Swis Nature

Donauauwald Neuburg-Ingolstadt

Leisure Time at the Danube in Bavaria

The floodplain forest “Donau-Auwald Neuburg-Ingolstadt” is located in the middle of Bavaria, between these two beautiful cities Neuburg and Ingolstadt. Both cities have a magnificent historical city centre with lovely palaces and old buildings. The Danube, which flows through both of the cities, characterizes the townscape in a great way.

Near Neuburg you can find the “Aueninformationszentrum Neuburg-Ingolstadt”, located in the historical hunting lodge “Grünau”. The information centre was opened in April 2009. It contains an exhibition about the riparian zones and their special habitats, the development and their importance for flood and nature protection at the Danube. As an addition to this, the “Donaupavillon” was built up in Ingolstadt next to the Ingolstadt barrage. There you can see varying exhibitions with topics all around the Danube. Those Information centres are connected by the “Auenweg” with eight boards, informing about the revitalization measures done in this area and the huge value of floodplain biotopes.

Next to those information centres, you can also find some archeological sites. To the west of Neuburg in a cross valley is the “Finkenstein”, a Jurassic rock which towers over 50 meters steeply on the north bank. The “Finkenstein” is provided under conservation since the beginning of the 20th Century because of his special plant diversity. A rarity is the “Bavarian Gelbscheidiges Federgras” (Stipa pulcherrima subsp. bavarica) which has his only appearance all over the world on the “Finkenstein”.

In Ingolstadt the Klenzepark with many historic buildings was created for the horticultural show Ingolstadt in 1992. Now it is a big recovery zone, where concerts take place during summertime. The park connects the historic city and the Danube.

Every year the Danube is in the centre of attention, when it comes to different festivals in each of the cities. So in Neuburg the biggest winter swimming festival in Europe takes place. On the last Saturday in January the brave people swim four kilometres in the very cold Danube.

In Ingolstadt there is the Danube Festival, which takes place on one weekend every summer. Part of the festival is the “Schanzer Fischerstechen”, where men from all german Danube cities try to lance each other off the small fisher boats, which are called “Zillen”. In a duel one on one they are standing on a small platform at the end of their boat, while their teams are rowing towards each other.

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