at the edge of the forest and then into the woods. Ten minutes later, we arrive at a large intersection with a signpost 02. Here, we continue straight ahead toward Wöresbach. Well-signposted, the trail leads us in a right-hand curve toward Wöresbach 03. A few farms once stood here, but they were abandoned due to unprofitable conditions. We change direction and now hike westward, through small patches of forest and past potato fields, straight toward Oberwittelsbach. In the village, we turn right onto Veroneserstraße and walk straight across Wittelsbacher Straße toward Wittelsbach Castle 04—or rather, the site where the castle once stood. Today, in its place, we see the Church of Our Lady of Victory shining in its red brick facade. On the right side of the square stands the National Monument from 1834—a 14-meter-high, neo-Gothic sandstone monument. Excavations took place on Burgberg from 1978 to 1980. During these excavations, three distinct castle complexes with various defensive structures were identified. Today, however, only scattered remnants of the walls remain. After looking at the various information panels, we continue our walk on the left side of the castle square. Here, just before the church, a path leads down into the forest. Passing a wall remnant, it descends to a paved path, which we follow to the right. It soon leads through the forest on soft forest ground, past six wooden steles 05—figurative works of art by the artist Norbert Zagel. A short while later, we emerge from the woods and approach a barn. Here we turn left, but immediately take the next right at the fork. We walk two hundred meters along the edge of the woods, then turn right onto a narrow path leading to Unterwittelsbach Castle Park. We follow a path straight ahead, making a loop past two extremely romantic ponds. Shortly afterward, we find ourselves in front of Sissi’s Castle 06. If you have time to spare, a visit to the museum is highly recommended. After visiting the castle, we head toward the street. We follow Klausenweg to the right toward Herzog-Max-Straße. This road takes us north out of town, turning right once more. After a few minutes, we turn left onto Sperberweg at the community center. Here we leave the marked trail. Soon we’ll be walking along a gravel path past fields. At the next fork, we keep to the left and walk to the tennis court 07 at TC Wittelsbach. Here we turn right, pass under the B 300 a short while later, and then follow a bike and pedestrian path to the right, parallel to the state highway. After ten minutes, we turn left and follow the route around a 180-degree curve across a road. The path becomes a field and meadow trail, which we follow for a few minutes. At the hunting blind just before the open meadow, we keep to the left and hike slightly uphill on a field and meadow path toward the edge of the forest. Once there, we come to a wider gravel path, which we follow to the right. Shortly afterward, we cross a dirt road intersection and walk straight past the Kühbach 08 Sports Park. Then we cross a street and continue along the path until it ends at the edge of Kühbach on Aichacher Straße. We stroll along this street for a few minutes back to Kühbach Castle 01.