Aschau Im Chiemgau
A sleepy little village in the hills beside Bavaria's larges lake, Aschau is a town where horses eat grass and humans eat cake.
Coming in hot from romantic Verona, I was ready to fall in love with Aschau. The scenery is stunning, my friend Verena was such a lovely host, and to be honest I was ready for a small town again to remind me of home!
^ The mountains, chickens and totem pole in Verena's garden
The view from my room overlooked the rocky crag in the middle of the valley which was home to the Schloss Hohenaschau (Hohenaschau Castle). Because it was off season for tourism, the castle was closed when I was there, but I wanted a closer look, so I climbed the 50 or so meters and looked around...
^ Looking back towards the house, it is out of frame to the right
v Looking North West towards the lakes of the Chiemsee
The family graveyard was also beautifully creepy...
Like most German castles, Hohenaschau has a long and winding history, inevitably ending as a tourist destination and civic ownership (the Federal Republic of Germany to be exact). An important nobel seat for about 7 centuries, the castle started to lose importance by the 19th Century when the last ruling family died. After that a rich Industrial Baron bought the castle for his family to live in. The collective memory of the townsfolk remembers this family as the most recent and interesting resident, as the son of Baron von Cramer-Klett Theodor was apparently rather foolish, and lost the castle on a drunken game of cards. Not something you would want to explain to your wife the next morning. The information boards outside boasted an impressive corridor of heraldic statues, gothic interiors and a torture chamber complete with shackles.
^ Verena's house is in the little green valley to the left, the castle is on the right, and the town in the foreground
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Bavarian's are an interesting mix of traditional and modern. Perhaps conservative and festive are better adjectives. For example, they love hiking and getting out into 'ze nature', but at the same time love eating cake. The cable car and mountain-top restaurant combo illustrates this rather well. I didn't photograph the huge alpine lodge restaurant, but it felt like a rendezvous point in a James Bond movie. Not a whole lot of hiking going on today!
next: Schloss Herrenchiemsee | The German Versailles
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