We visited Ettal for a schnapps tasting via the Edelweiss resort's tour program and it was…read morewonderful. I wish I could buy the hueyliquer in the US! Unfortunately, you can only get it here. I didn't want to deal with shipping it home so I did not get any and now I have regrets!

Kloster Ettal (Ettal Abbey) is a Benedictine monastery in the village of Ettal close to…read moreOberammergau and Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, Germany. With a community of more than 50 monks, with another five at Wechselburg, the Abbey is one of the largest Benedictine houses. Ettal Abbey was founded on 28 April 1330, Saint Vitalis of Milan's day, by Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian in the Graswang valley, in fulfilment of an vow, on his return from his coronation in Rome, on a site of strategic importance on the primary trade route between Italy and Augsburg. The foundation legend is that Ludwig's horse genuflected three times on the site of the original church building, where a marble statuette of the Madonna and Child ("Frau Stifterin" or the "Ettal Madonna") now stands. The statuette was brought by Ludwig from Pisa as a gift for his new foundation. It soon became an object of pilgrimage. The church is dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. The foundation originally consisted of a Benedictine double monastery -- a community for men and another for women -- and also a house of the Teutonic Knights. The original Gothic abbey church, built between 1330 and 1370, was a modest structure in comparison to the great churches of medieval Bavaria. The abbey suffered great damage during the Reformation at the hands of the troops of Maurice of Saxony, but survived the troubles of the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). In 1709, under Abbot Placidus II Seiz, the golden age of Ettal began with the establishment of the "Knights' Academy" ("Ritterakademie"), which developed into a highly successful school and began the educational tradition of the abbey. In 1744, the abbey and the abbey church were largely destroyed in a fire. The subsequent spectacular re-building in the Baroque style, with a double-shelled dome, was to the plans of Enrico Zuccalli, a Swiss-Italian architect working in Munich, who had studied with Bernini. The decoration was primarily carried out by Josef Schmutzer of the Wessobrunn School of stuccoists and Johann Baptist Straub, who was responsible for the altars and the chancel. Ettal's importance as a place of pilgrimage grew with the new buildings and it became one of the most important monasteries in the Alpine region. For my personal interest: during the winter of 1940-1941, the German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) spent some months at the monastery as the friend and guest of the Abbot. Like Bonhoeffer, a number of those in the Ettal community were involved in the conspiracy against Hitler. While at Ettal, Bonhoeffer also worked on his book Ethics. Catholic priest Rupert Mayer was kept at the Abbey under house arrest from 1939 to 1945 by the Nazis to prevent him from further anti-Nazi preaching. In 1993, Ettal re-founded the former Wechselburg Abbey in Saxony, an old monastery of the Augustinian Canons, as a Benedictine priory. Ettal maintains a Byzantine Institute. This Benedictine monastic building complex is magnificent. It's worth your visit when you are in the area for sure.

A gorgeous Kloster steeped in history. If you happen to be in the area please stop by and admire…read morethe gorgeous interior of the place. The surrounding are also nice and it is a very peaceful area.

It was worth the trip from Munich to visit this historic hilltop monastery and brewery built in the…read more15th century. The weather was nice, so we got some beers and sat in the terraces with the breathtaking panoramic view of the countryside. I enjoyed half-liter servings of the Andechser Spezial hell, Andechser Doppelbock dunkel, and Andechser Weißbier hell. Unfortunately, there were no vegan options on the menu, so I got creative and ordered several sides to have with my beer. Next, we trekked up the hill to visit the monastery--the most magnificent I've seen in my life. There is no shortage of visitors, including locals and tourists. Not only does this place to a lot of business from its pub and restaurant, but visitors purchase a jaw-dropping amount of bottled beer to go. They descend down the hill, carrying them in large crates.

The Benedictine priory and erstwhile abbey of Andechs is a place of pilgrimage on a hill east of…read morethe Ammersee, in the municipality Andechs. Andechs Abbey is famed for its flamboyant Baroque church and its brewery, Klosterbrauerei Andechs. It receives about a million visitors a year and has a wonderful biergarten with excellent food and drink options. The site of Andechs was originally occupied by a castle belonging to the counts of Dießen on the Ammersee, and remained the seat of the powerful counts of Dießen-Andechs (1135 to 1180) and dukes of Andechs-Merania (1180 to 1248). In 1132 the count donated his ancestral seat at Dießen to the Holy See and moved to Andechs. Many famous German people are buried here like: Carl Orff, 20th-century German composer Prince Konrad of Bavaria Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria Prince Konstantin of Bavaria Prince Heinrich of Bavaria You can take the S Bahn from Munich to Herrsching and walk up the hill about 4.5km with beautiful views and it takes about 1 hour. I would highly recommend this walk and once on top you can quench your thirst with a fabulous Klosterbier :-) We take visitors here often and I love going here on sunny days for a walk and lunch. It's a beautiful part of Bavaria that is also relatively quiet.