Trip to Bavaria 2002

Eight members of Enzian Schuhplattler, plus a friend from the Tyrolian Dancers of Portland, made a trip to Bavaria in July 2002 to attend two Gaufeste. Our president, Carolyn Marquardt, planned the trip with Sepp Probst of D'Windachtaler Trachtenverein in Hofstetten, and we had a wonderful time!

Special Memories

"John reads lips—but not in German!"

"At the Renaissance Fair in Mittenwald, we saw young, barefooted ragamuffin boys Schuhplattling for money and pulling a small wooden wagon."

—Richard Smethurst—

"Richard went into a bicycle shop in Mittenwald and after a while came out and introduced me to the shop owner, who had rock climbed El Capitan in Yosemite. He rented us beautiful mountain bikes and gave us a map to bicycle to the source of the Isar River (where it comes out of the ground). We bicycled from Mittenwald into Sharnitz in Austria and up over a mountain pass, but three hours later, we had not reached the source. We met many friendly hikers and bicyclers along the way. Richard communicated in sign language. It poured rain and I got a flat tire, but we saw beautiful wild flowers."

—Mary Pearse—

Sunday, July 14, Gaufest in Seestall
"We were sitting in the Festzelt after walking in the Festzug (parade) when a German couple, Rudi and Anni Bitner, came up to our table and said, "Hello! We know you from Leavenworth! We saw your photograph in the German newspaper and we said, we have to go to Seestall to see the Schuhplattler from Leavenworth!" They looked on their maps to find Seestall and drove one and a half hours to see us! It was a great surprise!

A week later, we visited Miesbach on market day...as we drove down the street, Margaret said, "There's Rudi!" He was in Miesbach to do his weekly vegetable shopping. Another "It's a small world" experience! We had coffee together in a cafe and said "Auf Wiedersehen." So klein ist die Welt!"

—Carolyn Marquardt—

Roger and Kathy's Travels

The rest of the story is in my words alone...perhaps more memories from the rest of the group can be added later. —Kathy Bruni—

Munich

After a somewhat restless night listening to the storm and later to the early morning traffic heading to the Viktualenmarkt, we ate breakfast in the hotel and packed up the cars. We had a few more hours to shop in Munich, and we made the most of that time, then headed off to Trachten Pöllman, a store in the northern part of Munich where our group purchases most of its Tracht (costumes). We spent several hours there, as various people wanted to buy Tracht, or order pieces that weren't in stock.

After leaving Munich, we headed southwest on the E54 towards Landsberg. The driving directions we had from the German version of Mapquest helped, but they simply weren't up to the task of helping us navigate on unmarked country roads. However, after a few wrong turns and the assistance of a local farmer, we found our way to our host's house in Hofstetten.

Hofstetten

We had time to get acquainted with Sepp and his family—his wife, Irmgard, daughters Hedwig and Irene, and son Martin—and eat a light supper before meeting our host families. Carolyn, Erika, and Margaret stayed with Sepp and his family. Mary and Richard stayed with a couple who lived two houses away. John and Lyle stayed with an older couple who lived about a mile away. Roger and I stayed with Otto and Inge Sanktjohanser and family , who lived about two miles from Sepp's house. Otto is the mayor of Hofstetten—a part-time, non-paying job-in addition to working for the state government of Bavaria. Otto and Inge's son, Florian, works as a roofer and is the Vorplattler (dance teacher and lead male dancer) of D'Windachtaler. Their daughter, Regina, is a nurse. She used to be a member of D'Windachtaler, but quit after breaking her arm and the ensuing long recovery period.

Our first night in Hofstetten, we attended the D'Windachtaler dance practice on a beautiful wooden dance floor upstairs in the Hipp Restaurant. It was interesting to observe them teaching the older children, who practice before the adult practice, and then to watch the adults dance and note the differences between their style and that of our club. As we noted other times when we were in Bavaria, the women in the dance group are young. Once women marry, it is traditional for them to stop dancing with the Schuhplattler group, although they may continue to do folk dances. Roger videotaped most of the practice so that we would have the tape to study later. We demonstrated one of our dances for them, and joined in with them on several dances. Otto presented each of our group with a calendar and a map of Hofstetten, and we in turn made some presentations: we gave Otto with a pin from our Gauverband Nordamerika, Sepp a Gau Chronik (a book that tells a little bit about each of the clubs in the Gauverband Nordamerika) and a Gau pin, and Florian an Enzian Schuhplattler club pin. You can see a picture of Florian and Roger—the two Vorplattlers—here, and a picture of the two Vorstands (presidents), Carolyn and Sepp, here. After practice, a group from D'Windachtaler asked our group to come downstairs and socialize for a while, so we continued to visit for a while. When the party broke up-around midnight—we returned to our host family's house with Florian, where we continued to talk. I think we finally got to sleep about 1 a.m.

