Oberammergau STAGE 43 OBERAMMERGAU Land Baviera GARMISCH-PARTERNKIRCHEN Alta Baviera District Km 20 +366 -501 race E Oberammergau is home to a municipality of 5.290 inhabitants, situated in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria. This small town is famous for its high number of mural paintings on houses, for its traditional procession staging the Passion of Christ in the streets, for hosting a NATO school. This municipality is crossed by the Alpenstrasse , an O enchanting route 500 km long across the Bavarian and Austrian Alps. The town is also known for the skill of its wood sculptors. Oberammergau is famous for its “ Lüftlmalerei” or frescoes . The subjects of these frescoes follow the Bavarian religious tradition, of its fables and tromp l’oeil figures intended to puzzle the viewer. The practice of the Lüftlmalerei is typical of Bavaria and its name derives from a house in Oberammergau called Zum Lüftl which was the residence of a famous and much appreciated painter of façades called Franz Seraph Zwinck. 1 2 Oberammergau—Garmisch-Partenkirche 3 We leave the curious town walking along the Eugen Papst Strasse to reach the bridge by which we cross the river Ammer . Having crossed the river we turn on the left and take the cycling/pedestrian lane along the river which we follow for 2,3 km, we underpass the 23 and turn right 4 we follow the river Ammer for a further 900 m on a gravel lane, then turning sharp to the left, we cross the river on a footbridge and take the footpath which shortly after follows a small canal leading to an ancient water mill now converted into a restaurant. After the mill we turn right, we cross the road and the field, then we walk on the footpath next to the woods on the right and in just over 2 km it will take us into full view of Ettal . We come out of the wood and cross a plain below the village on a footpath, and arrive on the 23 right in front a Monastery; here it is ‘obligatory’ to visit the Benedictine Abbey going back to 1300 5 We resume our walk, this time on road 23, but on the sidewalk. We leave the 23 when it turns right while we continue straight on. Going uphill we cross a locality with a few houses and begin to go downhill along a stony path through a wood toward the valley of Oberau, which we reach in 1,5 km. We enter the town on the Alte Ettaler Strasse, we turn right, next to the 23 , then left on the Am Kreuzacker, 100 m to the right on the 23 , then we go left on the Hauptstrasse; at the crossroad we turn right on the Schmiedeweg, we cross road 2 where it joins with the 23 , watch the traffic, (use the underpass) we continue on the Werdentelser Strasse, we turn left and cross the railway line 6 Over the railway we turn right along the river which we cross on the left after 250 m: we are in the valley of the Loisach . We follow the river for about 4 km on a gravel lane on flat ground, very beautiful for the surrounding meadows and a variegated river landscape. We arrive in the municipality of Farchant which we will not cross since we remain on the opposite bank of the river 7 continuing to cross very beautiful meadows, with rivulets. We gradually go uphill to reach road 2 which runs below us into a tunnel, 8 we arrive in the outskirts of Garmisch. We walk the Munchner Strasse, which takes us on the Ludivig Strasse turning right after 800 m: we cross road 2 and we arrive in the municipal square of Garmisch-Partenkirchen . 9 Garmisch-Partenkirche 10 .