Berchtesgaden and the Königssee: Alpine Breweries and Lakeside Beer Gardens

Salt was once white gold in the region spanning southern Bavaria and northern Austria. Like Salzburg and Hallstatt, like Bad Reichenhall and Traunstein, Berchtesgaden was built on a mountain of revenue from the salt trade. Founded in 1102 as an Augustine monastery and raised to the status of a market town in 1328, Berchtesgaden changed hands several times over the centuries. Back and forth Berchtesgaden and its hinterland went between the Archbishop of Salzburg and the Wittelsbachs until, in 1810, the area definitively became a part of Bavaria.

Nowadays, Berchtesgadener Land lies in the far southeast of Bavaria, like an arrowhead jutting into Austria just west of Salzburg. Salt has faded from view, replaced by tourism in the late nineteenth century as the region’s main industry. First came the painters and literary figures, then came the cityfolk along the railways, all drawn by the sublime and wild landscape.[1]

With a local brewery, a smattering of inns serving up Bavarian standards, and a world-class beer garden on the shore of the idyllic Königssee, Berchtesgaden today is also particularly well provisioned for fans of Bavarian beer and those who like hiking for them.

A Beer Hike to Königssee: Brief Notes

Berchtesgadener Land is a beer wanderer’s paradise. And that’s precisely what you should do: Lace up your boots and hit the trail. Follow the Königsseer Ache stream out of town through the woods to the village of Königssee, get the boat to the red-domed St. Bartholomä chapel, hike up to the source of a glacier, then replenish your energy on the shore of the lake at one of the most scenic beer gardens anywhere. Get the boat back, stop off at another lakeside beer garden en route to Berchtesgaden, then pass through the Altstadt before winding your way up to the quaint Kirchleitn chapel for spectacular vistas.

The Watzmann, Ever-Present

Over Berchtesgaden and its hiking paths towers the craggy Watzmann. The Zugspitze, Germany’s highest peak, may be taller, but the Watzmann is different: wild, imposing, the stuff of legend. Like the Matterhorn, it is a sublime spectacle. From time immemorial, the Watzmann has stoked the imagination of those who look up at its striking summit ensemble, seeing in it petrified kings and queens. It has been fixed on canvas by scores of painters, including Caspar David Friedrich. And the Viennese crooner Wolfgang Ambros immortalized it as a “fateful mountain” — one whose rock faces have lured mountaineers to its summit (and occasionally to their deaths) with their siren calls.

On the footpath to Königssee you’ll pass the Nasse Wand rock wall rising above the stream, a picturesque site favoured by artists who came to paint the Watzmann. A tavern once stood here as well, a place where artists and tourists gathered over liters of beer to hear local legends about cruel King Watzmann.

One telling has it that the evil king was turned to stone along with his wife and children as punishment for cruel deeds inflicted on the peasantry. Thanks to this legend, locals refer to the massif as a “family.” Two hornlike peaks, the Watzmann itself and the smaller Kleine Watzmann (the queen), frame the smaller jagged tines representing Watzmann’s children.

Crowning It All with Food and Fine Beer

Good thing your wanderings through the woods, mountains, and valleys of Berchtesgadener Land are more placid than in the days of cruel King Watzmann. And there’s always a reward waiting somewhere along the way to fortify you for that next stage of the hike.

Hobrauhaus Berchtesgaden

The capacious Bräustüberl at the Hobrauhaus Berchtesgaden is a mélange of decorative and architectural elements, the beer and food mighty fine. The Bierochse (ox) comes doused with a sauce made with their Dunkel. Speaking of which, it pairs fabulously well with the Bierochse (no big surprise there). A pecan nuttiness with a touch of chocolate leads, followed by baking spice and pumpernickel bread. But it’s the Jubiläumsbier that really shines. First brewed in 2002 for the 900-year anniversary of Berchtesgaden’s founding, this rich and round golden beer tastes like an Export meets a Festbier crossed with a Bock — and all clocking in at a modest 5.1%. HB-Berchtesgaden’s Helles is a decent number as well. And we had plenty at beer gardens and kiosks in town and along our various hiking routes.

