June 18th & 19th: Alpine Walks

Two consecutive days saw us in the Alps close to the border with Austria.

On the first day we went to Oberammergau, which most people will associate with the Passion Play. This is performed every 10 years, in years ending with “0”, and dates from 1634 when the village made a vow to perform a passion play for being spared from the plague. It is said that over half of the 5,000 plus villagers take part. Does that include the programme and ice cream sellers?

Oberammergau feels more like a town than a village because of its many tourist shops and hotels/guest houses. Apart from the play, the village is a tourist venue in its own right, being set in a beautiful valley and with many extraordinarily painted houses. This is an example that reflects the Passion Play

Some of these murals are country scenes, some fairy stories like Hansel and Gretel, and others are elaborate architectural features like balconies and porches. So if you’re thinking of getting, say, a conservatory, save your money and get one painted on instead. The photo underneath shows how effective it is.

The Oberammergau area is famous for traditional woodcarving, with around 120 woodcarvers working in the area, and is the location of the Bavarian School of Woodcarving. Next is a photo of a woodcarving of a travelling salesman of woodcarvings. The shops are full of woodcarvings of all types and sizes many, like the one in the photo, nearly life size. As impressive as these are, where would you put them in the average house? No, our toilet’s not big enough either.

A few miles from Oberammergau is Linderhof Palace. It was developed in its present form by Ludwig 11 of Bavaria, between 1864 and 1886, having originally been his father’s hunting lodge. It is the smallest of Ludwig’s three palaces.

By the time we arrived, the inside tours had finished for the day but just walking the grounds was well worthwhile. Ludwig had been greatly influenced in its design by Louis XIV’s Versailles, which can be seen from the photo.

Day two took us to Garmisch, from where we started our Alpine walk. Not far up the path, when we’d got some height, we were treated to some stunning views of Zugspitz, Germany’s tallest peak.

The day was hot as we toiled upwards and, even with intermittent shade from the pine trees, we were glad to reach the more level alpine meadows. A cold drink would have been most welcome. But wait a minute. And it’s not a mirage: a real life café/restaurant, right here by the meadow

We head straight in. It’s pretty full, but we get a table under one of those white umbrellas. We decide to have lunch including, of course, the cold drinks. Paul rounded it off by ordering the largest desert in the world. Even with the help of the rest of the group some had to be left. So here it is, a true complement to the giant burgers we had in Sibenik.

Lunch over and we needed to carry on with the walk. The meadows were full of flowers, with a mountain backdrop and the path was flat, so it was an easy and delightful stroll. As the trail started its downward run towards Garmisch, we noticed a small chapel to one side of the route.

You can perhaps see from the photo below that the circular, white wall has things attached to it. These are wooden plaques commemorating deaths of local servicemen in the last war. Many perished on the Russian Front where 90% of all German deaths occurred. Each plaque held a faded sepia photo of the lost person: sometimes two or even three sons from one family. They all looked so young.

It was a moving reminder that Germany suffered even more family tragedies than us in the last war and that, regardless of the politics, the rank and file on both sides bore the brutality of the conflict.