Looking ahead to Bavaria in 2010
Famous for its alpine scenery, beer and fairytale castles, the German region of Bavaria is also the venue for the Oberammergau Passion Play, to be staged next in 2010. Brenda Watkinson discovers why this destination is so popular with British groups and how GTOs can secure tickets and accommodation to tie in a visit to the world-renown Play.
Located in the south of Germany, Bavaria is the largest federal state in the Federal Republic of Germany stretching from Wurzburg in the west to the Austrian border in the east and from Coburg in the north to the Bavarian Alps in the south. Its capital, Munich, is a lively cosmopolitan city proud of its rich architectural and cultural heritage. It is also famous for its excellent shopping and colourful events, in particular, the Oktoberfest, the city’s world renowned beer festival which actually starts in September. Various tour operators offer packages to the area and can arrange visits to the numerous attractions it has to offer.
The capital Munich
The capital city of Munich is situated in the south of Bavaria. As with any capital city, it is a good idea to start your visit with a group city tour.
A good place to start exploring is Marienplatz, Munich’s salt and corn market in medieval times. Here, visitors can admire the ornate facade of the New Town Hall (Neues Rathaus) and see the biggest cuckoo clock in the world – the Glockenspiel, which chimes daily at 11am, 12 noon and 5pm. Nearby, the 15th century Gothic Church of our Lady (Frauenkirche) features distinctive copper onion-domes. From the tower, excellent views of the city and the Alps can be afforded. There are also great views from the tower of the city’s oldest church, St Peter’s, although it is a long climb to the top using a narrow spiral staircase.
From Marienplatz, visitors can wander along the pedestrianised shopping streets of Kaufingerstrasse, Weinstrasse and Theatinerstrasse and enjoy the wide variety of shops and many street performers.
Also not to be missed are The Food Halls of Munich (Munich Viktualienmarkt), which have provided fresh food for over 200 years. Here you will find some of the best German and international delicacies including cheese, sausages and German torte.
For art lovers, the three art galleries, Alte Pinakothek, Neue Pinokotheks and Pinokothek der Moderne are located a short drive north of Marienplatz. The Alte Pinakothek features over 800 masterpieces from the 14th to the 18th centuries including collections of Rubens, Goya, Raphael, Da Vinci, Botticelli and Rembrant whilst the Neue Pinakothek houses a collection of French Impressionists including Degas, Monet, Pissaro, Manet, Renoir, van Gogh, Cezanne and Gauguin. In contrast, the Pinakothek der Moderne features modern art works.
To the north of the city centre, the English Garden is a good place to escape the hustle and bustle of the city. There are some interesting old buildings here such as the Monopteros, a Neo-Classical temple built in 1837 and the 18th century Chinese Tower, standing in one of the park’s beer gardens.
There are actually over 400 beer gardens in Munich and it is an essential part of any visit to the city. The most popular is the Hofbrauhaus. Established by Wilhelm V in 1589, the vast halls with painted ceilings can hold about 2,300 visitors.
The oldest brewery in Munich, Augustinerbrau, was founded by Augustinian monks in 1328. Located on Neuhauser Strasse, it currently occupies two 19th century houses with picturesque facades.
To the west of the city, the Nymphenburg Palace and Gardens is well worth a visit. The Palace was the summer residence of the Bavarian royalty, begun in the 1660s. The Gardens are particularly attractive and feature a lake, pavilions, sculptures and botanical gardens.
To get an impression of modern Munich, you could consider a visit to Olympiapark in the north-west of the city. Built for the 1972 Olympic Games, one of the highlights is the view from the top of the 950-foot high television tower.
Also not to be missed in this area is the BMW complex including the BMW Munich Plant, BMW Welt (World) and the new BMW Museum building, set to open in spring 2008. Eight hundred vehicles and 1,200 engines are produced each day from the Munich Plant. Here, visitors will discover how parts are produced from heavy coils of steel, how they are assembled into a car body and painted as well as how an engine is produced. The BMW Welt displays a changing automobile exhibition highlighting current models whilst the new BMW Museum will take a look at the history of BMW. Guided tours can be arranged at all three attractions.
Exploring the rest of Bavaria
If you are planning a visit to Oberammergau, you might also like to visit one of the many historic towns in the region.
