Curious Traveler

(bright music) - "Curious Traveler" is made possible by the following.

(air rushing) (electronic tone beeping) (bright music) (happy music) Upper Bavaria was the center of power for this part of Germany for centuries, so that explains the incredible abundance of beautiful castles and palaces, one really impressive town hall, and lots of perfectly-proportioned parks.

This region is also especially proud of its folk costumes and folk customs.

So come along and get curious with us in one of the most beautiful regions of the country.

(happy music) Our journey across Upper Bavaria begins with Linderhof Palace in Ettal, then onto the historic city center of Munich, and then we go out to the Bavarian countryside for picture-perfect Mittenwald and Wallgau.

(happy music continues) So grab your paintbrushes and your lederhosen, and here's what I'm curious about in Upper Bavaria.

Who lived here, here, and here?

What does a monk have to do with the name Munich?

Where can you find two scary dragons?

Why is there a swan here, here, and here?

When did a king dine with imaginary friends in this gloriously-gilded palace?

And how is a centuries-old Bavarian mural tradition being kept alive today.

A work of arts.

Who, what, where, why, when, and how?

So much to be curious about in Upper Bavaria.

(water rushing) Before Bavaria was a state or region of Germany, it was a duchy and then a kingdom, and where you have a kingdom, you get kings and queens and castles.

(ballroom music) And in this case, one particular Bavarian king had a passion for building stunning castles across his kingdom.

Fortunately for the kingdom and for visitors today, that king had really, really great taste.

King Ludwig II, of course, is Bavaria's legendary king.

He left behind many mysteries, many rumors, and some pretty spectacular palaces and castles.

His most famous and his grandest, of course, is the Neuschwanstein Castle, known as the fairytale castle.

But he also had this little beauty, I can't believe I'm calling it little, Linderhof Palace.

It was chosen because this area was very remote at the time.

It was farmland then a small hunting lodge, all set against these glorious mountains.

But if you look closely, and you see that golden fountain there, if that looks a little bit familiar, that is because the king modeled this palace after Versailles.

And the closer and the closer you look, the more you see those curious symbols and allegories.

(playful music) So to get that closer look, let's head inside the palace, (playful music) where we're joined by palace guide Annalisa Tudisco.

Every single room in here is incredible.

I walked in here and I said, "Wow."

So somebody liked gold, I think.

- Of course, loved gold.

- Loved the gold.

I can't even believe it.

So this, of course, called the Hall of Mirrors, based on Versailles.

If you kind of look up and then you look around, and it's gold, gold, gold, gold, gold.

Lots of beautiful things to see.

So I first saw this and I said, "I'd like to take a nap there."

Did the King lounge there and receive people, or what was this little sort of daybed used for?

- Basically never ever received anybody here.

He chose a spontaneous self-reclusion on the mountains to various reasons.

And this was a room, the study, and the reading room.

- Oh, lovely.

Okay.

- He spent all his nights here reading books or planning the construction of a lot castles and palaces they would've wanted.

- The king hired hundreds of architects and artists, some with a theater background, as you can see, to bring his dramatic over-the-top vision to life throughout the palace's many rooms.

And to me, at least, this is one of the more unique dining rooms I've seen before because the table looks a little small for a king, and I only see one chair.

Was this dinner for one, or (chuckles) what was the idea?

- Well, usually there were three chairs.

- Ah, okay.

- And let's say then 90% of the time, the king was alone.

He invited once an actor, a friend of his, and the other times he will, well, it's a legend that he will encharge the servants to set the table for imaginary guests too, but I can't confirm it.

- Hey, when you're the king, you can have imaginary guests.

You can do whatever you want, whatever you want.

Tell us the really fun detail that you might pass by and not notice unless you look down into the floor.

What's so special about the floor here?

- You can see through.

So this table worked basically as a lift, as an elevator.

So through an hand crank manually activated by the servants, the table was lowered to the ground floor.

- The entire table would go underground.

- The entire table on this- - Wow.

- Yes.

Platform was lowered.

It was set with a plate, and was lifted up again with everything ready for consumption.

