Peiting, Romantic Road

A mere 1.5mi (3km) southeast of Schongau, across the River Lech, is the town of Peiting. The first mention of the town was in 1055AD, when a castle was built on the Schlossberg (castle hill). It is one of the oldest settlements in the area.

After WWII, around 1,500 refugees found their home in Peiting. To remember those who perished, a memorial chapel was built and inaugurated in 1987. The town hopes that the memorial will remind future generations of their history and “help to build bridges of understanding from person to person, from community to community, from people to people”.

Just outside town, in a small hamlet called Kreut, a Roman estate, Villa Rustica, dating to the early 2nd century, was discovered. Following excavations, it was deduced that the first owner of the Villa might have been a Roman soldier who, after leaving the Roman army with citizenship and land, built himself a country house. The property would have had a residential home, several farm buildings and a bathhouse. Heating in the home was installed on the floors and walls, and the house was designed with a central courtyard. To date, only the bathhouse has been fully excavated. However, the remains of wall paintings, glass windows, and clay tableware indicate the high standard of living enjoyed by the owners.

Outside the excavation site is a Roman kitchen with 75 different types of plants. These plants were introduced to the area by the Romans, providing a kitchen garden that included vegetables, herbs and medicinal plants, cereals and legumes, trees, bushes, and vines. Display boards around the kitchen garden indicate how the various plants were used during the Roman era.