Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Garmisch-Partenkirchen with Alpspitze and Zugspitze
Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Location of Garmisch-Partenkirchen within Garmisch-Partenkirchen district
Coordinates	47°30′N 11°5′E / 47.5°N 11.08333°E / 47.5; 11.08333Coordinates: 47°30′N 11°5′E / 47.5°N 11.08333°E / 47.5; 11.08333
Administration
Country	Germany
State	Bavaria
Admin. region	Upper Bavaria
District	Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Mayor	Thomas Schmid (Chr.Soziales Bündnis/Bürger für GAP e.V.)
Basic statistics
Area	205.66 km2 (79.41 sq mi)
Elevation	708 m  (2323 ft)
Population	26,068 (31 December 2010)[1]
- Density	127 /km2 (328 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate	GAP
Postal code	82467
Area code	08821
Website	garmisch-partenkirchen.de

Garmisch-Partenkirchen is a mountain resort town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in the Oberbayern region, and the district is on the border with Austria. Nearby is Germany's highest mountain, Zugspitze, at 2961 m (9714 ft.).

History[link]

Garmisch (in the west) and Partenkirchen (in the east) were separate towns for many centuries, and still maintain quite separate identities.

Partenkirchen originated as the Roman town of Partanum on the trade route from Venice to Augsburg and is first mentioned in the year A.D. 15. Its main street, Ludwigsstrasse, follows the original Roman road.

Garmisch is first mentioned some 800 years later as Germaneskau ("German District"), suggesting that at some point a Teutonic tribe took up settlement in the western end of the valley.

The valley came under the rule of the Bishop of Freising and was governed by a bishop's representative known as a Pfleger (caretaker or warden) from Werdenfels Castle on a cliff north of Garmisch.

The discovery of America at the turn of the 16th century led to a boom in shipping and a sharp decline in overland trade, which plunged the region into a centuries-long economic depression. The valley floor was swampy and difficult to farm. Bears, wolves and lynxes were a constant threat to livestock. The population suffered from periodic epidemics, including several serious outbreaks of bubonic plague. Adverse fortunes from disease and crop failure occasionally led to witch hysteria. Most notable of these were the notorious trials and executions of 1589-1596, in which 63 victims — more than 10 percent of the population at the time — were burned at the stake or garroted.

Werdenfels Castle, where the accused were held, tried and executed, became an object of superstitious horror and was abandoned in the 17th century. It was largely torn down in the 1750s and its stones used to build the baroque Neue Kirche (New Church) on Marienplatz, which was completed in 1752. It replaced the nearby Gothic Alte Kirche (Old Church), parts of which predated Christianity and may originally have been a pagan temple. Used as a storehouse, armory and haybarn for many years, it has since been re-consecrated. Some of its medieval frescoes are still visible.

Garmisch and Partenkirchen remained separate until their respective mayors were forced by Adolf Hitler to combine the two market towns in 1935 in anticipation of the 1936 Winter Olympic games. Today, the united town is casually (but incorrectly) referred to as Garmisch, much to the dismay of Partenkirchen's residents. Most visitors will notice the slightly more modern feel of Garmisch while the fresco-filled, cobblestoned streets of Partenkirchen offer a glimpse into times past. Early mornings and late afternoons in pleasant weather often find local traffic stopped while the dairy cows are herded to and from the nearby mountain meadows.

Transportation[link]

Garmisch-Partenkirchen,
painting by Anton Doll

The town is served by Federal Highway 2 as a continuation of the A95 Autobahn (motorway), which ends at Eschenlohe 16 km north of the city.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen station is on the Munich–Garmisch-Partenkirchen line and the Mittenwald Railway (Garmisch–Mittenwald–Innsbruck). It is the terminus of the Außerfern Railway to Reutte in Tirol / Kempten im Allgäu and the Bavarian Zugspitze Railway (with sections of rack railway) to the Zugspitze, the highest mountain in Germany. Regional services run every hour to München Hauptbahnhof and Mittenwald and every two hours to Innsbruck Hauptbahnhof and Reutte. In addition there are special seasonal long-distance services, including ICEs, to Berlin, Hamburg, Dortmund, Bremen and Innsbruck.

Several accessible hiking trails from the town are especially spectacular and cover both the lower and higher elevations.

Sports[link]

Aerial view of
Garmisch-Partenkirchen

In 1936 it was the site of the Winter Olympic Games, the first to feature alpine skiing. A variety of Nordic and alpine World Cup ski races are held here, usually on the Kandahar Track outside town. Traditionally, a ski jumping contest is held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on New Year's Day, as a part of the Four Hills Tournament (Vierschanzen-Tournee). The World Alpine Ski Championships were held in Garmisch in 1978 and 2011.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen is also a favored holiday spot for skiing, snowboarding, and hiking, having some of the best skiing areas (Garmisch Classic and Zugspitze) in Germany.

