Bavaria's Largest Historical Monument: A Journey into the Baroque Canal System
Bavaria's extensive baroque canal system, built in the 17th century, is now a European cultural monument that still impacts the landscape and biodiversity.
The canal system stretching between Munich, Garching, Oberschleißheim, and Dachau was constructed in the 17th century primarily to transport building materials for Schloss Schleißheim. Over time, these canals became symbols of absolutist power, enhancing the gardens of the palace with water features and serving as picturesque backdrops for the nobility's gondola rides. Today, this baroque canal system, with a total length of 50 kilometers, stands as Bavaria's largest area monument and a significant European cultural heritage site. Remarkably, it still carries water along 34 kilometers, continuing to influence the local landscape and creating ecological niches for various rare plant and animal species. Despite its historical significance, the canals remain relatively obscure in the public consciousness. To change this, the Dachauer Moos association has released a meticulously designed brochure aimed at raising interest and making the history of this impressive canal system more accessible to the public, which includes detailed historical and current maps of a segment of approximately ten kilometers.