Thursday morning, we visited the Klosterkirche (monastery church) in the town of Diessen, then took a paddlewheel steam boat across the Ammersee (the Ammer Lake) to the town of Herrsching. We hiked several kilometers uphill to arrive at the Andechs Monastery, where we were treated to a tour of the monastery church (presently being refurbished) and the seldom-seen reliquary room. The church at Andechs is a famous pilgrimage church because it contains so many relics (physical items from saints, like thorns from the crown of Christ or finger bones from John the Baptist). Each item is kept in a box or jar, generally one made of gold or silver, so even though the items themselves are not visible, the display is impressive. Another impressive sight at the Andechs monastery church is the display of pilgrimage candles, ornately carved and decorated, each one at least five feet tall and five or more inches in diameter. These candles, some dating from the 15th century, were carried at the head of pilgrimage processions and then left at the church. The ornate candles themselves were never burned; a smaller candle was mounted on the top and that was burned as a sign of devotion.

The monastery church may be a famous religious pilgrimage site, but the monastery itself is famous for its beer. Catholicism is the state religion in Bavaria, and residents pay taxes that go to support the churches. However, those taxes do not support the monasteries, so each monastery must find a way to support itself. Most do so through brewing some kind of alcoholic beverage, most commonly beer or schnaps. The monastery at Andechs is famous for its dark, sweet beer, and it boasts a huge outdoor beer garden and cafeteria. We stayed there several hours, getting acquainted with our hosts; eating schweinhaxen, radi, kaese, and schwarzbrot; and walking the extensive monastery grounds.

We drove back to Hofstetten in time to attend a Grillfest (barbecue) hosted by the dance group at the farm of Willi Echter. That was a wonderful relaxing evening of eating and drinking, listening to music and singing German songs (most of which I tried to sing by lip reading, since I didn't know the words!), and observing and trying to learn Goasslschnoizen (whip wielding, done to music). We had a wonderful time, and were firmly resolved after that experience to purchase our own whips and add Goasslschoizen to our repertoire. I left the party about midnight, and it was still going strong.

On Friday, we went to the nearby city of Landsberg for a city tour. The city itself, while pretty enough, did not impress me, but I enjoyed the scenic Lech River that flows through the center of town. Emme, our guide, told us that during medieval times, all the women in the city jumped to their deaths from a tower in the center of town, rather than be taken by the approaching Roman troops and suffer at their hands.

After the Landsberg tour, we visited a family dairy farm in Hofstetten. The family farms in Bavaria are gradually being consumed by the conglomerate farming companies, as they are here in the U.S., so this was something of a rarity. Unfortunately, and due, I think, to mad cow disease, the cows are never allowed outdoors, but spend their entire lives in their stalls in the barns. They are fed by automatic feeding machines that distribute hay and grain down the row of stalls. The floors are slatted so that most wastes fall through and are transported into a holding tank, where they are dried and then automatically piped onto the fields for use as fertilizer. It was interesting to see all the automation on the farm, but I felt sorry for the animals that spent their entire lives penned up.

Friday night was the start of the festival in the nearby town of Seestall. This first night was a Heimatabend—literally, home evening—where the band played and there was some social dancing, but the prime activity was talking, along with the perennial eating and drinking.

Saturday, our group went to Peiting, a nearby town that boasted an excellent Trachten shop—a store where we could purchase costume items. Many of the men, in particular, purchased items there—lederhosen, monogrammed shirts, vests, etc. After several hours of shopping, we returned to our host houses to prepare for the Gaufest. We had a lot of ironing to do, as well as allowing time for getting dressed—not a quick proposition for the women, due primarily to the amount of the jewelry on our costumes. The festival was held in an enormous tent, and with 3500 people in attendance, it was difficult to see the other end of the tent from where we sat near the front. Since we were hosted by a local club, we had a place of honor at the front of the tent where we could see all that was taking place on the stage. Of course, what takes place is primarily dance performances—one by each club that participates. We also got our chance up on stage, and performed the Auerhahn—the same dance performed by D'Windachtaler, our host club. It was gratifying that not only did people stop their discussions to watch us (a rarity at these events), but they also gave us a standing ovation. It apparently intrigued them to see Americans wearing costumes like theirs and doing their dances. There were also speeches and welcomes, and presentations. Our president, Carolyn Marquardt, made a speech and presented their Gau president with a Gau Chronik from the Gauverband Nordamerika.

Sunday, our day was dedicated to the Gaufest. The festival participants met in the Gaufest tent, then lined up outside and processed down to the Catholic mass, held outdoors on the town square. We stood for almost an hour while the mass was conducted. I found it interesting to see what I could understand from the service and compare it to the Protestant services with which I am familiar. They did one thing that completely startled many of us, including some of the locals—they fired guns in honor of the dead during the service. We all jumped. After the mass, all the Trachtlers paraded around the small town of Seestall, twice, before returning to the Gaufest tent for lunch and relaxation, and more performances. Here is a photo of us in the parade. We performed again, this time doing the dance called the Ammerseer, again to full attention and rousing applause. The festival ended about five o'clock, and we returned to Hofstetten and to the Hipp restaurant for a final dinner before returning to our host families' homes and saying our goodbyes.

