Hanging out in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany (Maxim Chuev - stock.adobe.com)
Editor’s Note: Caroline Walters is a student writer from Dr. Wiedemer’s and Ms. Ireland’s class at Spangdahlem Middle School (SY 24-25).
In 1935, two towns united in Europe, forming Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It’s home to Neuschwanstein Castle, Hohenschwangau Palace, Linderhof Palace and also is a skiing town. Many will spend time there ice skating, skiing and hiking. If you’ve ever been to Garmisch you’ll know there’s a rich history behind everything there. One place I really suggest going is to one of the palaces or castles. Before I tell you about it, here is a little background on one of the castles.
It was originally meant to be King Ludwig ll’s “better” version of Hohenschwangau. I don’t know why anyone would need a better version of Hohenschwangau, it’s a beautiful building that seems to loom over everything surrounding it to tell them who’s boss, and it’s definitely not Neuschwanstein. I’ve only seen Hohenschwangau Palace in pictures, but it looks amazing. There is also a ghost story about the castle. It claims that the ghost of King Ludwig ll wanders the halls trying to find a way to reclaim his crown. This is because he was taken away from the throne after being deemed mad. He was taken to another castle, and after taking a walk with his doctor, they were both found dead the next day in a lake.
Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany ()
The first time I went to Neuschwanstein Castle was all because of the book “The Land Of Stories: A Grimm Warning.” The series is a must read for anyone with kids, but there is a chance that they might want to go to the places in the book after reading, which I’m all for. It’s also the perfect length for the car ride there seeing as the audiobook is only a few hours long. That was in 2017, and I don’t remember much.
When my parents told me about this trip, they said that we had to take a bus ride up to the castle that was full of tourists. I also know that the castle is full of gorgeous architecture, a plethora of intricate designs, and anyone who has visited it before would tell you that it was an enchanting visit, full of beauty both in nature and the castle itself. Also, in the extravagant amount of items inside. You can also get a view of the mountains.
My favorite place to go in all of Garmisch is a statue of two bears. It’s a fountain that we have many pictures from multiple years of visits. It seems that every single time we go to Garmisch, even though we haven’t been in quite a few years, we go there. The fountain is found on Klammstrasse and depicts two bears that have water spewing out of their mouths. Whenever I see the statue, or pictures of me by the statute, it reminds me of the amazing trips my family has taken to Garmsich. The fountain isn’t a landmark that I know of, but it definitely should be. Also near the fountain is a bench that has two people painted on it. One on each side. We sat down on the bench and took a picture, taking in the view of the mountains in the distance.
Bärenbrunnen (bears fountain) Garmisch, Germany (trolvag, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons)
It seems that everywhere you go in Garmisch you can see the mountains, whether it’s the Zugspitze, or the alps you can always see the snowy tops. This made me disappointed though, because on the days that are perfect for walking it’s all sunny and you have no snow.
Everywhere we went in Garmisch, even on the outskirts of town, was by car. We packed up the back with blankets, pillows, snacks and our two dogs and we set off for our seven-hour drive. I suggest anyone who is driving from somewhere around Spangdahlem should bring books, TV shows, entertainment of some sorts, and also lots of music. The ride mainly consisted of music playing, my sister and me playing hangman, and other car games. We also watched lots of TV. I definitely remember when I was younger complaining about the car ride’s length.
If you’re looking for a good restaurant but you want Italian food you should go to Colosseo. They have amazing pizzas like a pizza margarita or pizza regina, which even though I would never eat I love the name because it’s one of my best friends names. They have carbonara which my sister said was amazing, and they also have a dessert pizza. This was one of the most amazing things I have ever eaten. It had Nutella on it and that’s what made it so amazing. The dough was sweet and the Nutella was amazing. There was powdered sugar sprinkled across the top. This made it look like a fresh snowfall.