In the far north, the town of Coburg is dominated by a massive fortress, the Veste Coburg, which is one of the largest in Germany. In 1530, the fortress provided refuge to Martin Luther, who hid there as an outlaw from April until October. Also of interest in the town is the Castle (Schloss) Ehrenburg, the late Gothic church of St Maurice and the Town Hall on Market Square.
Travelling south, the town of Wurzburg was once an ancient Episcopal seat. Not to be missed is the magnificent prince bishops’ Residenz Palace and also the Marienburg Citadel, which houses the Main-Franconian Museum, known for its collection of works by Riemenschneider.
Tilman Riemenschneider was considered one of the greatest sculptors of the late Middle Ages and his works can also be admired in the Germanic National Museum (Germanisches Nationalmuseum) in Nuremburg. Dating from 1050, Nuremburg is the second largest town in Bavaria. During the 15th and 16th centuries, the town grew rapidly and many prominent artists, craftsmen and intellectuals worked here. It is now considered one of the cultural centres of Europe. You should make time to visit the southern part of the old town, known as Lorenzer Seite, which is encircled to the south by thick city walls. This is where many of the historic attractions can be found including the Germanic National Museum, St. Lorenz Church and the Mauthalle, a 15th century Gothic granary.
To the south of Nuremburg, Regensburg lies on the banks of the River Danube. Once a Celtic settlement, the town also became an important commercial and cultural centre during the Middle Ages. The medieval townscape is characterised by red roofs, churches, towers, turrets and townhouses dating from the 12th to 14th centuries. The History Museum (Historisches Museum) in the former Minorite monastery houses art and cultural history collections from the Stone Age to the 19th century.
The third largest town in Bavaria, Augsburg, is also one of Germany’s oldest settlements. As early as 15BC, this was the site of a Roman camp. From 1316, Augsburg became one of the richest and most powerful cities in Germany. However, the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) put an end to this prosperity. Featuring fountains by Adrian de Vries, the city’s main street, Maximilianstrasse, is considered one of the most beautiful in southern Germany. Other highlights include the Town Hall, built in the Mannerist style during the early 17th century, the 16th century Church of St Anna and the Fuggerei-Museum, housed in one of 52 houses built in the 16th century by Jacob Fugger to provide housing for the town’s poor.
There are also a number of themed routes that criss-cross the region. The Romantic Road is probably one of the most scenic tourist routes in Germany, built on the old Roman trade road known as the Via August. The route runs from Wurzburg to Fussen through beautiful river valleys, lush winegrowing areas, deep forests and fascinating cities such as the picturesque Rothenburg ob der Tauber. En route, you can visit castles, palaces, medieval towns, fortifications, churches and monasteries.
For mountain scenery, the 280-mile German Alpine Road links Lake Constance with Berchtesgaden while other themed routes include the German Danube, the Crystal Road, the Route of Emperors and Kings and the Castle Road. For keen hikers, it is possible to walk along the German Alpine Road, staying in rustic mountain cabins along the way.
Out and about from Oberammergau
It is not only the Oberammergau Passion Play that makes this area of Bavaria so popular. The village is extremely attractive with many traditional houses displaying the famous ‘Luftmalerei’ frescos, which depict both religious scenes and other Bavarian traditions. Not to be missed is the architecturally ornate Pilatus House, which houses a museum depicting 500 years of woodcarving, Luftmalerei fresco-styled wall paintings and pottery as well as staging demonstrations of the intricate methods of woodcarving and Luftmalerei.
With more than 100 kilometres of hiking trails and cycle tracks, Oberammergau is also an excellent destination for hikers, mountains climbers and cyclists. As well as exploring the Kofel, the local mountain of Oberammergau, visitors can take the cable cars up the two nearby mountains of Kolben and Laber for spectacular views of the surrounding area.
Oberammergau also makes a good base to explore the surrounding countryside. The town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen was the former home to the composer Richard Strauss and the area is now a famous and exclusive ski resort. Previously two separate villages, Garmisch and Partenkirchen were combined into one town to host the 1936 Winter Olympics. Although combined, the two areas are quite different – Garmisch is a modern town whilst Partenkirchen retains its market town atmosphere with cobbled streets, pretty frescoed walls, and roots that go back to Roman times.
Another excursion to the scenic Lake Ammer area (Ammersee) including a visit to the famous Andechs Monastery and brewery is popular with groups. There is evidence that beer was being brewed at Andechs Monastery in the Middle Ages following the founding of this Benedictine cloister. Guided tours of the brewery can be arranged.
