Attractions and Places To See in Schwaighauser Forst - Top 20

What a beautiful place on this route

What a beautiful place on this route

Chapel of St. Wenceslaus The Aschach chapel is located on an artificial terrace southwest of the residential building and is mentioned for the first time in a letter of protection from Pope Gregory IX. mentioned on May 14, 12138. The current construction status with a steep gable roof dates back to the construction work in 1473/74. An unknown builder accentuated the building with a retracted, square east choir, which is characterized by a smaller height and width on the outside. Inside the church, this corresponds to a flat ceiling in the nave and an ogival, ridged cross vault in the choir. The cellar room with a barrel vault, which is unusual for a chapel, is entered from the east via a steep staircase. An opening on the south side of the chapel, which is hardly intended as a light but rather as a filling shaft, indicates that it was once used as a storage facility. The Wenzeslaus Chapel was a branch church of Hainsacker and was severely devastated during the Thirty Years' War. An altar structure with two columns can be found in the 18th century and a supporting altar in the 19th century. The hospital's accounting books provide reliable information about minor construction and repair work on the chapel, for example the renovation or renewal of the altarpiece is noted for the year 1462/63. The next repair work dates back to 1720. In the 1760s the chapel was to receive a bell tower. However, the plan drawing of the tower preserved in the hospital archives was never implemented. On October 25, 1860, the responsible pastor, Achatz von Hainsacker, was informed by the hospital administration that due to “the dilapidated condition” in the chapel in Aschach, he could only say mass in the parish church in Hainsacker. Again in 1889, Pastor Köppl regretted the decay of the chapel. It was only at the beginning of the 1930s that the chapel was renovated on the orders of hospital master Leingärtner, so that it could be returned to its sacred purpose on January 4, 1932. Today's furnishings date from this time. The flat ceiling above a wide hollow is adorned with a painting of St. Katharina, on the side of the Gothic choir arch there are depictions of St. Leonhard (left) and St. Wenceslaus (right). The last major renovation of the chapel was completed in 2003. Source: www.oberpfaelzerkulturbund.de

Bismarck Column A Bismarck-enthusiastic forester and other Bismarck admirers initiated the construction of this Bismarck fire column. Schwaighausen-Geiersberg (since 1997: Markt Lappersdorf) was chosen as the location. The cost and financing of the pillar are not known. The column was erected by Regensburg officers from the 11th Royal Bavarian Infantry Regiment “Von der Tann”. Quarry stones were used as building material. A four-tier, triangular substructure (height: 0.74 m) serves as the basis of the 3.38 m high triangular fire column. The 1.78 m high column (in the shape of an equilateral triangle) rises on the top step. In the middle of the column shaft on the front, a 0.36 m high and 0.35 m wide Bismarck coat of arms (green escutcheon, green clover leaf, silver oak leaves) made of iron was attached. A 0.17 m high stone was built above the triangular column shaft, which serves as the base of a three-legged ornate metal holder that supports the fire bowl (diameter: 0.60 m). The year “1899” is scratched on the brick base stone. The Pillar of Fire was inaugurated on June 8, 1899. The fire bowl was stolen in the mid-1960s. In 1986, the rusted fire bowl holder was replaced by a fire bowl designed by Bernhard Frahsek by Mr. Menath from Oppersdorf. The masonry of the column was repaired by the Spitz company from Kareth. The current owner of the column (Ev. Charity Foundation Regensburg) bore the costs. A metal cross was subsequently placed above the Bismarck coat of arms in memory of a suicide and several suicide attempts in the area of the column. The column still stands today - in an idyllic location - on the edge of a clearing. The substructure is heavily overgrown with moss. Source: www.bismarcktuerme.net

Drought Hole Cave Ice Age animal bones, human skeletal remains and ceramic shards were found in this approximately 120 m long cave system. Based on excavation finds, a settlement dating back several thousand years has been proven: a pottery from the Münchshöfen group (4500 BC to 3800 BC), a shard from the Rössen culture (middle Neolithic period, 4500 to 4300 BC), shards from the Urnfield culture (1300 to 800 BC) and the Hallstatt period (800 to 450 BC), as well as medieval shards were found. The cave is a roost for bats and was closed for this reason. Source: Wikipedia

Very nice trail. In wet weather partly slippery.

Can be driven in both directions, the first stretch away from the motorway is uphill and slightly rooty.

a wonderful place on the hiking trail at any time of the day and season.