The heat is heavy over Munich this summer. In the countryside, the temperatures are usually a bit more bearable. The corn labyrinths around Munich are well suited for a city escape with children. For children, the mazes in nature are a little paradise. And the excursion can be ideally combined with a quiet walk in the forest or a detour to a bathing lake.
The Ex-Ornamentis-Labyrinth in Utting is almost an amusement park. This is a good idea given the current temperatures due to the proximity to Lake Ammer. There is also a lot on offer here. This year’s theme: our global problems as a world community. A globe and a dove of peace have been “drawn” into the field, but are only visible from a dizzy height. Various sights are recreated on the field out of straw and wood: the Great Wall of China, the Statue of Liberty in New York and Egyptian pyramids. Information boards in the labyrinth provide information about global problems, a search game tests the knowledge of the participants. With a total distance of around 3.1 kilometers, the labyrinth offers a certain challenge: the good weather has led to rapid growth. The green has shot up by up to ten centimeters a day and had already reached a height of more than two meters by the end of July. Incidentally, the name corn maze is only half correct: a colorful mixture of sunflowers, hemp, ornamental pumpkins, beans, corn and wild mallow was planted – this certainly fits the topic “world problems” better than a monoculture maze. In addition to many insects, the field also attracts wild bees during the flowering period.
For those who have successfully made it out of the labyrinth, there is even more to offer: the wild bees are not left alone – a whole beehive was set up next to the labyrinth. In front of the bee showcase, the problem of “bee deaths” can be clearly explained to children. Or just let the kids watch the busy buzz. A water feature cools things down a bit: visitors can operate a pump here to pump water out of a fountain through the labyrinth of branches of a lying tree. Another type of labyrinth is the hay bale maze. There is also a marble run, a ball pool, a race track for pedal tractors, a sandpit with excavators and a lookout tower – if you want to take part in everything here, you’re almost stressed out in your free time.
An area the size of 14 soccer fields
Just half an hour from the center of Munich, the labyrinth in Lochhausen, run by the Hofreiter family, gives you the feeling of being in the middle of the country. Fields for self-pickers adjoin the labyrinth – you can wallow in romantic self-sufficiency dreams while picking vegetables and fruit. There is also freshly harvested fruit in the adjoining “Beerencafé”: Those who are too exhausted from the maze action to take care of themselves can rest and strengthen themselves here.
If you are looking for a challenge, the Straubing maze is the right place for you: on an area the size of 14 football pitches, visitors big and small can test their sense of direction. Four labyrinths with different degrees of difficulty offer the right thing for all ages. The little ones are better off visiting the mazes with an adult and with a drink in their luggage: together you can easily lose yourself. In the end, everyone has found their way out of the labyrinth, reports the operator.
Ex Ornamentis, until Sep 11, 10am-8pm, from Sep 12 Mon.-Fri., 2-6.30 p.m., Sat./Sun. 10 a.m. – 6.30 p.m., Fahrmannsbachstraße 2, Utting, phone 08192/934683, exornamentis.de; Lochhausen adventure field, Purpurweidenweg, telephone 089/54650056, www.hofreiter.de; Irrgarten Straubing, Johann-Firlbeck-Strasse 1, Atting, until Sep. 11, 10 a.m.-10 p.m., phone 09421/788950, www.irrgarten-straubing.de