Part Two of Two: A ride on and walk by the Königssee
Wikipedia says it best:
"The Königssee is a lake located in the extreme southeast of the German State of Bavaria (Bayern), near the German-Austrian Border. Lying near the Bavarian town of Berchtesgaden in the municipality of Schönau am Königsee, just south of the Austrian city Salzburg in the German Alps, the Königssee is the third deepest lake in Germany. The lake was formed by glaciers during the last ice age. It is 7.7 kilometers long and about 1.7 kilometers across at its widest point. Except at its outlet, the Königsseer Ache at the village of Königssee, the lake is surrounded by steeply rising flanks of alpine mountains (2.000 m), including the fabled Watzmann.
"A subcamp of the Dachau concentration camp was located nearby."
So, now that you know all about it, let's take a boat ride out to the middle of the lake and see the charming St. Bartholomä church (but I was too short on time to get you an inside view, sorry, but check out Wikipedia's photos). Wikipedia again says it best:
"The St. Bartholomä church is a Catholic pilgrimage church . . . named for St. Bartholomew (Bartholomäus in German). The church is located on the western edge of the Königssee (King's Lake) on the peninsula of Hirschau. It can only be reached by ship or after a long hike. The chapel originated in part in the 12th century. Since the 16th century it has been in the baroque style. St. Bartholomew is said to be the protector of alpine farmers and of milkmaids. St. Bartholomä has two onion domes and a red domed roof. The floor plan is based on that of the Salzburg Cathedral. The church features stucco work by the Salzburg artist Josef Schmidt and a three-apse choir. The altars in the apses are consecrated to St. Bartholomew, St. Catherine, and St. James respectively."
This is what leaving Schönau looked like from the boat:
The first view on the lake was this one:
I found the views impressive (on one side there is a cave being dissolved into the limestone by a waterfall --the central Alps are granites, the northern Alps are limestone):
Before long, the church came into view:
Couldn't help but notice a strange thing in the forest to the right, a zone of flattened trees it looked like from the boat. So I knew what my destination was going to be if I had enough time (last boat back for the day was in 40 minutes, I was warned).
As soon as I hit pavement I made for the woods, passing the church along the way:
I soon saw the strange feature in the woods up close, and a sign explaining it was a quite recent avalanche (1999) that did this:
With this mystery solved, I had to run some of the way back to the dock, but the views along the lake were so nice I just had to take a few photo breaks:
I made it. Last man on.
Coming back into Schönau, I saw several telescopes pointed at the Eagles' Nest, where I did not go the next morning as originally intended because of weather. It is in the clouds and not visible even now on the obscured peak toward the right:
These were NOT the best looking women I saw in the area, and not the only ones in Bavarian style clothes, but they were the only ones that were likely to hold still for my camera:
Go back to a walk on a hill by Berchtesgaden
Just some photos from Austria between two parts of Germany
Two castles on the "Romantic Road," Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau
The Dachau concentration camp memorial
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