The Old Bavarian Village in Schliersee is a museum of a different art. It showcases old Bavaria of the eighteenth century, as well as, all winter sports related things. An odd combination, one might think, that is, until one relates Markus Wasmeier to the place.
Markus Wasmeier is a German athlete and an alpine racer from the nineteen eighties and nineties. He won two Olympic gold medals for the Giant Slalom and Super-G in the nineteen ninety-four Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. At twenty-one, he had already won the Giant Slalom event at the nineteen eighty-five World Championships in Italy. He also won a total of nine World Cup races, including the Combined and Super-G events in France in nineteen eighty-six. Not surprising though, Markus was born and raised in picturesque Schliersee in Germany.
Church amidst alpine landscape
Markus has founded The Old Bavarian Village on the idea of preserving Bavaria's cultural heritage and modelled it according to the traditional Bavarian rural life of the eighteenth century. He housed and lodged endangered farm animals in the village and on its surrounding meadows and grasslands and planted rare Alpine herbs and vegetables in the herb garden and time-honoured Bavarian crops on the grasslands. That the lake region and mountain scenery of Schliersee is as beauteous and breathtaking as it is seems only fitting to this beautifully rendered old village.
Old Bavarian Village spans an area of sixty thousand square metres, has twelve historic buildings and four courtyards containing their own utility and other auxiliary buildings. There are, among other things, a brewery, a church, an artisan house, a herb garden, a monastery garden, a beer garden, a barn, a bakery, walking and riding tracks, an old-style bread oven, and traditional Bavarian farmhouses.
There are farm animals as one would expect to find in any old village. Cattle and mountain sheep graze on the surrounding lush hills and meadows and, to the amusement of visitors, chickens and geese walk freely in the village grounds and follow groups of visitors around or hang about patrons in the beer garden.
Schliersee's Old Bavarian Village opened its doors to the public at the dawn of the new millennium, which is perhaps, a felicitous coincidence. Its founder and his team continually add and append to and improve on what is already in existence; a mill and a chapel are currently under construction. Charitable organisations, Dekeyser and Friends of Geneva, and a number of volunteers from around the globe provided assistance and support for the recently completed fourth courtyard.
Dining is excellent either at the beer garden or at inn at The Wofen. The food is extraordinarily good and the home-brewed beer is excellent. It is perhaps due to the use of local produce, sourced both from within the village and the region of Schliersee, that the food is exceptionally good. A pleasant day only adds to the enjoyment of this fantastic old place, its fresh air, its alpine sights, its excellent Bavarian food and beer specialities, not excluding, its home-made pastries from the village bakery. Mains start at eight Euros, a litre of beer is around six Euros.
Entrance to the Old Bavarian Village and Museum costs eight Euros for adult visitors, five Euros for young people between the ages of eight and sixteen and is free for children below the age of eight. There are also special and discounted admission fees for families, groups, students, the handicapped, trainees, and so on. It is worthwhile to ask at the entrance to the museum.
The region of Schliersee is easily accessed via Munich. It is a mere one-hour travel, by car, by bus or train. There are plenty of car parking spaces at the entrance to the museum. The train station is a five-minute walk to and from the museum and buses stop outside of the train station. However one gets there, one can be assured of magnificent views to the lake of Schliersee and the mountains around it, and that is before one even gets to this destination.
