Bavaria Brassband Festival

Dear friends of brass music,

we invite you to discover Bavaria in all its facets. From idyllic country villages to the romantic castles of King Ludwig II, from untouched nature to pulsating cities, from old customs to outdoor activities.

Bavaria is one of the most important regions in Europe. Discover the many treasures that Bavaria has in store for you, and we look forward to your visit and to getting to know your musical culture.

Bavaria, the state in south-eastern Germany, is a tourist region with magnificent cities that are rich in culture, unique natural landscapes and traditions that are still alive. From a traditional point of view, Bavaria is completely different. Customs and traditions can inspire a modern and relaxed lifestyle.

Some houses are decorated in the Baroque style, others are typical half-timbered houses and many look towards the mountains: the Bavarian cities are different and each is an attraction in itself.

Day 1 – Friday

Arrival in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the afternoon.
Check-into your hotel rooms.
Opening with a Big Parade through Garmisch-Partenkirchen with all participating brass bands.
Dinner in a beer cellar. Overnight.

Day 2 – Saturday

Breakfast in the hotel.
Departure to visit Linderhof Palace and the Benedictine Abbey of Ettal. Lunch in Oberammergau. Return to the hotel.
In the late afternoon, open-air concerts at the fountains in the city center on the occasion of the Feast of Fountains and Big Finale with all brass bands at the church square. Overnight.

Day 3 – Sunday

Breakfast in the hotel and check-out.
Option 1) Ascent with the cable car to the Zugspitze (2962 m) and Matinée concert in the mountains.
Option 2) Matinée concert at the Kurpark.
Option 3) Departure to visit Neuschwanstein Castle. Start of the journey home.

Surroundings

Oberammergau

This city is one of the postcard attractions of Bavaria and owes its fame to the fresco houses, their carvers and the depiction of the Passion of Christ. The skills of the Oberammergau craftsmen were already known in the 16th century and in the mid-19th century a school was founded in which several generations of wood artists were trained, some of whom only specialized in crucifixes.

Ettal

The Benedictine Abbey of Ettal was founded in 1330 by Emperor Ludwig IV, the Bavarian, but experienced a real bloom only from 1700, which went hand in hand with the development of the Baroque in Bavaria and all of southern Germany. In addition to an energetic resumption of religious life, a school or the knight academy was founded, which represented a cross between high school and university and formed a number of important personalities in Bavarian and Austrian politics. The school is now a prestigious college that is still run by the Benedictines and welcomes around 450 students.

Ludwig Castles

Linderhof, the favorite prediletta

The history of Linderhof Palace – the name derives from a mighty linden tree that has stood in the park for centuries – goes back to the 15th century, a time when in the Graswang Valley, in southern Bavaria and almost on the border with Austria , there was a large farm very close to the Benedictine abbey of Ettal. King Maximilian II turned it into a hunting lodge in the 19th century and in 1869 his son Ludwig II bought the surrounding land with the intention of building a “royal villa”.

Neuschwanstein, the fairytale castle

Neuschwanstein Castle is one of Bavaria’s landmarks worldwide. It is the fairytale castle par excellence, which the “fairy tale king” Ludwig II of Bavaria (1845-1886) built from 1869 according to a project by the set designer Christian Jank. The idea of building it in the style of the old German feudal residences came to the monarch after he was impressed by a visit to the medieval fortress Wartburg in Thuringia in 1867. Neuschwanstein dominates from its 965 meter high location the villages of Füssen and Schwangau and the wonderful surrounding landscape with the Hohenschwangau Castle, which was rebuilt by King Maximilian II, Ludwig’s father, on the ruins of a medieval fortress, and several lakes, among them the small Alpsee which highlights for the beauty.