- And did the king have a little button or a bell or something?

- He had a bell.

- He had a bell.

- Yeah, he will ring the bell.

- And they'd go to do the different courses.

Was the idea just extravagance or the idea was he didn't wanna have to interact with the servants or it was just a fun, it was kind of like- - It was a honoring, once again, Versailles, because such tables existed.

And the Sun King had such table in the Petit Trianon in Versailles, use it to impress his mistresses.

- I love it 'cause you never have any dirty tables or dirty dishes there on the table.

You just lower their table and get that outta here.

(playful music) And the extravagance and quirky and beautiful details continue from the ceilings to the chandeliers, to the little cherubs forever floating above, all decked out in gold, of course.

No surface is left untouched, including this little corner here.

It could have just been a broom closet, but, oh no, not here.

Instead, the king turned it into a little nook dedicated to the swan.

Why a swan?

Well, because of the wonderful German legend about a knight named Lohengrin who protected the Holy Grail and scooted around on a boat pulled by a swan.

(playful music continues) The swan was believed to be a sacred animal and becomes the symbol of the swan knights.

So later, King Ludwig grows up in Hohenschwangau, or the High Swan Castle, and loves the swan knight legend so much that he later builds another castle, his most elaborate and most famous, and names it Neuschwanstein, which means New Swan Castle.

One last bit of swan trivia for you.

The king also built a grotto beneath Linderhof Palace so he could ride around in his swan boat whenever he pleased.

(playful music) And finally, back above ground, we go from swans to suns and visit the largest room in the palace, the king's bedroom.

The most grand room of them all.

I mean, this is incredible.

This is incredible.

So as we've been chatting, everything in the palace inspired by Versailles.

How does this, the size of this bed, compare to Louis XIV in Versailles?

- It's definitely double the size.

- It's incredible.

- The room is double the size.

The decoration, the density of the ornaments, I will say three, four fold, more decorated.

You can't compare it.

- And what looks like tapestries, three on each side, is actually what?

- Well, these are embroideries.

- But they're three dimensional.

- Yeah, they stick out from the walls.

- It's incredible.

- As you can see, they completely come out.

- [Christine] Yeah, you don't notice it at first.

- [Annalisa] Exactly, there's a framework underneath, and they stretch the silk and embroidered on it.

- That's fantastic.

And the last detail in this over-the-top, over-gilded room, the sun there, of course.

Another nod to the sun's king.

And when this king woke up, and he would turn and look directly, and he had quite the amazing view of the many gardens that are outside.

And what would he wake up to here?

What would he see?

- [Annalisa] Out here to the god of the seas and the lakes and the water's nature.

- Yeah, I think you'd feel like a king or even a god waking up to this view every day.

(playful music) Next we go from King Ludwig's palace to the heart of his ancestral home, Munich, to trace his family tree.

(happy music) (train bell dings) In the center of beautiful Old Town Munich, of course, is its Rathaus or City Hall, and it is so huge, it covers an entire city block.

There's so much to read along the facades there, everything from gargoyles to monks, to maybe even a little pretzel and for sure a dragon or two.

But the main event, of course, is its beautiful Glockenspiel, there in the middle of the center tower, (bell dings) one of the largest and most elaborate in all of Europe.

And since it's a Glockenspiel, of course, it has to tell a curious story.

So on the top balcony, we have the celebration of a 1568 wedding between a Bavarian Duke and a French noblewoman.

And what better way to celebrate this union than with a jousting competition?

So three times a day as the Glockenspiel spins around, you can see the battle between a Bavarian knight and a French knight.

I'm gonna put my money on that Bavarian night.

And then just below that, you can't have a wedding without a wedding reception, so on the lower balcony, we have a nice tribute to, of course, Bavarian beer with those all important beer barrel makers all dressed in their signature leather aprons on, dancing the night away, and I'm just going to guess some really fine German beer was had that day.

(playful music) And on the corner of City Hall, seeming to climb up one of the towers, is a curious creature of the reptilian and mythological kind.

