DAY 3 (10th June 2024)
Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Zugspitze, Eibsee & Grainau)
Garmisch-Partenkirchen (G-P, for short) is the gateway to the German Alps. Technically, only a very small part of the Alps graces the southern parts of Germany, while the rest of the country is relatively flat. And it is here, that Germany boasts its tallest mountain, the Zugspitze, at 2,962m. This was supposed to be the highlight of this trip, and I was personally looking forward to walking up to the famous golden cross, planted there since 1851 at the very peak of the mountain.
If Europe had taught me anything, it is that at some places, it is possible to go up a mountain by one way, and come down via another. We went up to Zugspitze by a cogwheel train, and we came down via a direct cable car to Eibsee, a lake at the northern foot of Zugspitze, located at almost 1,000m above sea level. There is a famous outcrop at the lake – a huge rock, actually, which had attracted adventure seekers to visit and leave a note in a specially sealed notebook. It wasn’t easy to find, mind you!
And finally, we ended the day at a small village named Grainau, where we dropped by at a church and then had our dinner before heading back to G-P. And since it was our final night at G-P, we decided to walk around the village at night, but most places were closed.
Cogwheel Train to the Top of Germany
Well, technically, the cogwheel train stops at Zugspitzplatt, and we would have to take a short cable car ride up to the top of Germany. But it starts right in town, in G-P, just a short walk from our AirBnb unit. Since we already confirmed our tickets on the first day we arrived, we didn’t have to make a mad rush to the station, which was filling up very quickly. There were limited seats and limited number of people allowed at the peak at any one time. Our journey began shortly after 9:00am.
The 19km ride itself was more than an hour long, stopping at several small villages along the way including Grainau, Eibsee and Riffelriss. Opened on 8th July 1930, the ride also includes a 4.5km steep ascent through the Rosi Tunnel, built to shorten the final section to the Zugspitze Plateau, where they had built a glacier station at an altitude 2,600m. The most prominent building at the plateau is the Sonn Alpin Restaurant, which serves hot food, a luxury amidst the cold air of the surroundings. We hung around in this area for a while since YH had never seen snow. Even at the height of summer, snow is still present.
Zugspitze
The ride up to the top of the mountain in the cable car was a short one. Finally, we had reached the highest point in Germany, standing at (this is the official figure) 2,962m above sea level. The mountain itself is rich in history, ever since it was first conquered by Josef Naus and team on 27th August 1820. But the locals have claimed that they’ve summited the mountain more than 50 years earlier. There are actually three peaks, the East, the Middle and the West, with the Austrian-German border running right through the peaks. Only the East summit is fully on the German side.
Once upon a time, there was a border checkpoint at the top of the mountain, but has since been removed. However, the buildings here, including the observatory, the restaurant and some other auxiliary buildings extend into Austria, hence we could cross the border on foot. A cable car system has also been constructed to take you straight into the Tirol Region in Austria, if you should choose to continue your adventure there.
Possibly the greatest attraction on the Zugspitze is the Golden Cross, first installed on the top the East Summit in 1851 by Pastor Christoph Ott. The cross has been restored several times due to lightning strikes, bullet holes from the world war and from wear and tear. In fact, it was said that the American troops stationed on the mountain actually used the cross as target practice. Hence, the current one is not the original one, which had been damaged beyond repair.
Sadly, we were told that we were 3 months too early to reach the Golden Cross. The path up, although having been built over with concrete steps and sturdy handrails, was pretty much still impassable due to over 3 to 4 feet of snow covering it, making it treacherous to traverse. For safety reasons, no one is permitted to make that climb. That was disappointing, after seeing so many photographs of the cross appearing in the web.
Cable car down to Eibsee
After spending some time at both the German and Austrian sides of the mountain, we headed down to Eibsee, a small alpine lake on the northern side of Zugspitze. We could’ve also taken the cogwheel to Eibsee, but we decided to try the cable car all the way down – supposedly a more scenic view of the lake, as well. Indeed as the cable car made its descent into Eibsee village, we had an almost heavenly view of the lake, getting bigger on approach. The lake and the village is at almost 1,000m above sea level, so our planned walk around the lake was pleasant and cool.
