Mittenwald

Not to be confused with Mittenwalde.

Mittenwald
Mittenwald town, as it looks from one of the peaks nearby
Mittenwald
Location of Mittenwald within Garmisch-Partenkirchen district
Coordinates	47°25′N 11°15′E
Administration
Country	Germany
State	Bavaria
Admin. region	Upper Bavaria
District	Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Mayor	Hermann Salminger (FW)
Basic statistics
Area	132.85 km2 (51.29 sq mi)
Elevation	923 m  (3028 ft)
Population	7,428 (31 December 2011)
- Density	56 /km2 (145 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate	GAP
Postal code	82481
Area code	08823
Website	www.mittenwald.de

Mittenwald is a German municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria.

Geography

Mittenwald is located approx. 16 kilometers to the south-east of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It is situated in the Valley of the River Isar, on the northern foothills of the Alps, on the route between the old banking and commercial centre of Augsburg, to the north, and Innsbruck to the south-east, beyond which is the Brenner Pass and the route to Lombardy, another region with a rich commercial past and present.

History

Mittenwald, along with Garmich-Partenkirchen to the west, was acquired by the Prince-Bishopric of Freising in the late 14th century and the "crowned Aethiopian" head that is part of Mittenwald's coat of arms recalls that 400-year association that ended when the Prince-Bishopric was secularized in 1802-03 and its territory annexed to Bavaria.

Coat of arms of the Bishop of Freising

Mittenwald's location as an important transit centre on a relatively low (and therefore predicable) transalpine route has been a defining feature of the area for at least two thousand years: during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries traffic was boosted by large treasure trains sent regularly from Spain to pay troops in the Netherlands, the more conventional sea route having been rendered unreliable by the (usually) discreet but effective sympathy with which the English Protestant establishment favoured the Spanish king's rebellious Dutch subjects.

Economy

Mittenwald is famous for the manufacture of violins, violas and cellos which began in the mid-17th century by the Klotz family of violin makers, and has been a popular stop with tourists since the boom in motorized tourism began in the 1930s.

Notable places

The most significant landmark in the village is the pink colored Roman Catholic church of Saints Peter and Paul, which is typical of the region. The church and many of the surrounding buildings, both businesses and private residences, are decorated with elaborate paintings on the exterior walls.

External links

• Official site
• Virtual tour of Mittenwald (German)
• Museum of violine manufacturing (German)