(playful music continues) Here on the southwest corner of City Hall, you will see a huge black dragon, you can't miss him, trying to curl his way up to the top of City Hall.

This is a representation of the plague that unfortunately hit the people here of Munich, just as it did other parts of Europe, during the Middle Ages.

But there is hope to be found in the imagery as well because just above the dragon, you can see the citizens of the city fighting back.

And the idea here is that they will prevent the plague from ever hitting the city again.

But here's the funny part of all of this kind of dark death imagery.

As you kinda look your way up, you'll see some beautiful flowers, and then you will see some windows.

Well, that happens to be the balcony and the offices of the Lord Mayor.

And I like to think that the Lord Mayor chose this particular office because he will be forever protected from that dragon below.

(water rushing) Next just in front of City Hall, we cross Marienplatz.

And just down a side street is the gorgeous St. Peter's Church, the oldest church in Munich.

It is here where we meet up with Anton Feigl, a local and longtime guide, to learn more about Munich's fascinating history.

Where do we get the name Munich or Munchen?

- Yeah, that's quite interesting because the city got its name from monks that were the first one to live here where Munich is nowadays.

When Munich... (chuckles) Confusing me.

- You can say Munchen, and we'll understand it's Munich.

It's okay.

- When Munchen was first mentioned in a document, that was in the year 1158, and they were not talking about Munchen but about the city by the monks.

This Latin word for monks, Munichen, well, that sounds like Munchen, doesn't it?

- It certainly does.

Yeah, yeah.

- And, therefore, the monks, that's the reason why Munchen is called Munchen, because of those monks.

And also the crest of the city is embellished with a monk with a little Bible and standing like this.

- Aww.

And I want people to know that on the crest, it is not a beer and a pretzel, (Anton chuckling) which monks happen to make or has so to do with monks, but it's a monk holding a Bible.

- Yeah.

- Oh, that's lovely.

And soon after Munich was founded, one single family swooped in and made it thrive.

That family is the royal dynasty of the Wittelsbach, whose many generations ruled over Bavaria for centuries.

And yes, this dynasty is King Ludwig II's family.

(regal music) Over the centuries, they built many of the landmarks of Munich and Bavaria that we see today, including Linderhof and Nymphenburg Palace, where King Ludwig II was born, and this ginormous palace in the heart of Munich with all its courtyards, wings, and parks.

- From the year 1180 till the year 1918, they ruled all those 738 years.

- The one family, the one dynasty.

- The one family, they are the longest ruling family in Germany.

I don't know about the rest of the world, but it seems to be quite a long time, right?

(ballroom music) - But, of course, in 1918, with the end of World War I, the German Empire comes to an end, and its more than 20 state monarchies were abolished, including the Bavarian monarchy.

Then in the years leading up to and including World War II, the Wittelsbachs famously opposed Hitler.

So many family members fled Bavaria and some were forced into Nazi concentration camps.

Fortunately, they survived.

There's obviously still ancestors from there still alive.

- Duke Franz of Bavaria, actually, his title is His Royal Highness Duke Franz of Bavaria, he turned 90 this year.

- Oh, that's great.

- And he would be king of Bavaria if Bavaria would still be a kingdom.

- But the Wittelsbach legacy lives on through the many landmarks, churches, and palaces they built here in Munich and across Bavaria.

Next we go from the bustling city of Munich to the quiet, peaceful, tiny village of Mittenwald.

(happy music) Mittenwald was founded in 1307, and in the 17th century it became famous for its violin-making expertise, which brought in a lot of wealth and helped to build the town.

And it also explains these giant violins standing proudly throughout the village.

(happy music) To tell us more about how Mittenwald developed is local guide Regine, all decked out in her dirndl.

Here in your beautiful town along this particular street today, we have people on bikes, probably rollerbladers, and cars and things.

That's not how the towns started.

Tell us how the town started and why this particular location was chosen.

It was for a very important reason.

- The street belonged to a very frequented trade road.

This trade road was from Venice to Augsburg and on the grounds of a former Roman army road.

- [Christine] And this road we're standing on used to be a small stream (stream burbling) connected to a larger river nearby, which also helped out in that trading route.

