Regen in the Bayerischer Wald, Germany Churches, Pfahl, Burg Weißenstein, & Glass Forest in Bavaria

Regen is a picturesque village with an old town on the banks of the Schwarzer Regen River. The town is a popular base for winter sport activities.

The town’s architecture is dominated by the Pfarrkirche St Michael (Parish Church). Its north tower, of which only a fraction rises above the present church, is from the 13th century. A defense tower from the 14th century was incorporated in the western façade following an expansion of the church in 1473. The Swedish torched the church in 1648, shortly before the formal Peace of Westphalia. Although the present interior is 19th-century neo-Romanesque, the Gothic crucifix (around 1500) and small statue of the Virgin (late 14th century) are originals.

Der Pfahl

A unique natural phenomenon in the Bayerischer Wald (Bavarian Forest) is the 140-km/87-mile-long Pfahl. This is a quartz reef that runs in an almost straight line from Cham to Dreiseelberg.

The Pfahl reef runs mostly underground but the milky-white, light-grey quarts rock can clearly be seen at several points including at Burg Weißenstein in Regen, Großer Pfahl near Viechtach, and the so-called Teufelsmauer (Devil’s Wall) near Cham.

(Photo © Tourismusverbandes Ostbayern)

The ruins of Burg Weißenstein (caslte), tel 09921-6040, tower over the town from its quarts rock foundations. The fortress dates from the 13th century but was destroyed in 1742 during the War of Austrian Succession and only partly restored in the spirit of romantic Historicism in the 19th century. It is a popular excursion with fine views.

Since 2002, the Gläserner Wald (glass forest) has “grown” next to the castle. Huge glass trees up to 4.5 m/26 ft high were “planted” in part to show the versatility and durability of glass as construction material. The glass trees are lit at night.

Inside Weißenstein Castle is the Museum im Fressenden Haus, tel 09921-6040, with exhibitions on the history of the castle, local art, the life of the author Siegfried von Vegesack, as well as the world’s largest collection of snuffboxes. Opening hours for the museum is 10 am to 4:30 pm, daily from May to mid-September and weekends only from mid-September to April. Admission is €2.

Around 8 km/5 miles southeast of Regen is the former Kloster Rinchnach (Monastery). The priory was founded in the early 11th century and a Gothic church consecrated in 1438.

This Gothic church, the Pfarrkirche St Johannes der Taufer (Parish Church St John the Baptist) received a Baroque makeover from 1727 by Johann Michael Fischer. The interior is bright and airy giving the impression of a space larger than the physical constraints of the original Gothic floor plan. Also worth seeing is the Late Gothic cloisters Opening hours are daily from 9 am to dark.

Regen in the Bayerischer Wald, Germany

Churches, Pfahl, Burg Weißenstein, & Glass Forest in Bavaria

Nature, churches, Burg Weißenstein and the glass forest are the main sights in Regen in the Bayerischer Wald (Bavarian Forest), Germany