Danube Bike Tour Day 8: Dillingen to Donauworth
Posted by Cassie, November 18th, 2009
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Distance: 38km
We arrived in Dillingen too late last night to walk around, so we spent the morning in Dillingen. It was a really neat city with a pretty market square and old city gate. The architecture was different in Bavaria. We did not see the half-timbered houses that were typical of Baden-Wurttemberg. We saw several pretty houses that had a variation on the bell gable.
Dillingen curly gable house
Dillingen City Gate
We also went inside the Basilica St. Peter, which was decorated in rococco style. They had gone completely overboard with the decoration inside. The entire ceiling was painted with frescoes, and there was gold everywhere. It was the fanciest church I had ever seen. We had definitely left Protestant territory, and we were in Catholic country that was not affected by the Reformation.
Dillingen Basilica St. Peter
Our campsite was right next to the Danube River, so we only had to ride our bikes a few feet to get back on the bike route. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and we had a lovely ride along the river to Hochstadt. The Battle of Blenheim during the War for Spanish Succession was fought near Hochstadt in 1704. We went to the Hochstadt palace to see their excellent exhibit on the battle. The Battle of Blenheim was a decisive battle in the war. The Franco-Bavarian army was defeated by the Allied troops, and it marked a turning point in the war. It was the first time the French army had been defeated in battle in a long time, and it ruined the myth of French invincibility in battle. 13,000 soldiers died in the battle, making it one of the costliest battles in European history before the world wars. Another 2,000 soldiers died from wounds from battle, and a large number of civilians were killed in the chaos of the battle. The best part about the exhibition was the portraits of the princes and kings with their ridiculous wigs and ornate doublets and hose.
Hochstadt
We rode through the cornfields until we reached Donauworth. The campground was at a rowing club on the river. Unlike the other campgrounds, their reception hours were 6-8pm, and we arrived just as reception was opening. The campground was a nice place right on the river. When we left in the morning, there were a bunch of people heading out from the rowing club for a day of kayaking on the river.
Riding through cornfields
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