What is there to do? Which locations, museums and galleries are worth a visit? We explain what art and culture enthusiasts should see and experience in Murnau and Prien on Lake Chiemsee, as well as in the surrounding area.
17 Impressive Art Venues and Destinations in Upper Bavaria
Art in Murnau and the Surrounding Area
Murnau Palace Museum: Home of the Blue Rider
The heart of the museum consists of more than 80 works by Gabriele Münter, as well as works by the New Artists’ Association Munich and the Der Blaue Reiter. Also on display are landscape paintings from the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as reverse glass paintings from several centuries. The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10 am to 5 pm.
schlossmuseum-murnau.de (only in German)
Münter House: Home of Gabriele Münter and Wassily Kandinsky
Gabriele Münter (1877 to 1962) stayed frequently at the country house from 1909 to 1914 and lived here permanently from 1931 to 1962. In the basement, she stored her own paintings as well as works by Wassily Kandinsky and other artists, thereby saving them from the Nazis. The house has been restored to its condition of the 1910s.
muenter-stiftung.de
Art Walk in Murnau: Following the Footsteps of Famous Artists
The walk leads to nine original painting locations used by Münter and Kandinsky. Visitors can compare the paintings created there with the present-day locations.
tourismus.murnau.de
“Griesbräu”: Historic Brewery
“We lived at the Griesbräu and liked it very much,” Münter wrote in 1908. Today, the Gilg family runs the inn and hotel in its fifth generation. All naturally cloudy beers are brewed on site, including Helles, Weissbier and Dunkle throughout the year, as well as nine seasonal beers such as the reddish copper-coloured summer beer “Drachenblut,” with a subtle smoky note. Well worth trying!
griesbraeu.de
Künstlervereinigung TUSCULUM e. V. (TUSCULUM Artists’ Association)
The two artists Vera Schaub and Uta Schnuppe-Strack, known as “Schnuppe,” work in the shared studio of the TUSCULUM artists’ association. The address is Kohlgruberstrasse 20.
tusculum-murnau.de (only in German)
Murnau Guided Tours With Sandra Bangerter
Sandra Bangerter offers guided tours in and around Murnau as well as in Ohlstadt, ranging from classic town tours and walks through the moorland to culinary tours and art tours focusing on the Blue Rider and on the work of Emanuel Seidl in Murnau.
murnau-fuehrungen.de (only in German)
Kaulbach Villa in Ohlstadt: Museum in the Former Artists’ Studio
The painter Friedrich August von Kaulbach lived from 1850 to 1920. In 1893, a villa was built for him in Ohlstadt at his request. It served as his summer residence until 1910 and as his main residence from 1910 until his death. His former studio now serves as a museum.
dasblaueland.de
Franz Marc Museum by the Lake: Works of Expressionism
In a modern museum building high above Kochelsee Lake, an important collection of German Expressionism and post-war abstraction is on display. Rotating exhibitions place the works of the “Blue Rider” and “Die Brücke” in new contexts. Sculptures by Per Kirkeby, Tony Cragg, Alf Lechner and Horst Antes in the museum park round off the art experience in the Bavarian Alpine foothills.
franz-marc-museum.de
Penzberg Museum Campendonk Collection
The museum houses the largest collection of works by Heinrich Campendonk worldwide. At the age of 21, the artist came to Upper Bavaria from the Rhineland in 1911 at the invitation of Marc and Kandinsky. While searching for motifs, the mining town of Penzberg with its workers’ housing estates, winding towers and chimneys impressed the youngest member of the artists’ group “Der Blaue Reiter.” His artistic work extended into the 1950s.
museum-penzberg.de (only in German)
Art in Prien and Surroundings
Kronast House With Café “Scherzl”: Art and Idulgence in a Historic Setting
The origins of the house date back to 1598. On display are works by Chiemsee painters and an extensive collection of works by Hugo Kauffmann (1844 to 1915), who is known for his high-quality genre painting depicting rural life. On the ground floor, Café “Scherzl” invites visitors to stop by.
kronasthaus.de (only in German)
Local History Museum Prien: Experiencing Arts and Crafts and History
The museum, housed in a historic building dating from 1837, contains among other things a historic gallery of Chiemsee painters.
museum-prien.de (only in German)
Gallery in the Old Town Hall: Contemporary Art in Prien on Lake Chiemsee
Contemporary art by internationally recognised artists is on display.
galerie-prien.de (only in German)
Sylvia Roubaud: Painting With Intense Colours
The multiple award-winning artist studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich. Over the course of her career, she developed an abstract expressionism characterised by dynamism and sensitivity.
roubaud.de (only in German)
Barbara Nedbal: Art in the Spirit of Wabi-Sabi
The artist’s works radiate calm and are shaped by the Japanese aesthetic and philosophy of wabi-sabi. She presents her works, among other places, in the rooms of the Amon Store.
barbaranedbal.de (only in German)
Prien Cultural Support Association: Art Days – Platform for Regional Artists
Founded in 1985, the cultural support association aims to preserve the tradition of the Chiemsee painters, promote contemporary artists and bring present-day artistic creation closer to the public. The association organises exhibitions in the Gallery in the Old Town Hall and events such as the Prien Art Days.
tourismus.prien.de (only in German)
Fraueninsel: Artists’ Colony and Source of Inspiration on Lake Chiemsee
Well known are the more than 1,200-year-old Minster Church with its free-standing campanile and the Carolingian gate hall, where exhibitions can be seen in summer. In the historic inn “Zur Linde,” the Chiemsee painters had their regulars’ table in the Fischerstube.
chiemsee-alpenland.de/fraueninsel
Augustinian Canons’ Foundation on Herreninsel: Art, History and Baroque Splendour on Lake Chiemsee
In the museum on Herreninsel, two galleries are dedicated to the Chiemsee painters. The convent wing displays 50 works from the period from 1790 to the Second World War, while the prelature wing shows paintings by Julius Exter (1863 to 1939), one of the “late Chiemsee painters.”
schloesser.bayern.de
