Steingaden

In March 1989 I arrived by bus in Steingaden clutching my old travel bag. It was late afternoon and  I had just been to Neuschwanstein Castle. So overwhelmed was I that I had sat at in the cafe car park ignoring relevant buses - just letting them pass through... At length I had boarded one. for I needed to stay the night in Steingaden to get to see Die Wies church next day. This was as near as I could get so I kept irritating local hotels blurting out "Haben sie Einzelzimmer fur diese Nacht?" Eventually I found one and pondered over the plan for the following day over a beer or two. I would have to catch a bus at 9.30 (I think) to be able to reach Mittenwald, my next goal. Die Wies was several miles away so I had to get up 7.00 or earlier(?) to walk there and back. I will resume this story when I post about die Wies.

As for Steingaden I did not see the church that time. It was several years later when I was taking my young son to see Neuschwanstein that we stopped briefly and I poked my head in the church. I noted a cloister and it reminded me of a record sleeve long before. The big cross at the end was dusty and uncared for : this wasnt the place I thought.

In the meantime I did my research and became positive that this was indeed the cloister with the cross. Why is this important to me? In 1965/6 I became more and more into Bruckner and Mahler. I cannot hear parts of the 9th symphony without visualising the record sleeve : it is a very deep work and theat cloister view stuck forever. It is a very personal work for me : it was that which I heard on the day after my father died. I had to see this cloister again.

in summer 2019 we went to Steingaden and headed for the church. Closed! Building work! I wandered around hoping we might somehow get in to the cloister at least. It was no use : postcards would have to be enough.

The nearby shop had several of these and for some reason I talked to the lady in the shop, telling her the story of the record sleeve. She then told me there was a back entrance from whence we could get into the cloister! So disappointment turned into elation. We found the way and more - the cloister had been beautifully restored, including a tiny side chapel with murals and the cross was in full glory. To see that again and actually touch that foot meant so much. 

The workmen were unconcerned so we had a quick peep into the church. It would be finished in a matter of weeks. Maybe one day we will revisit?

If we do come back and for our information this was a Praemonstratensian foundation with a Romanesque church which was gradually updated : with choir stucco from 1663, and nave stucco by FX Schmutzer `1740-50, and frescos by JG Bergmuller 1751.