- So a lot of goods, like the good red wine from Italy, or silk and herbs could be brought on rafts here and sent, transported on the waterway directly to Munich.

- So where you have a trading route, you have a need for inns, restaurants, and stables for all those weary travelers and their horses, so Mittenwald develops a new industry: tourism.

(happy music) And for that history, instead of going inside a museum, here the history is splashed all over these beautiful building.

Obviously, there's murals all over the beautiful town.

- Over there.

- There's a huge one here behind us, and you have to really get this far back to take it all in.

(Regine laughing) What a history.

Who do we have down here at the bottom with the horses?

- At the bottom.

Right in the middle.

It's very on the focus is this yellow coach, right?

- Yeah.

- And you can see the man just coming out of the coach.

So this is a remembrance on our first tourist.

- [Christine] Don't you love that even back then, the taxi cabs were yellow?

Next, keeping with the tourism theme, check out this guy over here.

- He just has this bow.

Does he want a tip already or is it just a sort of devotion?

- I think he's asking for a tip.

We know about tourism.

(Regine laughing) I think he's asking for a tip.

Now look at this postman being handed a drink from a local Mittenwald lady.

- It was perhaps a real hot day, so he's thirsty.

He feels dirty.

Just wants to get rid of his letters.

And so this girl just comes up to him and offers him something.

And you see the other people around there, sitting, talking, making music, singing songs, smoking a pipe, just having a good time.

- It's the beginning of hospitality.

- Yeah.

Right.

And there is a saying in Bavaria, live and let others live as well.

- Aw, that's lovely.

- Enjoy life.

- I knew I loved this town.

I knew I loved this town.

And this same trade route that forever brought tourism to this tiny town also brought something else, these creepy crawly, curious snakes and dragons.

These little things that maybe are like gargoyles, but they aren't really gargoyles.

What in the world are they?

- Well, for me, it's always a good explanation that people are in general pretty religious, or at least they pretend to or have pretended to, (Christine laughing) but at the same time they are superstitious.

So you mentioned the, we call it (speaking in foreign language).

- There is no- - There's no English translation.

- No.

- That's all right.

That's all right.

- But they're sloping down like this away from the house.

And if you can see at the end, it looks like the head of a snake.

- Ah, I see it.

I see it.

- Yeah.

And a snake is a voice, the symbol for sin.

It's a Christian symbol for sin.

- Right.

- So it's something bad.

It has to be a away from the house.

- So that's why it's sticking out from the house?

- Yes.

- Okay.

Okay.

And sometimes one can see even a dragon.

Dragon is for all evil in the world and has to point away from the house.

- See, I know I didn't like snakes for a reason.

And here's the best part.

- One could find it in Northern Italy.

Perhaps there was the idea that our traders, perhaps they have seen it there and brought it here.

- They bring all kinds of things on the trade routes.

It's not just goods.

- It's not only goods.

- It's ideas.

It's ideas.

How curious.

(happy music) Next we go from the tiny village of Mittenwald to the even tinier village of Wallgau.

(playful music) Both these beautiful spots are preserving Bavarian history through a traditional art form.

Over the centuries across portions of Austria and Germany and especially right here in Bavaria, a beautiful technique called Luftlmalerei developed.

It's kind of like decorating your house from the inside out.

So instead of beautiful oil paintings all framed up on the inside, you have gorgeous paintings painted right on the outside of the house.

Now the themes could be everything, from religious to folklore, to perhaps the family crest.

In this case, there's a certain artist who decided that this view was so beautiful, he wanted to preserve it here on this view.

In fact, this mural is painted right onto the artist's home or just attached to his studio.

This is Bernhard Rieger, an artist who is carrying on that Bavarian Luftlmalerei technique along with his other artsy interests, including retro pop art and pointillism and neon landscapes, of course, of the Alpine peaks surrounding his home.

- The colors not naturally, but I can do it with the handy and (vocalizes).

- [Christine] But what Bernhard really specializes in is the modern version of that Luftlmalerei, like this cute scene with the characters in traditional Bavarian costume.

