Pfarrkirchen is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in southern

Lower Bavaria Lower Bavaria (german: Niederbayern, Bavarian: ''Niedabayern'') is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of the state. Geography Lower Bavaria is subdivided into two regions () – Landshut and Donau-W ...

Germany, the capital of the district

Rottal-Inn Rottal-Inn is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the southeastern part of Bavaria, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the south clockwise) Altötting, Mühldorf, Landshut, Dingolfing-Landau and Passau. To the southeast is the Austrian state Upp ...

. It has about 12,500 inhabitants and is an important school centre with about 10,000 pupils from all over Lower Bavaria. The town spreads over an area of about 52 square kilometers and lies approximately 377 meters above sea level. Pfarrkirchen lies at the small river " Rott", which gives the "Rottal" region its name. One of Pfarrkirchen's important industries include

abattoir A slaughterhouse, also called abattoir (), is a facility where animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a packaging facility. Slaughterhouses that produce meat that is no ...

s which is due to the rural environment.

History

The first settlers came to Pfarrkirchen some 7,000 years ago, as excavations in Untergaiching (a small suburb) prove. The first official written document where the name "Pharrachiricha" is mentioned, appeared in between 875 and 899 AD by the Catholic Bishop "Engilmar". The name means "parish church". In 1262 Pfarrkirchen and the nearby "Castle Reichenberg" passed into the possession of the Bavarian dynasty

Wittelsbach The House of Wittelsbach () is a German dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including Bavaria, the Palatinate, Holland and Zeeland, Sweden (with Finland), Denmark, Norway, Hungary (with Romania), Bohemia, the Electorate o ...

, who granted the village the right to hold public markets in 1317. Since 1862 Pfarrkirchen can officially call itself a town, and in 1972 it became the capital of the district

Places of interest

The town's best known landmark is the "Gartlbergkirche", a

pilgrimage church A pilgrimage church (german: Wallfahrtskirche) is a church to which pilgrimages are regularly made, or a church along a pilgrimage route, like the Way of St. James, that is visited by pilgrims. Pilgrimage churches are often located by the grave ...

for the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

. It was built upon Pfarrkirchen's highest hill in between 1661 and 1715, according to the plans of the Italian architect Domenico Zuccali. The two towers of the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

Church dominate the town's scenery and can be seen even from miles away. Another well known sight of Pfarrkirchen is the so-called "Wimmer-Roß", an oversized bronze statue, which is located at the heart of the town, showing a black stallion. It was built in 1942 by the sculptor Hans Wimmer, who donated the statue to his hometown. It symbolizes the high status of horse breeding in the Rottal region. Pfarrkirchen also possesses Bavaria's oldest Harness Racing Track, where horse races have been held since 1894.

Twin towns - sister cities

Saint-Rémy-de-Provence Saint-Rémy-de-Provence (; Provençal Occitan: ''Sant Romieg de Provença'' in classical and ''Sant Roumié de Prouvènço'' in Mistralian norms) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Southern France. L ...

, southern France, since 1991 * The region Luzerner Rottal comprising the towns

Ruswil Ruswil is a municipality in the district of Sursee in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. Geography Ruswil has an area of . Of this area, 72.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 20.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 6.2% is sett ...

, Ettswil, Buttisholz, and

Grosswangen Grosswangen is a municipality in the district of Sursee in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. History Grosswangen is first mentioned in 893 as ''Wanga''. Geography Grosswangen has an area of . Of this area, 78.3% is used for agricultural ...

in Switzerland, since 1997 * San Vincenzo,

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

, Italy, since 1998

Notable people

* Conrad Fink (1900–1981), politician

References

External links

* {{Authority control Rottal-Inn