Moving through the hilly countryside, we come to Rottenbuch.  In the 11th century, Duke Guelf IV of Bavaria lost his way in the forests while hunting wild game.  When he knelt down to pray for help, the Blessed Virgin appeared to him in a red beech tree and pointed the direction which would lead him [...]

Our next stop is Peissenberg.  Whereas most glacial moraines date back only a few hundred thousand years, the rather isolated Mount Peissenberg is a real old timer.  It was born along with the Alps, and thus has been standing for 30 million years.  During that time it developed a significant supply of soft coal.  The [...]

Outside Weilheim, a little nest of houses are grouped around the old Church of Polling.  Polling, a former Benedictine Abbey, was founded in the 8th century by the then ruling Duke of Bavaria, Tassilo III (see Fraueninsel on Salzburg tour).  The settlement itself is even older.  In the year 580, a man named Pollo settled [...]

The village of Weilheim stems from a Roman settlement.  In the 8th century, the village belonged to the nearby Abbey of Polling; in the 12th century it was a storage place for salt.  Between 1600 and 1800, Weilheim and the nearby village of Wessobrunn sent its talented citizens throughout Bavaria and other parts of Europe.  [...]

As we head south, one branch of the autobahn leads us in the direction of Starnberg (Starling Hill), through the rolling countryside with its hills, valleys and lakes, which were formed during the Ice Ages.  As the glaciersa moved down hill, heading north, they transported with them immense masses of gravel, stones and earth, which [...]