- Artwork.

Yes, it's my homeland.

Yes, and the barns.

- [Christine] But even with its personalized, lighthearted subject, Bernard takes his homeland's tradition very seriously.

- It shows 400 years of Luftlmalerei art.

The houses are from the Baroque, middle seven century.

I try to do it the tradition new but also so that you can see it's an historic art or new art with old colors and traditionary colors.

- In fact, these particular colors are the same ones that have been used for centuries on murals like these, very pale and using only all-natural pigments for a very specific reason.

So the paintings that are on the outside of the buildings, they get rained on.

They get snow.

They get wind.

- When it's a natural pigment, it's no problem.

The color, it's safe for hundred of years.

- Which is incredible.

As long as I don't get it on the my dress, it'll be good.

Well, if this piece is going to last for a hundred years, I need to put my artistic mark on it.

Last one.

I feel like I'm a part perfect of Alpine history now.

Do I get the job?

- Yes.

- There, I'm gonna leave it unfinished like all good artists.

Is that good?

- Perfect.

- Yay.

Thank you.

He's like, "Perfect.

Now let me do it right."

- You have to sign it.

(playful music) (water burbling) - For our last stop, we head back to Munich to visit another artist who is also carrying on the Luftlmalerei tradition but in a very, very modern way.

(playful music) This is Thomas Neumann, who specializes in taking traditional Bavarian themes and putting a modern twist on it.

- One is the other style is Rote.

- You can tell he's an artist by the paintbrush instead of a feather in his traditional Bavarian hat.

But why, you may ask, am I meeting him in this noisy parking lot?

Look at this pretty scene.

- Yeah, it's pretty.

- Well, because for those with an artistic eye, this isn't just a noisy parking lot.

It is in fact an outdoor art gallery.

(playful music) And Tomas is not just an artist but also an art ambassador for Munich's thriving street art scene.

Isn't street art really just a way of bringing the museum or the gallery outside for everybody to enjoy?

- Yes.

The idea is in every street art is and speaking to the people there on the street and walk on the street and see that in a free rooms.

Every street art is a way to say what you want.

- Make a statement.

- Make a statement, yeah.

- This particular piece of street art is the perfect example of that.

This was done by the American artist Shepard Fairey, known for his very famous Barack Obama "Hope" poster.

At first glance, this mural looks like a fun piece of pop art, right?

Well, look again.

Now that I look at it, it's the second time, knowing it's not just a commercial for a paint company.

You see paint it black, as in like the Earth (chucking).

Cover it all, oil-based policy.

That's political.

Black, indoor/outdoor, hazardous worldwide.

It's not so cheery anymore, (chuckling) is it?

- And what can it say?

Indoor/outdoor.

Think about what you do with the oil company.

Think about what you do with oil.

- [Christine] And there's one last detail to the supersized political statement.

Look where we're standing.

- You can start with electrical cars.

Here's some- - Oh, I didn't even notice that element of it.

So it's painted specifically here because this is a place to charge your electric cars.

- Yeah, supporting this.

- That's so cool.

Don't you love it?

From lederhosen to parking lot chickens, to oily pop art, the Bavarian Luftlmalerei tradition carries on in very curious ways.

(scooter humming) (happy music) So from a palace inspired by the Sun King, built for an art-loving, swan-loving, reclusive king.

Wow.

To another palace built by his royal ancestors near a gothic city center with a couple of dragons crawling around, to a storybook Alpine village with a story of tourism splashed across its colorful buildings.

He's asking for a tip.

To two unique artists taking traditional Bavarian mural painting in new directions, one suite and one on the streets.

- Supporting this.

- That's so cool.

Upper Bavaria and Munich have so much to be curious about.

Thank you for joining us on our educational journey, and hopefully now you're even more curious about the who, what, where, why, when, and how's of beautiful Upper Bavaria and Munich.

As they say here (speaking in foreign language).

(playful music) "Curious Traveler" is made possible by the following.

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Go to curioustravelertv.com and find our links to follow us on social media.

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