Culture
Culturally, Mittenwald and its surroundings offer a rich variety of opportunities that we can not list them all here. With a small selection we would like to make you curious:
Museums
Amaze at exhibits from the Baroque period to the modern age, watch historical films about violin making and watch a violin maker at work.
The drive alone to the Franz Marc Museum is rewarding enough: you pass through the picturesque towns of Krün and Wallgau and drive directly along the Walchensee with its wooded bays. After half an hour you have reached the Franz Marc Museum.
Since its founding in 1986, the museum has devoted itself primarily to the work of Franz Marc and associated with the artists’ circle “Blauer Reiter”. Later then works of the “bridge” expressionism followed.
After the visit, you can process the impressions gained during a walk at the nearby Kochelsee. If you should feel still more culture hunger, drive further to the Münter house to Murnau. If you are now more in the mood for technology, you can still visit the Walchensee power plant.
Art, architecture and nature come together here in the “Museum of the Imagination” to form an extraordinary composition. Art – includes Lothar-Günther Buchheim’s collections of expressionist paintings and watercolors and handicrafts, folk art and non-European works; Architecture – The museum building is the work of architect Günther Benisch, who became world famous for building the Olympic Stadium in Munich and the new plenary hall in the German Bundestag in Bonn; Nature – Located directly on the shores of Lake Starnberg amidst ancient trees, ponds and sculptures, even the surroundings of the museum offer a true pleasure.
Over 60 old Bavarian residential and farmhouses have been rebuilt here in their original condition. Impressively show how people lived and worked in rural Upper Bavaria. Young and young at heart visitors can watch potters, weavers, bakers, blacksmiths and many other (art) craftsmen at work and pose questions.
Since they were spared from the plague in 1634, the people of Oberammergau have performed the Passion of Christ every 10 years out of gratitude. It is impressive how much dedication the whole village puts into the play – whether as actors, choir singers or musicians, every Oberammergauer is involved. The next Passion Plays will take place in 2022 and 2030.
In the years between the Passion Plays, the people of Oberammergau are not idle: Under the direction of Christian Stückl with the wonderful music of Markus Zwink, other plays are performed, such as “Joseph and His Brothers” by Thomas Mann or “Antony and Cleopatra” by William Shakespeare.
Who thinks, here only finest cut crystal to look at and buy to be able, deceives itself enormously. In more than 14 subterranean chambers, multimedia artist André Heller, together with other artists, has created sparkling wonder worlds that offer visitors visual and acoustic delights of the finest kind. Changing exhibitions of renowned artists follow.
The local poet Ludwig Ganghofer(1855 – 1920) spent many years of his life in the Gaistal in Leutasch. In his hunting lodge near the Tillfußalm he wrote many of his works, including “Das Schweigen im Walde”. In his time, he was the most widely read and most filmed German-language author.
In addition, the Ganghofer Museum shows the history of the Leutasch Valley.
Castles in Upper Bavaria
A rewarding hike leads to the Schachen Royal House, the retreat of King Ludwig II. Also worth seeing is the botanical garden around the Schachen House. Open from early June to early October. The Königshaus can only be visited as part of a guided tour.
You can only reach the Schachenhaus on foot or by bike. From Mittenwald, an approx. four-hour hike takes you there, either on the Schützensteig or via the Ferchensee. You can shorten the tour if you take the bus or car to Elmau and climb up from there (about 3 hours). Up to the Wettersteinalm you can also use the bike, from there it goes only on foot.
In a dreamlike setting, King Ludwig II. The fairy-tale castle in the style of an old knight’s castle built. From Mittenwald you can reach the castle in 70 to 80 minutes by car.
Afterwards you can visit the nearby castle Hohenschwangau.
Linderhof Castle is just a 40-minute drive from Mittenwald. It enchants with its water features in the royally designed park, with the Moorish kiosk, the Venus Grotto and many stage sets from Wagner operas, which King Ludwig II had set up here.
King Ludwig II planned on the Chiemsee island the replica of Versailles, the castle of the Sun King Louis XIV. In the castle is also the King Ludwig II Museum.
Also on the island is the Augustinian Canons’ Monastery, built in 1130, which King Ludwig bought together with the island in 1873 and set up private rooms there.
In 1664, Agostino Barelli began building the summer palace for Elector Ferdinand Maria of Savoy and his wife Henriette Adelaide. The famous Baroque palace park with its water features is particularly worth seeing. Also visit the Marstall Museum and the Museum of Nymphenburg Porcelain.
Founded in 1330 by Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian, the monastery became one of the most important Benedictine monasteries in the Alpine region due to its convenient location and attraction to pilgrims. In addition to everyday monastic life, the monks today show visitors the basilica, the brewery and distillery, the garden and the cheese dairy. A school with boarding school, a library and the monastery hotel are attached.
The magnificent rococo building of the Wieskirche zum Gegeißelten Heiland near Steingaden is a World Heritage Site. The visitor can use the magnificent church interior for an inner devotion, admire the grandiose trompe-l’œil fresco in the domed ceiling or be seduced by the sound of the historic organ.
Combine the visit to the Wieskirche with Ettal Monastery and Linderhof Palace – from Mittenwald everything is within an hour on one route.