Kelheim

Kelheim is a town in Lower Bavaria on the river Danube. It is near this town that the Main Donau Kanal enters the Danube and thus the southern terminus of this canal.

Get in

By boat

• 1 Harbor. While initially planned mostly as a cargo harbor, it has become a rather popular stop for cruises as well  

By train

The former railway line to Kehlheim saw its last passenger service in May 1988. The next stop is therefore in neighboring Saal an der Donau.

• 2 Saal an der Donau railway station. Served by local and regional trains. 

Get around

Walking around on foot is by far the easiest method of getting about, and given its size, unless you intend to do some serious hiking or rock-climbing, is the most practical method as well.

Should you feel adventurous, several distinct, 12-person wooden boats with outboard motors operate a for-hire ferry service, and can take you across the Danube to the hiking path (allowing you to walk, bike, or hike), or can even take you all the way back to the nearby village (though you may want to compare the price to the ferry).

See

• 1 Kloster Weltenburg (Weltenburg Abbey). is a Benedictine monastery. The monastery, founded by Irish or Scottish monks in about 620, is considered to be the oldest monastery in Bavaria. It is also famous for its brewery (Weltenburger Klosterbrauerei). The brewery, in operation since 1050 and famous for its dark beer, is the oldest monastery brewery in the world.  
• 2 St. George Church. baroque-style. While most visitors arrive for the beer, this church is not to be missed for its amazing architecture, beautiful frescos, and marble and gilded gold walls. Of particular interest is the fresco on the ceiling of the inner building. While it may appear domed and artificially lit, it is in fact an ingenious sleight-of-hand trick by the Brothers Assam (commissioned by a priest). The light radiates inwards from several windows concealed behind a ledge, and the ceiling is in fact completely flat. Notice especially the statue of the grinning man in the red-shirt leaning over the ledge down at the ground, he is in fact modeled after one of the Brothers Assam, immortalised in plaster.  
• 3 Befreiungshalle. A Neoclassical monument on the Michelsberg hill commemorating the victory in the Napoleonic Wars which Bavaria largely achieved by astutely changing sides at the exact right moment. The monument was commissioned by King Ludwig I. and completed in 1863 - the fiftieth anniversary of the Battle of Leipzig. (updated Aug 2018)
• 4 Stadtpfarrkirche Mariä Himmelfahrt. A catholic church (updated Aug 2018)
• 5 Archeological museum. (updated Aug 2018)
• 6 Danube Gorge (Donaudurchbruch). (updated Aug 2018)

Do

• Cruise. through the beautiful Danube Gorge "Weltenburg Narrows" on the way to or from Kelheim. Alternatively, cruise upwards from Kelheim to the Monastery and afterwards cross the river and walk your way back...the hike is by no means strenuous for most healthy people, saves a bit of cash, and allows you to see the scenery truly at your leisure. 
• Sit in the monastery pub and have a dunkel beer or two.
• Spend some time by the watershore along the Danube! Skip a rock or two along the river, there are plenty of flat stones to be found all along the shoreline in front of the monastery, and on good days people tend to relax and even sunbathe along the shores.

Eat

The pub in the abbey serves not only beer, but also Bavarian cuisine.

Drink

• Weltenburger Kloster. The monastery has a brewery (oldest monastery brewery in the world) and a pub. Weltenburger Kloster Barock Dunkel, the local dark beer, was given the World Beer Award in 2004 as the best Dunkel beer in the world. The beer is strictly brewed to a Bavarian standard of Beer (similar, although not as regionally-restricted, to the classification of "Wine" in France), which can only be made of four ingredients: hops, water, grain, and sometimes yeast. This particular beer has a slightly sweet taste, with a pleasant after-taste and a deep, dark colour. 

Sleep

• Wittelsbacher Hof Kelheim, Donaustraße 22-26, ☏ +49 9441 177050. 

Go next

• Regensburg
• Ingolstadt
• Head up the Main Donau Kanal towards Bamberg via Nuremberg

Routes through Kelheim

Nuremberg ←

Main  Danube

→ END