Goldener Bär

Goldener Bär is a rustic inn a few paces off of the Marktplatz. The food here takes center stage, ample and delicious. Go for a classic like the Bärenschmaus Teller, a platter piled high with Schweinshaxe, duck leg, and sausage. Or opt for the Schlachtschüssel if it’s in season. Nomen est omen, for the name of the dish announces exactly what it is: “slaughter bowl” (or, translated slightly more elegantly: “butcher’s bowl”). These hearty dishes won’t win any prizes for presentation, but the combination of braised pork belly, blood sausage, and liverwurst served up with potato salad and fresh horse radish is just what the doctor ordered after a long day of hiking. And if you want something that deviates slightly from typical Wirtshaus fare, you won’t go wrong with a plate of scrumptious truffle fries topped with shaved age parmesan and a truffle pesto. Delish! Wash it all down with the serviceable Wieninger from the Chiemsee area.

Waldhauser-Bräu

The Waldhauser-Bräu in Schönau is a cozy Wirtshaus with yellow walls and chocolate-coloured wood paneling. Beer steins line the ledges, while an array of clocks, pots, and pans decorate the walls. You’ll drink well here. Waldhauser-Bräu taps a selection of Bürgerbräu from nearby Bad Reichenhall. The Braumeister is a burnished golden export-strength beer with round notes of country bread, freshly crushed Pils malt, and a light graham cracker sweetness, all accented by a twist of citrus and Alpine meadows in bloom. Fine stuff!

Biergarten am Königssee

With its location right on the shores of the Königssee, Biergarten am Königssee in the shadow of the stately Hotel Schiffmeister is pleasant enough, even on a cloudy day. And it’s right along the hiking route from Berchtesgaden to the picturesque Malerwinkel (painter’s corner). The beer garden affords fine views of the long, fiord-like Königssee with its sheer rock walls. It’s also an enjoyable spot from which to watch the small electric boats plying the route from the Königssee village to the St. Bartholomä chapel.

Gaststätte St. Bartholomä Beer Garden

Simply put, the beer garden next to the Gaststätte St. Bartholomä is one of the most scenic anywhere. Find a seat in this spacious grove with its perfect mix of shade and cheerful sunshine, take a sip of your beer, and then sit back and let the scenery wash over you. On one side you’ve got the chiseled granite of the Watzmann jutting up in its angular, rugged beauty. Turn your head and let your gaze come to rest on the charming white-washed chapel with its copper-red roof and onion domes gleaming in the sunshine. And if that’s not enough, enjoy the comings and goings of the little wooden boats depositing another contingent of curious tourists and hale hikers. A beer garden “Top 10.”

Odds and Ends

Like other Upper Bavarian towns, Berchtesgaden is blessed with an abundance of Lüftlmalerei, the elaborate frescoes painted on the facades of buildings in the Old Town. A prime example is the Hirschenhaus built in 1594, with wall paintings dating back to the late 1800s. The apes on the façade symbolize the vices of humanity.

A few doors down is the Gasthaus zum Bier Adam. As if to counter the visual claims splashed across the Hirschenhaus, the wall paintings on Bier Adam’s façade depict scenes of industry and diligence. Loggers wrestle logs down the narrows of the Königsseer Ache, a woodsman heads home with an axe slung over his shoulder, and a peasant woman offers the fruits of her harvest to a brewer taking a rest on his mash tun overflowing with grain and emerald green hops.

Sources

Daniela Schetar, Oberbayern (DuMont, 2015).

Ulrich Zwack, “Der Watzmann Ruft! Mythos und Geschichte,” Bayrische Rundfunk (June 2017).

See also Berchtesgaden.de for general info and a wealth of info on hiking, and also the Hofbrauhaus-Berchtesgaden website.

All images by F.D. Hofer.

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Bad Reichenhall: Beer in an Upper Bavarian Spa Town

Traunstein: Beer in the Foothills of the Bavarian Alps

Of Zoigl and Primeval Forests: Beer Hiking in the Oberpfalz

Breweries and Beer Hikes in Murnau

[1] The darker aspects of Berchtesgaden’s history are constantly whispering in the winds of the craggy peaks surrounding the town, for Hitler and the Nazis showed up here as well. It’s a dual-edged sword: the view from the Eagle’s Nest (Kehlsteinhaus) is nothing short of spectacular, especially with the fog rolling in — but the site itself exerts its own eerie fascination for some day trippers with an interest in WWII history. This is where Hitler built his imposing Berghof on the Obersalzberg, with the Kehlsteinhaus perched above.

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