According to the web, the most prominent place along the circuit walk is this huge rock outcrop along the shore of the lake. We had to search for it, though, as there are no specific maps that lead to the rock. Relying on markings and comments from others from Google Maps, we eventually did find it, and just in time too, as the group which arrived earlier, was packing up to leave. So, we had the rock all to ourselves for the rest of the time there.
Using clues from other travellers from the internet, and a rough idea of the position of the rock, we found a pathway to the left of the main hiking/walking trail that is almost parallel to the lake. It is a much smaller trail that is well-shaded and much more canopied, but the trail can be seen very clearly, so no one should really get lost. However, while the main trail is accessible to most people, this one is not recommended for strollers and wheelchairs. Sorry!
Along the way, we could catch glimpses of the turquoise-coloured lake as we made our way along the tree-lined trail. And it wasn’t long before we finally found the rock, indeed just an outcrop sticking out of the edge of the lake, like a tooth of a huge dinosaur. This outcrop really is nothing extraordinary but just purely for the fact that it was mentioned in several blogs, and that we actually found it, was an adventure to itself!
We spent quite a huge amount of time there, since it was pretty quiet. We had a few visitors from the lakeside, i.e. the local ducks looking for food, and a lady on a stand-up paddle board.
As we were leaving, we noticed a little book under a shrub, which had evidently seen better days. The Ziploc bag that was supposed to protect it from the weather had some leaks somewhere, but the contents of the book was still legible. It was left there by some previous adventurers for other new adventurers to fill in their notes. We obliged.
As we were leaving, we noticed a little book under a shrub, which had evidently seen better days. The Ziploc bag that was supposed to protect it from the weather had some leaks somewhere, but the contents of the book was still legible. It was left there by some previous adventurers for other new adventurers to fill in their notes. We obliged.
Grainau
We made a brief stop at the last destination of the day at the Municipality of Grainau, where 3,400 people call home. The 10-minute bus ride from Eibsee took us right into Untergrainau, a village in the municipality, which is famous for a village chapel named Pfarrkirche St Johannes der Taufer. It is one of those really old chapels where right in front of the chapel are the graves of the faithful from the days gone by.
We found a quaint little café in town and turned in to have our dinner. Naturally, we had to try the Bavarian food and when the food arrived, it did not disappoint. After the meal, we hopped on to the train that would take us back to G-P.
Garmisch-Partenkirchen Town Centre
By the time we arrived back at the AirBnb unit, it was already dark. But we decided that since it was our final night in G-P before we headed out for the conference (Bro. Ray: No, we didn’t forget the real reason why we were there!), we had to at least walk around the town that had so graciously hosted us the last few days. However, most places were already closed, and the town was mostly quiet, bereft of people and vehicles.
One of the more curious buildings we came across was the Kirche St. Sebastian, a small orange-coloured building at the end of Ludwigstrasse, built sometime between 1757 and 1763. And just nearby is the much larger Pfarrkirche Maria Himmelfahrt Partenkirchen, a catholic church.
Summary of Day 3
Since the day we arrived in G-P, our days have been filled with one adventure after another, and today’s adventure would take us from the highest point in Germany, to the beauty and serenity of Lake Eibsee, and then to the tranquillity of Grainau village, before enjoying the night scenes of the seemingly deserted downtown Garmisch-Partenkirchen. That’s probably the most apt description of today. We also travelled around in different modes of transport, all part of the adventure and experience.
I did feel disappointed about missing out on going to the golden cross at the top of Zugspitze, since it was one of the highlights of the trip, and the location where it stands, is the true highest point of the country. But the other adventures of the day more than made up for that.
In general, not many people outside of Bavaria would take time to visit the places that we did these last three days – in fact, not many people have even heard of the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, but this place, having now been here, is a hidden gem. The stories (and pictures) above and from Days 1 – 2 are testament to that!
