Another Bavarian Lake

 

Today I am taking you to Starnberger See, another lake near München. We have already been to Ammersee, but today we're riding on a different train which we will leave at Possenhofen and walk through the forest down to the lake. We'll pass a meadow that you've already seen.

From there it is just a Katzensprung ("cat jump" -> stone's throw) to the lake. Like Ammersee, Starnberger See has many piers that lead into the lake. These piers are very popular with the population for just hanging out for a few hours and make the most of the time at the lake.

The perfect backdrop for wedding pictures! We loved the swan swimming up to the couple. What you can't see is that the bride is holding their infant daughter as well.

After spending quite some time right here at the lake we took a walk along it. I have no idea what this old tower was used for. I can only guess that it used to belong to the castle grounds of Possenhofen.

We could only see a bit of the castle peeking through the vegetation. It is the childhood home of Princess Elisabeth in Bayern, who was known as "Sisi". She later became Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary and was assassinated in Geneva. She is often known as the tragic empress and the "Sissi" movie trilogy with Romy Schneider as Elisabeth was a huge success in Germany (and the start of Romy Schneider's remarkable carreer). Elisabeth's real life was a bit different than told in the movies though.

Almost directly on the opposite shore of the lake is the Votivkapelle, a memorial chapel for König Ludwig II (King Louis II), the Märchenkönig (fairy tale king). He was a cousin of Sisi and was engaged to her youngest sister Sophie Charlotte; however, they never married. Ludwig II built some of the best known castles in Bavaria, Herremchiemsee, Linderhof (my favorite) and, of course, Neuschwanstein which is particularly popular with Americans and which served as inspiration for Disney's Cinderella castle. He died at Starnberger See on June 13, 1886 and it is still unclear what had happened (murder? accident? natural death?). A cross was errected where his body was found - you can see it in the photo if you look hard (it's right on the shore).

I loved the wide meadows with the majestic trees. There were many chestnut trees in bloom and of course I saw a few of my beloved Copper beeches.

Chestnut bloom

The meadows were full with Pusteblumen (dandelion clock) - I remember blowing the seedheads apart as a child. Don't all children do that?

Let's take a last look at the lake before heading home.

After all these hours on the lake we need something to drink because this is for Elizabeth's T Tuesday where we show a drink every week. What do you think I'm bringing to Elizabeth's today? Of course it's beer from a beer garden - all of us having Weißbier. I hope someone who is familiar with the culture of German Weißbier/Hefeweizen sees what is wrong in this picture. Prost!