The delightful alpine town of Murnau am Staffelsee, often described as ‘picture-postcard Bavaria’, also makes a good outing. Groups can explore the medieval castle tower that houses the Schlossmuseum before spending time strolling along the pedestrianised shopping street.
One of the most popular full-day excursions in this region combines the two ‘fairy-tale’ castles of Linderhof and Neuschwanstein. Both built by King Ludwig II, Linderhof was inspired by the Palace of Versailles. Its opulent interior, based on the French Baroque style, is laden with gold, gilded furnishings, rich fabrics and chandeliers. The palace is surrounded by French-style formal gardens and Italianate terraced gardens complete with cascades.
Built at enormous expense from 1868 to 1892, the spectacular Neuschwanstein Castle was the inspiration for Disney’s Sleeping Beauty Castle and is thought to be the most photographed attraction in Germany. Featuring an opulent frescoed interior, this fairy tale-styled castle is perched high on the slopes of the Alps in a dominant cliff-top position overlooking the Hohenschwangau Valley. Don’t miss the view of the rushing waters of the River Pollat in the ravine below the Marienbrucke.
Further east, the third castle of King Ludwig II, Herrenchiemsee Castle, was also inspired by the Palace of Versailles. On the island of Herreninsel in Lake Chiemsee, the castle was planned to outdo all previous royal palaces but was never finished. One of the highlights is the Hall of Mirrors, measuring 328 feet, and even more splendid than the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles on which it is based. Lake Chiemsee, known as the Bavarian Sea, is also famous for its water sports.
The Oberammergau Passion Play (15th May – 3rd October 2010)
The history of the Oberammergau Passion Play began in 1633 when, in the middle of the Thirty Years War, after months of dying and suffering from the plague, the people of Oberammergau took a vow to perform the ‘Play of the Suffering, Dying and Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ’ every ten years. The first performance took place in 1634. As early as the mid-18th century, spectators came to Oberammergau from all over Germany to see the play and today, Oberammergau welcomes visitors from all over the world. In 2010, the village will be performing the play for the 41st time. More than 2,000 performers, all from Oberammergau itself, re-enact the five-hour passion play. In previous years, performances broke for lunch; for the first time in 2010, the play will run from 2.30pm until about 10.30pm.
Several tour operators will be offering packages to the Oberammergau Passion Play in 2010 and all of them advise advance registration for their tours. Due to the high demand for accommodation, hotels, inns, guest houses and private rooms are all used for the village stay. Many tour operators can custom-make an itinerary for your group to combine the Passion Play with a longer stay in Bavaria. Examples range from five, seven and nine-night stays in Austria, Italy and Switzerland and a 14 night fully escorted coach tour, all incorporating a one or two night stay in Oberammergau with a ticket for the Play, to suggested itineraries combining Oberammergau with Salzburg and The Austrian Tyrol, Verona and Lake Garda, the Austrian Salzkammergut Lakes, the Bernese Oberland, the Rhine Valley or the Black Forest.
If you are planning to take your group to the Passion Play in 2010, it is essential that you make contact with a tour operator prior to Christmas this year to avoid disappointment.
How to get there
Bavaria is easily reached by air from the UK with regular flights operating to Munich International Airport. British Airways operates from Heathrow, Glasgow and Bristol, Lufthansa from Heathrow, Birmingham and Manchester, Air Berlin and easyJet from Stansted, Easyjet from Edinburgh and Cirrus Airlines from London City. Munich International Airport is 23 miles north of the city. There are easy connections to the city using the S-bahn railway.
By rail, the easiest route is via Brussels. Regular Eurostar services operate from London’s St Pancras International and Ebbsfleet International in Kent to Brussels Midi, from where there are direct trains to Munich with Deutsche Bahn.
By bus, Eurolines operates a direct service to Munich from Victoria Coach Station in London.
By road, Munich is 620 miles from Calais – P&O Ferries and SeaFrance both operate regular crossings from Dover to Calais. Another option is to cross to Europe from Harwich to the Hook of Holland with Stena Line. The driving distance from the Hook of Holland to Munich is 530 miles.
We are grateful to have had access to the image library of Bayern Tourismus Marketing GmbH in illustrating this feature. (images are marked 1-5)
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
Katrin Lukosch
German National Tourist Office,
PO Box 2695
London W1A 3TN
Telephone: 020 7317 0910
Fax: 020 7317 0917
Email: gntolon-trade@d-z-t.com
Web: www.germany-tourism.co.uk