Mittenwald, Germany - A Bavarian Fairy Tale
Written: Apr 16 '00 (Updated May 15 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Breathtaking mountain scenery, wandering foothill trails, fairy tale atmosphere
Cons: I challenge you to find one.
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| kifwebe's Full Review: Germany |
Once upon a time, there was a small village at the foot of the Bavarian Alps, nestled amongst dense forests and surrounded by spectacular snow-capped peaks. The characteristic wood trimmed houses sat perched amongst rolling foothills, babbling mountain streams, and wandering footpaths. Town locals meandered its narrow streets clad in lederhosen and proudly strolled along with walking stick in hand, whistling and tipping their traditional wool caps as they passed one another.
Sounds like a fairy tale doesn't it? In a sense it is, but it's one that can actually be experienced even today. This real-life piece of folklore is a village called Mittenwald, a mere 1 ½ hour train ride from Munchen (Munich), the capital of Bavaria.
My girlfriend and I experienced that breathtaking train ride after the frenetic pace of Octoberfest in Munich. It had been an enjoyable experience involving quite a few gallons of beer served from ridiculously enormous beer steins and enough oompah band music to fill my quota for a few years. We were more than ready to slow things down a bit, and take in a different side of German culture.
Mittenwald was the perfect elixir to soothe our pounding headaches. We stepped off of the train on a sunny autumn day onto one of its two platforms and proceeded to get lost trying to find the tourist office. Because Mittenwald is so small, our guide book lacked the always important town map. So that you don't make the same mistakes we did, head north from the train station to the first road which crosses the tracks. Make a left (west) and follow the road about half a mile. It will be on the right side at Dammkarstr. 3. The tourist office is packed with valuable information, including maps of the town and the many hikes you can take as excursions in the surrounding hills. They will also help you to book accommodation by calling around (free of charge), which means that you could spend less than a half an hour from the time you step off of the train to the time you drop your bags in your room, even if like us you didn't make reservations. You are likely to need the map only to find your room, as you will quickly learn the layout of the town, which is navigable entirely on foot.
Accommodation could very well be the highlight of your trip to Mittenwald. We stayed in a place called the Haus Neuner, which was actually a home whose upper floor had been converted into two spacious rooms, a shower room, and a toilet room. The proprietor was an extremely friendly German woman who didn't speak a word of English, so we communicated in a cryptic form of sign language which was a lot more fun than speaking anyway. We had a beautiful balcony with chairs, which looked out over the town to the Karwendl mountain, the highest peak in the area and a popular destination for climbers. The room was the most spacious and pleasant we stayed in over our entire 3 months of European travel. After a while, you start to appreciate small things like the quality of sheets, especially when you're travelling on a budget, and let me go on record as saying that our sheets were phenomenal. Included in the price of our room was a home made German breakfast, which consisted of boiled eggs, toast, sausages, ham, fruit, juice, and coffee. And to top it all off, we paid only $14 a night to stay there!
We dropped off our bags and strolled through the streets of the town for an hour or so. The town's central building was a beautiful church with a small, grassy courtyard, which was a perfect location for a picnic lunch that we threw together after a trip to the grocery store. Many of the buildings around town were decorated with scenes depicting alpine landscapes and religious scenes, which only added to the already storybook atmosphere. I almost expected to stumble upon a gingerbread house at some point.
After our picnic lunch, we walked through town and across the railroad tracks to the base of the Karwendl mountain, where a cable car left regularly for its summit. It was a pretty thrilling ride, as I imagine most cable cars are, but this was the first of its kind I had been on. I'm pretty sure that if it had fallen, we would have tumbled all the way back down to the base of the mountain, but thankfully we made it to the top without incident.
From the cable car station, there were a number of paths that led to various peaks nearby. This probably goes without saying, but the views were breathtaking. We could see for what seemed like hundreds of miles, which consisted mostly of other mountains and towns. From this vantage we got a clear view of just how tiny Mittenwald was. A word of advice - while it may be sunny and hot in town, you will see a significant drop in temperature when you reach the top. Bring at least a light jacket, and don't wear shorts. We expended a few rolls of film, and then headed back down to the town below.
By that time it was early evening, and we wasted a bit of time enjoying some local lager and marvelling at where we had managed to end up. At the time, Mittenwald was our favorite destination on the trip, and looking back it truly was one of our best experiences.
After shooting the breeze for a while, we decided to go for an early evening walk. On our way out, we noticed a flyer posted on the door announcing an outdoor concert, which would be taking place in the park near our bed and breakfast. Unfortunately, we were already 45 minutes late, so we ran to the park as quickly as we could, all the time heading in the direction of the music. When we finally arrived, we found what seemed like the entire population of the city heading back toward home. I was very disappointed to have missed the concert, but it was intriguing to see such a large part of the town population gathered together for a social event. It was a true example of the overwhelming sense of family and community that we experienced during our stay there.
The following day after breakfast we had a very relaxed day. We visited Mittenwald's tiny shopping district and learned that it is famous throughout the world for producing some of the finest violins money can buy. We hiked into the foothills a bit without a true agenda, until we were tired enough to nap in the shade of an isolated grove of trees. We headed back into town, grabbed a quick bite to eat, and then sadly made our way back to the train station. Unfortunately our time was very limited, and we vowed to one day return to Bavaria without a rigid schedule.
If you ever travel to Munich or decide to take a tour of Bavaria, the town of Mittenwald should be a priority on your itinerary. You can also visit nearby Garmisch (10 miles toward Munich to the north) which we skipped because it is much more commercial, with more of a resort atmosphere. In 1936 Garmisch played host to the Winter Olympics, and still has facilities for ice skating, skiing, and other winter sports. Also near Garmisch is the Zugspitze, the largest mountain in the German alps, and Schloss Neuschwanstein, one of Germany's most famous castles. With all there is to see and do in the area, it would be difficult to go wrong. After all, what fairy tale would be complete without - "and they all lived happily ever after."
Recommended:
Yes
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kifwebe
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