What else is there to see and do?:
Ammersee and Starnberger See
Munich’s surroundings offer a number of possibilities for local
recreation. Besides walks in the Englische Garten or in Nymphenburg as
well as extended hikes along the River Isar, the nearby surrounds can
easily be reconnoitred by bicycle.
A hike amenable to both walking and cycling is one that takes us to
the two large lakes Ammersee and Starnberger See, situated at around 35
km south-west of Munich. Like numerous smaller lakes, they resulted from
Ice Age glaciers advancing from the Alps towards the more northerly
plains. When 15,000 years ago the glaciers melted, they left depths
behind in which the water began to gather.
Every 40 minutes an S-Bahn-5 train leaves for Herrsching on Ammersee,
the starting point of our hike, where fisheries have smoked trout on
sale. At a mere 5 km’s distance, above the crowns of dark conifers,
the Benediktinerkloster Andechs
(Benedictine Monastery), target
of many pilgrims, stands enthroned on the summit of the ‘sacred hill’.
But art lovers too gather here, to visit the convent church in rococo
style by Johann Baptist Zimmermann or to listen to one of the Orff
concerts oranised at regular intervals. The composer of ‘Carmina
Burana’ lies buried in this convent church.
For many, however, the main attraction is their famous beer. The
barley juice has meanwhile become the convent’s major source of
income. The brewery produces 90 million litres of the stuff annually and
sells it all over Germany.
A footpath leads us further through Kiental valley and up the 177m
high Convent Hill. Cyclists are barred from this path – they are
diverted into the almost traffic-free Schmidtsteinerstrasse which
connects Herrsching with the convent hill.
From Andechs, our path meanders through a gently undulating, hilly
landscape, across heights covered with gnarled old trees and offering a
view on the backdrop formed by the Alps, past Pöcking and further on to
Starnberger See. An estimated four hours, perhaps a little less,
should suffice for this hike. In the 18th century already, Elector
Ferdinand Maria and his spouse Henriette Adelaide of Savoy hugely
appreciated the magnificent backdrop to this lake as they sailed along
on their luxury yacht ‘Buccentaur’. A stroll along the lake
promenade and maybe a boat trip (Organiser: Bayerische-Seen-Schiffahrt,
info tel. 08151/12023) put an end to our outing. An S-Bahn-6 train will
take you back to the Main Railway Station in less than 20 minutes.
The Castles of Linderhof and Neuschwanstein
Both these castles of the legend-surrounded ‘Fairytale-King’
Ludwig II can be visited during a one-day motoring trip commencing in
Munich. If so desired, the tour can be combined with visits to the
Glentleiten open-air museum, the Wieskirche and the Ettal convent.
Starting point is the Mittlerer Ring (Middle Circular Road). Take the
A95 in the direction of Garmisch-Partenkirchen up to exit Murnau/Kochel.
Close to here lies the Bauernhofmuseum Glentleiten (Farmyard
Museum). Tel. 08851/18510, April-October, Tuesday-Sunday 9am-6pm. It
depicts in impressive fashion the history of Bavaria’s rural culture
and also has various farm-layouts of former times and true-to-life
example of village trades and crafts, thus demonstrating the perennial
importance to Bavaria of peasant life.
From Glentleiten return to the motorway, which gives onto the B2 at a
point 15km before Garmisch-Partenkirchen. In Oberau, turn right along
the B23 to Ettal. In the heart of the Werdenfelser Country lies the
Benedictine Abbey Kloster Ettal, founded in 1330 by Emperor
Ludwig the Bavarian. The Swiss architect Enrico Zucalli, a paragon of
the Munich architectural scene of the time, immortalised his name here.
He put his distinctive stamp on the Italian epoch of south-German
baroque. This is evident from the Theatinerkirche as well as from the
castles Nymphenburg and Schleissheim. In 1710 he began converting the
formerly Gothic Convent Church and turned it into a baroque domed
building. The main altar has Pisano’s marble wonder-working shrine
from the 14th century.
Following a lunch break, Schloss Linderhof is the next item on
our list (Tel. 08822/92030, guided tours only, April-September
9am-6pm, October-March till 4pm). This rococo castle,
10 km west of Ettal in Graswangtal, was built between 1874 and 1878 by
Ludwig II after the blueprints of the Petit Trianon at Versailles. From
1875 onwards, the King, whose political influence had largely waned,
lived a withdrawn life in the seclusion of the mountains, devoting
himself to the music of Richard Wagner. In particular the Moorish
pavilion and the Venusgrotte in the castle grounds, an artificial
grotto with a lake, fashioned after Wagnerian motifs, are eminently
worth a visit. If only the acoustics had been better, the Bavarian King
would have loved to listen to Wagner operas here. This grotto was the
first spot in Bavaria to have electric lighting.
We drive back through the Graswangtal to reach the B23, direction
Oberammergau and Schongau. Behind the bridge at Echelsbach a road veers
off to the left towards the second pilgrim’s church of the day, the Wieskirche
(daily 8am-6pm). This mountain-top church, created between 1746 and
1754 by Dominikus Zimmermann, was included by UNESCO in their list of
Cultural Heritage Sites of the World, and this in particular because of
its fulminant ceiling vault. The Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces)
was consequently obliged to suspend low-level flights in the region to
avoid the risk of seeing the edifice collapse from the ensuing terrible
air turbulence.
Past Steingaden take the B17 (direction Füssen), a road described on
maps as ‘romantic’, to reach the day’s high point: Schloss
Neuschwanstein (visits exclusively as a guided tour of around half
an hour, April-September 9am-6pm, October-March 10am-4pm). This is one
of the best-known and most frequently visited buildings in Germany,
drawing an annual one million visitors. The castle’s construction
commenced in 1869 after sketches by the stage designer Christoph Jank.
Building costs exploded so dramatically that they led not only to
Bavaria’s financial but also political dependence on Prussia. As in
Schloss Linderhof, manifold references to themes from Wagner operas are
in evidence here too, as for instance in the interior decoration. When
in 1886 owner-builder Ludwig II drowned in Starnberger Lake,
Neuschwanstein had still not been completed.
However, though his reign may be open to controversy, at least the
Bavarian Tourist Board owe him their gratitude, as do the designers of
Florida’s Disneyland who, in search of a dreamland fairytale castle,
copied Neuschwanstein and called it Cinderella Castle.
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