17 – The Inn-Trail – Passau – Marktl

May 21 - May 22, 2016 Von Passau nach Marktl It's time to say goodbye to Passau and cross over the river Inn into Austria. I will be following the Inn upstream on the Austrian side for some 50 kms and then follow its course through Bavaria until it later returns to Innsbruck in Austria. My destination today is a little village called "Marktl", which is a Bavarian diminutive of "Markt" (market) and has an interesting aspect to it which I will resolve later. The weather forecast promises a transition from wet and cold to one of the first warm and dry spells on my trip so far. Travelling along the river I can literally watch the fog lifting as the sun gathers strength. After all, this is the end of May! - "Come on sun", I shout silently, "give me a break - I'm fed up with freezing!" I pass quite a few castles situated on the history-drenched river. Not always did the two countries get along well. But this bridge between Neuburg am Inn on the German side and Wernstein am Inn on the Austrian was built in 2007 to illustrate the cole and amicable relations between the two towns and states. The former Cloister Vornbach, founded in 1040, the present form was erected between 1624 and 1645, was turned into a regular church in 1804 after a secularization process (Napoleon!) Schärding: A photo exhibition of professional Austrian photographers as part of the celebration of 700 years of local history. Great photography! I come across a  1000-year-old lime tree! My absolutely first and far-off glimpse of the Alps - setting off a whole cascade of feelings - fear, awe, joy, excitement being among them. But for the present I am busy taking in aspects of German-Austrian history as in St. Florian am Inn ... My next stop was Braunau, a city with a very old history, one aspect of which hsa made it quite notorious - it is the birthplace of the leader of  the German Reich ... A summary of the ongoing dispute about this legacy can be found here (German) or here (English) I continued on the cfrest of the river dike and came to a newly constructed fish ladder on the river Alz, enabling  fish to climb up the river Inn. (Regional Newspaper article) Finally, I reached Marktl am Inn, a small community with a lake and a campground. At first I rode past the sign to the town without paying closer attention. When I passed it again in the evening to look for some groceries, I noticed an interesting detail. See it, anyone? Correct, it is the birthplace of Pope Bendikt XVI, born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger and was the first Pope to resign. (Wikipedia here) Today was a beautiful day for cycling!  

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