Tegernsee Attractions

Beautifully situated on the west side of the Tegernsee is Bad Wiessee, with two productive mineral springs containing iodine and sulfur (drilled in 1909 and 1930) which are used in bathing, drinking and inhalation cures. The little town is in two parts - Wiessee-Nord, with the spa facilities and the Protestant church (1937), and Wiessee-Süd, with the prominently situated Roman Catholic church (1926).

From the Schliersee the Deutsche Alpenstrasse runs southeast to the altitude resort and winter sports center of Bayrischzell (fine Baroque church), surrounded by the peaks of the Wendelstein, the Kleiner Traithen and the Seeberg. The nearby Sudelfeld is a popular skiing area.

The village of Gmund, at the northern tip of the Tegernsee, has a parish church of 1688.

On the southeastern shores of the Tegernsee is the double town of Rottach-Egern, in the center of which stands its Late Gothic church (1466), topped by a slender tower. In the churchyard in Egern are the graves of the writers Ludwig Ganghofer (1855-1920) and Ludwig Thoma (1867-1921), the composer Heinrich Spoerl (1877-1955), the singer Leo Slezak (1873-1946) and Olaf Gulbransson (1873-1958), whose son built the Protestant church in Egern (1955).

7km/4.5mi east of the Tegernsee, surrounded by hills, lies a smaller lake, the Schliersee (2.5km/1.5mi long, up to 1.3km/1,400yds across, 37m/121ft deep). This is a popular holiday and winter sports area and a good base for walks and climbs in the hills.

At the northern tip of the lake is the little town of Schliersee, with a Baroque parish church (1714; fine interior), a 15th C., Town Hall (rebuilt 1920) and a Heimatmuseum.

The best view of the lake is to be had from the Weinbergkapelle above the parish church.

From the south end of the Schliersee the beautiful Spitzingstrasse (views) crosses the Spitzingsattel to the Spitzingsee, the smallest and highest of the three lakes.

The chief place on the Tegernsee is the little town of the same name on the lake's east side, with a Schloss which belonged to Duke Ludwig Wilhelm of Bavaria, a remnant of a Benedictine abbey founded in the eighth century, once a great center of culture, which was dissolved in 1803. The original Romanesque church (with an 11th C. crypt) was remodeled in Baroque style in 1684-94 and given a new facade by Klenze in 1820.

To the east of the Town Hall lies the Kurgarten, in which is the Olaf Gulbransson Museum.

There is a cableway up the Wallberg (1,722m/5,650ft; views).

The Wendelstein (1,838ft/6,030ft), to the north of Bayrischzell, can be ascended either by mountain railroad or on foot (2.5 hours). In the summit area (extensive views) are a chapel (1718), a solar observatory and broadcasting transmitters.