GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN The Chamber Musicians have twice visited Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in 2003 and again in 2004, on each occasion to give a concert at the Richard-Strauss-Institut. On both tours our visit began with a scenic drive over the mountains from Kloster Benediktbeuern, where we were staying. We used the local bus service (for ‘bus’ read ‘coach’). The railway lines in this region follow the valleys between the mountains and while Garmisch is on the main line from Munich to Innsbruck, Benediktbeuern is on a branch line. To get to Garmisch by train you have to travel roughly NW to Tutzing, which is on the main line, then back south to Garmisch and, unusually for Germany, the connections are not always good. So it takes less time to go by road, straight over the mountains (in a manner of speaking). We were very happy to do this as the scenery is marvellous. On our second visit we had an out of date bus timetable, missed our bus, and had to travel by train one stop further down the line from Benediktbeuern to Kochel-am-See, and wait for another bus there. However public transport in Germany is amazingly good and amazingly inexpensive. Buses and trains run absolutely to time and are never crowded. So if we had to cool our heels in Kochel for an hour or so it was our fault, not that of the transport system. Anyone visiting Garmisch-Partenkirchen as a holidaymaker would probably head for the mountains, winter or summer. It is a major ski resort in winter and in summer the alpine scenery is a big attraction. However on each visit we were only there for the one day, and there was a concert to prepare for, which did not leave time for much else.
				The Bavarian Alps near Garmisch-Partenkirchen
					Garmisch-Partenkirchen is an attractive town with wide streets and typically Bavarian architecture. Like all the towns in this region, it lies in a valley between high mountains.
					Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Map of the region south of Munich showing the location of Garmisch-Partenkirchen
						Garmisch-Partenkirchen was formed by the amalgamation, in 1935, of the two originally separate towns of Garmisch and Partenkirchen, in preparation for the Winter Olympics which were held there in 1936. The Olympic stadium is of course still a feature of the town. Our main interests in Garmisch-Partenkirchen centred however around The Richard-Strauss-Institut in Schnitzschulstraße, off the Hauptstraße (High Street). This is towards the top right hand corner of the map below. Our bus dropped us off outside the Rathaus (Town Hall) in Bahnhofstraße (Station Road) and it was just a short walk around the corner to the Institut. We lunched at an Italian restaurant in Rathaus Platz, also just round the corner, and after our concert it was a fairly short walk to the station. There are no buses that late, so we would get back to Kloster Benediktbeuern at about half past midnight. We therefore spent most of our day in quite a small area of the town (actually in Partenkirchen). In 2004 some of the party took a ride in one of the cable cars, of which there are several. The surrounding mountains are very much a part of the scene wherever you are in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, as you can see from the photographs below. The geography of the area is best understood with the help of the three dimensional map below on the left. The major landmarks are the Alpspitze and the Zugspitze, the latter being Germany’s highest mountain. Beneath the Zugspitze lies the Eibsee. This beautiful lake is a famous beauty spot. The orientation of the map on the left is slightly confusing because it has been rotated through 180 degrees compared with the normal orientation, so North is at the bottom. You have to imagine that you are looking south as though you are approaching from Munich. The reason for this orientation is that a view from the South would leave Garmisch-Partenkirchen hidden behind the mountains. The Wetterstein mountain range then extends to the East, with Mittenwald beyond it. The Eibsee is roughly south-west of Garmisch. The RSI, which was our destination, is in the south-east corner of Partenkirchen. In 2003 we arrived in Garmisch-Partenkirchen slightly earlier in the day (not having missed our bus) and spent the morning visiting the Villa Strauss. Reached by a bus ride across town and then a short walk, the Villa Strauss is on the north-western edge of Garmisch, in Zoeppritzstraße. Looking at the three dimensional map, that would seem to mean that it is the Kramerspitz which rises behind the villa, and that the Alpspitze and the Zugspitze are seen across the valley, from the front of the house.
Garmisch from above the Olympic Stadium		A postcard commemorating the Winter Olympics of 1936
Map of the south-eastern corner of Partenkirchen, showing the station, Bahnhofstraße, Hauptstraße, Schnitzschulstraße and the Richard-Strauss-Institut
Three dimensional map of Garmisch-Partenkirchen and the surrounding mountains
Map of the north western edge of Garmisch, showing the location of Zoeppritzstrasse						Richard Strauss
Aerial photograph showing the Eibsee. The Zugspitze is just outside the photograph and Partenkirchen is also partly hidden at the right of the picture			Garmisch-Partenkirchen seen from the summit of the Alpspitze. The Zugspitze is behind the viewer
The aerial photograph and the view from the summit of the Alpspitze, above, both provide views of Garmisch-Partenkirchen from the south west and the south, and show the wider panorama of the Alps and the flat plain which lies to the north of them, where Munich is situated. Our two visits to Garmisch-Partenkirchen and to the Richard-Strauss-Institut were obviously part of a quest to experience the environment in which the composer lived and worked for roughly the last forty years of his life. He moved there in 1908 and he died and was buried there in 1949. Strauss clearly identified himself with this region of Bavaria and one of its main attractions for him was almost certainly its outstanding natural beauty. He loved to walk in the mountains, as his Alpine Symphony attests, and in order to understand more fully one of the major sources of his inspiration as a composer, one would have to head up into the mountains on foot as he did. Unfortunately time constraints did not allow us to do this, and hiking does not really combine very well with a concert schedule, but we certainly saw something of the landscape which inspired him and, as images recorded by others show, it is a stunningly beautiful landscape.
			The Villa Strauss, Garmisch-Partenkirchen
							Alpine wildflowers in spring
	The Eibsee
In the mountains above Garmisch-Partenkirchen
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Arial photograph showing the Eibsee. The Zugspitze is just outside the photograph and Partenkirchen is also partly hidden at the right of the picture			Garmisch-Partenkirchen seen from the summit of the Alpspitze. The Zugspitze is behind the viewer
The arial photograph and the view from the summit of the Alpspitze, below, both provide views of Garmisch-Partenkirchen from the south west and the south, and show the wider panorama of the Alps and the flat plain which lies to the north of them, where Munich is situated. Our two visits to Garmisch-Partenkirchen and to the Richard-Strauss-Institut have obviously been part of a quest to experience the environment in which the composer lived and worked for roughly the last forty years of his life. He moved there in 1908 and he died and was buried there in 1949. Strauss clearly identified himself with this region of Bavaria and one of its main attractions for him was almost certainly its outstanding natural beauty. He loved to walk in the mountains, as his Alpine Symphony attests, and in order to understand more fully one of the major sources of his inspiration as a composer, one would have to head up into the mountains on foot as he did. Unfortunately time constraints did not allow us to do this, and hiking does not really combine very well with a concert schedule, but we certainly saw something of the landscape which inspired him and, as images recorded by others show, it is a stunningly beautiful landscape.
In the mountains above Garmisch				Alpine wild flowers in Spring
	The Eibsee
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