Most visitors come to Dachau for one reason: the memorial site at the former concentration camp, the first established by the Nazi regime in 1933. It is a sobering, essential place to visit, and the town takes its role as a site of remembrance seriously. But Dachau is more than its darkest chapter.
The old town sits on a hill above the river Amper, crowned by a Renaissance castle with sweeping views south to the Alps on a clear day. The castle's remaining wing houses a magnificent casket ceiling from the 16th century, and its baroque garden is one of the loveliest in the Munich region. Below the castle, the old town's narrow streets are lined with pastel-painted houses and small shops.
Before the war, Dachau was known as an artists' colony. The quality of light on the moors north of Munich drew painters here from the mid-19th century onward, and the town's Gemäldegalerie still displays works from that era. Today Dachau is a prosperous commuter town on Munich's northern edge, easily reached by S-Bahn, with a quiet charm that rewards a half-day visit beyond the memorial.