The best walks and hikes around Pielenhofen

Lichtenroth Castle on the Engelsfelsen (Angel Rock) A six-meter-deep and over ten-meter-wide moat draws attention to the Lichtenroth Castle above Oberfreiung, between Pielenhofen and Duggendorf. The steep walls of the Engelfelsen (Angel Rock) secure the approximately 40-meter-long and up to eight-meter-wide area on three sides; from the rocky peak, one enjoys a magnificent view over the Naab Valley. Where the access path crosses a rampart, there used to be a gate. The highest part of the former castle complex is a narrow ridge above the moat, on which the remains of a residential building can be seen. At approximately 12 to 15 meters, it corresponds to the typical size of a late Romanesque stone house. There are no visible traces of the keep left. It presumably stood near the rocky peak and served as an observation tower. The date of the castle's construction is unknown; it is assumed to have been in the 11th or 12th century. We only learn of their existence after their demise, when Lord Jordan of Murach, a feudal lord of the Bishop of Regensburg and the Lords of Laaber, sold the "Burgstall zu Lichtenrode" to the nuns of Pielenhofen in 1297. The name, also recorded as "Lichtnroth," indicates a clearing area belonging to the Bishopric of Regensburg. Source: Burgensteige information board

Brief description of the geotope The light-colored limestone from the former Ebenwies quarry provided the building material for Walhalla. The quarry walls show extensive boreholes and traces of the wire sawing work used to remove the limestone blocks from the wall. Romantically overgrown ruins of the former factory buildings are still preserved. In total, there were around 30 quarries in which this mass limestone was mined. The former Ebenwies quarry area is now a designated biotope and is located in a landscape conservation area. Stay away from the high quarry walls!

Beautiful view of the valley. Caution: steep slopes and rocks.

From the bridge you have great views of the Naab and the wooded river banks. It's quite a sight!

The path up to the Engelsfelsen is steep and slippery, so proceed with caution. Behind it, however, is a wonderful view of the Naab Valley in both directions. This is probably why a tower was built here for observation/control.

Fresh feet and relaxed legs

The viewpoint is located exactly above the robbers' cave. A small, steep path connects both

Pielenhofen Monastery The Cistercian monastery, dedicated to the Assumption of Mary, dates back to its founding in 1240 by the Lords of Hohenfels and Ehrenfels. In 1542 the monastery came under secular administration during the Reformation in the Duchy of Palatinate-Neuburg. In 1559, Count Palatine Ottheinrich dissolved the monastery. In 1655 it was incorporated into the Imperial Monastery of Kaisheim as a subpriorate. In the course of secularization in Bavaria, the monastery was dissolved for the second time in 1803. The monastery church became a parish church. In 1806, the Carmelite nuns from Munich and Neuburg an der Donau moved into the monastery complex as their central monastery. In 1838 the Salesian Sisters bought the monastery and set up an institute for higher daughters there. From 1981 to 2013, the Regensburger Domspatzen elementary school and the attached boarding school were housed in Pielenhofen. In 2010 the monastery was abandoned by the Salesian Sisters. In 2013 the monastery buildings were sold to the Herder School Association. The association now runs a secondary school and a technical college for design in the buildings. The monastery church is a baroque hall church with two narrow side aisles. The high altar with its colossal, late Baroque structure, built by an unknown but important altar builder, dominates the interior of the church. The altarpiece shows the Assumption of Mary and comes from more recent times, created by the Regensburg drawing teacher Albert Stahl. On either side of the altarpiece are the larger-than-life statues of Joachim and Anna, the parents of the Mother of God. Above on the right in the excerpt St. Bernard of Clairvaux, left in the excerpt Abbot Stefan of Citeaux. In front of the choir there are two side altars inserted in the Cistercian style: on the left the cross altar, in the structure the image of St. Sebastian at the Marterholz; on the right the Christmas altar, in the structure the image of St. Wendelin or Isidore. On the right in front of the Christmas altar is a late Gothic baptismal font from the first half of the 15th century. In the right aisle: the goal of numerous pilgrimages from the area is the miraculous image, an Ecco-homo image by an unknown master. It comes from the private possession of the Munich citizen's daughter and later Carmelite Maria Anna Josefa Lindmayr (1657-1726), according to whom the picture is said to have cried repeatedly. The ceiling paintings were created by the Konstanz painter Jacob Karl Stauder (1694-1756). Source: Church guide Pielenhofen