Schärding and the characteristic Inn-Salzach architecture

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Schärding, is a small Austrian town located along the Inn River on the border with Bavaria. It is located in Upper Austria in front of the Bavarian town of Neuhaus am Inn and only 15 km from the German city of Passau and about 100 km from Salzburg and Linz. The town is located at a height of 313 meters above sea level, at the confluence of the Pram River with the Inn. Schärding is part of the association of Austrian Small Historic Towns (Kleine historische Städte).

The area where the town stands today was inhabited since the Neolithic. During the Roman Empire it was part of the Noricum province, but the history of Schärding begins with the Middle Ages. In fact, starting from the ninth century a fortress was founded there, subsequently the inhabited center that grew up around the fortress became an important market. Finally, in the fourteenth century, he was granted the privilege of the city.

The town was the scene, in 1369, of the so-called Peace of Schärding, a treaty between Austria and Bavaria that put an end to the claims of Bavaria on the Tyrol, but with the same treaty, Schärding, passed to Bavaria which remained until 1779.

WHAT TO SEE IN SCHÄRDING

Schärding today has an almost completely preserved old town with numerous palaces in the typical Inn-Salzach architecture. This is a characteristic architecture of the historic centers of the Inn and Salzach region dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries.

Oberen Stadtplatz: The centerpiece of Schärding is the central square Oberen Stadtplatz and in particular the so-called Silberzeile along which there are lined up colorful houses dating back to the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries with facades for the most part in Baroque style. The historic center is still surrounded by a part of the medieval city walls on which several gates of the medieval city open (Wassertor, Linzer Tor, Passauer Tor).

At the end of the square there is first a fountain, and then on the right the parish church (Stadtpfarrkirche St. Georg) dating back to the fourteenth century, but today with its appearance given to it in the Baroque era.

In the adjacent Unteren Stadtplatz, closer to the river, is the town hall (Rathaus) from the late 16th century. On the hill between the two squares and the river are the remains of the medieval castle of Schärding of which some parts of the walls are visible and the Schlosstor, the gateway to the castle.

SCHÄRDING MUSEUMS

Heimathaus Schärding. Local history museum with art and craft collections. Hours: open from 1 May to 31 October: Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday from 10.00 to 12.00 and from 14.00 to 17.00. Closed on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays.

Schärding
Population: 4,971 (2010)
Altitude: 313 meters above sea level.