Everything that I ate at this restaurant reminded me of my favorite restaurant in the whole world. It’s called Ribot, pronounced re-bows in Naples, Italy. It’s literally the best pizza in the entire world, and I will stand by that statement for the rest of my life. Colosseo was the closest thing I’ve had to real Italian pizza in a long time. It was amazing, and I didn’t spill Fanta on my mom’s pizza this time, which has happened before. None of my friends should be surprised by that information.
After we got to the house we rented and walked around exploring for a day or two, my parents took us to Linderhof Palace. On the drive up, you can see mountains that later I learned were a part of the Alps. Again, like I said earlier, everywhere you seem to go there are mountains in the distance. Driving up the roads to the castle, there was lots of snow scattered around the ground. When we got out of the car, there was slush on the ground. You have to pay for parking, and then you go to a small building close by to buy tickets. It was around 20 euros for my family to go there. After that, it’s an 8-minute walk up to the castle where you meet a tour guide. We had to wait for a few minutes but got to take in the scenery. There was a fountain outside it that had a statue of a man that was all gold. I don’t know if the gold was real or not, but it might have been because the castle had gold leaf in it. It might be the same material.
You can take two different types of tours of the castle. One shows just the second floor of the castle, and the other adds the servants’ quarters. The tour we took was just to the second floor. The tour guide took us through two entry ways that had beautifully decorated vases. Then, the tour guide took us up a flight of stairs that led into the music room. There were hand-painted walls and furniture, and also a specially commissioned piano. It was built for Wagner, who would play music for King Ludwig ll.
After that, we saw a few waiting rooms, one of which had a painting of a French king and his two favorite mistresses. After that, we walked into the room where the king would do his royal business. In this room, there is proof that King Ludwig lived in this castle long term. On the right of the throne behind the table, there is an ink stain on the floor. This is from him knocking over an ink pot and spilling it all over the floor.
Another exciting room you’ll see is the dining room. This is the room where I learned that the table was on a lift system where the servants in the kitchen would place food on the table, then raise it to the dining room. Another interesting thing about the room was that the porcelain vase has a story. It was made with fake flowers on the bottom of the vase, each petal handcrafted from porcelain. The tour guide said that when King Ludwig ll had a guest he didn’t want to look at with him, he would have his employees place the vase in the middle of the table, so he didn’t have to look at them.
There are lots of hidden treasures through the castle and I don’t want to spoil everything so here’s one last bit of information. Another is that found in the dining room is also a pineapple of the chandelier. In French culture, the pineapple was used to show hospitality. When Ludwig ll was having the castle built, he based lots of things off of French architecture and French people he admired. He even had portraits of French poets who were dead in his century, but who he read the works of.
The Linderhof is the king’s only finished palace. Neuschwanstein castle is only partly done, because he died before completing it.
If you want to ride the cable cars up to the Zugspitze, my advice is to decide that before you go to Garmisch. Me and my sister the night before our last full day decided we wanted to go to the Zugspitze. My dad went online to check and see what days and times it was open. The next morning, we found out that we couldn’t go to it, because the cable cars were closed. So instead, we went to the lake right next to it. I don’t know what the lake was called, but it was really pretty.
Young person at the edge of the Eibsee with the Zugspitze in the background. (Pavel Kašák - stock.adobe.com)
We saw a small house across the river and then started looking for rocks to skip across. Of course, I failed at it a few times and never got it across, but my dad managed to keep getting the rocks to skip. Sometimes even up to six times. This really made me mad because it was really hard, and my dad made it look really easy. Even my sister tried and she still failed. The closest I got was when I almost hit a duck with the rock because I just sorta threw it. While all this was
happening, I could again see the mountains. But that’s no surprise seeing as the Zugspitze was right behind me and the Alps right in my eye line.
Garmisch is an enchanting place to visit, making you feel like you’re staying in a fairy tale. You can get delicious German and Italian food, and also trinkets for you to hold on to for a long time. If you love snowy mountain views from everywhere you go, and amazing painted houses, Garmisch is perfect for you. It’s the perfect place to go on a trip to eat, relax and also have many adventures.
If you ever need a place to go on a trip to, Garmisch is the place to go.