Mittenwald

During our Tuesday in Mittenwald, most of the rest of the group went to Neuschwanstein Castle, the famous fairytale castle that King Ludwig built and never finished. Since we had visited Neuschwanstein two years ago when we were in Bavaria, Roger and I (and Lyle) made an excursion to Linderhof Palace, the home of King Ludwig II for the last eight years of his life. I liked it much more than Neuschwanstein, in part because there were so many buildings and so many beautiful gardens associated with the castle. Linderhof was built in the style of the palace at Versailles and gilt, swans, and mirrors predominate in the décor. We spent all day touring the castle and the grounds, including a manmade grotto which King Ludwig II had built so that he could listen to the Wagner opera that inspired it. He was a great fan of Wagner, but Wagner never visited Linderhof Palace.

On Wednesday evening, we attended a folklore show at a local brewery restaurant. It was fun to see the performance, which included Schuhplattler dancers, and to also get to do some dancing ourselves. We talked to the band and told them we were Schuhplattlers from America, and they arranged for us to perform a dance for the audience. The announcer was also something of a comedian, and we found out later that many of the audience thought that he was joking when he announced that the Americans would Schuhplattle! The band also played for social dancing during the evening, and it was great fun to have the chance to do some dancing, since our opportunities otherwise had been limited to performances.

Königsee

On Thursday, we drove down the Alpenstrasse and most of the group went in search of Goassl (whips) which they eventually found after many false starts. One of the stops on their route led them to a Federkielsticker (feather-quill embroiderer), Karl Kerschbaum, who embroiders leather belts like the one Carolyn is wearing in the picture with Karl. He lives in Aschau. The feather quills he uses are from peacocks.

Roger and I took Mary, who wasn't feeling well, and continued on to Königsee (King's Lake), where we stayed at a wonderful hotel called the Hotel Bergheimat. The others joined us with our new whips, and the guys immediately started practicing in the parking lot—and figuring out how we were going to get ten whips home with us on the airplane… We enjoyed the breathtaking scenery and the excellent shopping in Königsee, as well as having time to relax and get some sleep—a rarity on this trip! We took a boat trip on the lake, and some of the group also went up Mt. Jenner, which Roger and I had done two years ago. We also went to Berchtesgaden and toured the salt mines, the Salzbergwerk. It was so much fun then that when the group went this year, I went with them again. We had a wonderful time.

Altötting

Sunday's events started again with the processional to the town square, but with 8500 people involved, it was complicated! There were two sections, with a total of 52 groups, each with its own Zugführer (parade leader). We were in block II, which turned out to be the head of the parade, right behind the officers from Gauverband I. We marched to the town square, where we were lucky enough to be placed in the shade—most of the crowd stood in the very hot sun for the entire hour and a quarter that mass was conducted. After the mass, we paraded through town for four kilometers, which didn't sound bad when they asked if we wanted to do that or join the dignitaries on the reviewing stand, but which became difficult after an hour or more of walking in the hot sun on very hot pavement with no shade. We all were very happy to make it to the relative cool of the Festzelt (festival tent) and imbibe vast quantities of bottled water while eating lunch. The baked Hänchen (small hen) and fries did not come with flatware (when we got some, they made us give it back), just a towelette, which was not adequate for removing all the grease from my fingers, but after eating, I felt better, if not cleaner.

The most interesting performances to watch at this Gaufest were those done by groups from the Chiemgau. That region has a different style for both men and women. The men plattle while bouncing up and down on the balls of their feet. One group performed the Ambossplattler, which our men also dance, and the consistent bouncing and synchonization of their dancing was mesmerizing. The women also dance on their toes, but they spin continuously, inside the men's circle and generally only two women at a time (the others also take turns being in the center). They spin very fast, and their skirts are constructed in such a way that they lay straight out like saucers during the spinning.

After watching the afternoon's performances and speeches, including Carolyn's thank-yous and presentations to the Gauverband I, we headed back to the hotel to pack. The rest of our group returned to the States on July 22, but Roger and I continued to Zurich, Switzerland, and into France for a few days before returning home. I will never forget the exquisite blue water of the Mediterranean at St. Raphael, or eating torte flambé amd savoyard fondue in the shadow of Mont Blanc in Chamonix, France. Even more impressive was winding down the tiny road near Martigny, Switzerland, our rental car clinging to the side of the mountain after going over Furka Pass, with only a skimpy guardrail and terraced vineyards between us and the valley floor, thousands of feet below! It was a wonderful trip, and an unforgettable one!