Jakobsweg Etappe 4: Rottenbuch - Lechbruck

A short section runs alongside a road, but the magnificent Alpine panorama makes up for this. After a good hour, the ponderous onion tower of Wildsteig appears. Continue along the Kirchsteig trail to the parish church of St. Jakob. Just to the right of the entrance is a wooden statue of him, exceptionally with a sword and shell. Then follow the little road that descends into the valley and turns into moorland meadows and the forest. Passing the rural folk high school, you suddenly find yourself on a hill directly opposite the Wieskirche church, which offers a beautiful sight with its broad, stolid nave and strange tower in front of the spring meadow.

Behind the church, you separate from the König-Ludwig-Weg. The Way of St. James heads west and heads for Steingaden. The new companion to the shell is the "Prälatenweg", marked with two blue prelate's staffs on a white background. On the "Brettlesweg" you cross the Wiesfilz, deep bog holes next to the initially continuous boardwalks inspire respect. The short-stemmed pine and juniper trees in the idiosyncratic moorland landscape become fewer after a short time and the first spruce trees appear, moulting into a real forest. The forest path leads downhill to the stream. You stroll along its banks and through damp meadows to the Schlögelmühle mill and reach Steingaden in an hour. Once again, you are greeted by an impressive church, the former Premonstratensian monastery with the Welfenmünster in Steingaden.

From the outside, the Romanesque character of the monastery, which was founded in 1147, has been largely preserved. Inside, we are particularly impressed by the Romanesque cloister with its late Gothic vaulting and the rich interior decoration of the massive Romanesque building with Baroque and Rococo elements.

Leaving Steingaden, we head towards Lechbruck. At a crossroads on a panoramic moraine hill between Steingaden and Lechbruck, you can look back at the church towers of Steingaden. In Urspring, with its beautiful church, you follow the scallop shell into the small village of Steingädele and then on into a charming meadow landscape. After approx. 1 km, pilgrims in a hurry take the prelate's path straight ahead and after a quarter of an hour are at the Lech bridge and in the village of Lechbruck. Nature lovers turn left onto the moor nature trail, which leads through the interesting moor to Prem. There you can view the church and then cross the Lech over a huge dam wall before walking into Lechbruck on the left-hand side of the river.

Wanderkarte Pfaffenwinkel, scale 1:40,000, HW-Verlag, nominal fee EUR 1, available from the Pfaffenwinkel tourist office, www.pfaffen-winkel.de