It was announced on December 7, 2007, that Garmisch-Partenkirchen was part of a Bavarian bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics, with partner candidates Munich and Schönau am Königsee (near Berchtesgaden) but it succumbed at the acclamation on July 6, 2011. The Winter Olympics were last held in the German-speaking Alps in 1976 in nearby Innsbruck, Austria.

Public institutions[link]

The George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies^[2] is also located in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The Marshall Center is an internationally funded and mostly U.S.-staffed learning and conference center for governments from around the world, but primarily from the former Soviet Union and Eastern European countries. It was established in June 1993, replacing the U.S. Army Russian Institute. Near the Marshall Center is the American Armed Forces Recreation Centers (Edelweiss Lodge and Resort) in Garmisch that serves U.S. and NATO military and their families. A number of U.S. troops and civilians are stationed in the town to provide logistical support to the Marshall Center and Edelweiss Recreation Center.

Notable People[link]

• Michael Ende, author of The Neverending Story
• Magdalena Neuner, six-time biathlon world champion, Olympic champion, Biathlon World Cup winner
• Miriam Gössner, biathlete
• Maria Höfl-Riesch, alpine ski racer
• Susanne Riesch, alpine ski racer
• Felix Neureuther, alpine ski racer
• Hans-Joachim Stuck, racing driver
• Hermann Levi, conductor
• Richard Strauss, composer
• Josef Rixner, composer
• Karl Popper, philosopher
• Andrea Schöpp, German curler
• Monika Wagner, German curler

Points of interest[link]

South of Partenkirchen is the Partnach Gorge,^[3] where the Partnach river surges spectacularly through a narrow, mile-long gap between high limestone cliffs. The Zugspitze (local name 'Zugspitz') is south of Garmisch near the village of Grainau. The tallest mountain in Germany, it actually straddles the border with Austria. Also overlooking Garmisch-Partenkirchen is Germany's fourth-highest mountain, the Leutasch Dreitorspitze ('Three-Gate Peak', a name derived from its triple summit).

The King's House on Schachen, a small castle built for Ludwig II of Bavaria, is also located in the mountains south of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Its grounds contain the Alpengarten auf dem Schachen, an alpine botanical garden.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Garmisch-Partenkirchen

• gapa.de - official site - (English)
• Alpine Ski Maps.com - winter map of Garmisch-Partenkirchen area
• Richard-Strauss-Institut (German)
• Richard-Strauss-Festival (German)
• Virtual Tour through Garmisch-Partenkirchen (German)

v t e Towns and municipalities in Garmisch-Partenkirchen Bad Bayersoien Bad Kohlgrub Eschenlohe Ettal Farchant Garmisch-Partenkirchen Grainau Großweil Krün Mittenwald Murnau am Staffelsee Oberammergau Oberau Ohlstadt Riegsee Saulgrub Schwaigen Seehausen am Staffelsee Spatzenhausen Uffing Unterammergau Wallgau

Ulrike Maier

Ulrike Maier's grave in Rauris, Austria
Disciplines	Downhill, Super-G, Giant slalom, Slalom, Combined
Born	(1967-10-22)October 22, 1967 Rauris, Austria
Died	January 29, 1994(1994-01-29) (aged 26) Murnau, Germany
World Cup debut	December 9, 1984
Olympics
Teams	2
World Championships
Teams	3
Medals	3 (2 gold)
World Cup
Wins	5
Podiums	21
Medal record Women’s alpine skiing Competitor for  Austria World Championships Gold 1989 Vail Super G Gold 1991 Saalbach Super G Silver 1991 Saalbach Giant Slalom

Ulrike Maier (22 October 1967 – 29 January 1994) was an Austrian alpine ski racer, two-time Super-G World Alpine Ski Champion.

Born in Rauris, Maier won the Super-G gold medal at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in both 1989 and 1991. She also took home the giant slalom silver medal in the 1991 event. She recorded 5 World Cup victories (2 Super-G, 3 Giant Slalom) and 21 podiums in her career.

Accident[link]

On 29 January 1994 during a World Cup downhill race in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, Maier crashed while skiing at 105 km/h (64 mph) down the slope and broke her neck.^[1] She died of her injuries shortly after being evacuated to the hospital in nearby Murnau, Germany, at age 26. She had thought to retire at the end of the 1993-1994 season.^{[citation needed]} However, she was reconsidering her decision in the days before the fateful downhill, planning to continue until 1995 World Championships in Spain.^{[citation needed]}

Initially it was claimed that her death was caused by hitting a wooden timing post. Based on that claim, Maier's fiance Hubert Schweighhofer criticised the organizers of the race and filed suit against them.^[2] However, several months later the court found that Maier actually did not hit the timing post with her head but probably broke her neck by crashing into a pile of snow on the border of the race course.^[3] The court did not find any negligence from the organizers and dismissed the suit.

Unlike most other deadly skiing accidents, her fatal crash happened during a race which was broadcast live on TV.

Maier was survived by her daughter and was buried in her home village of Rauris, Austria.

World Cup victories[link]

Individual races[link]

5 total: 3 Giant Slalom, 2 Super-G

Date	Location	Race
28 November 1992	Park City	Giant Slalom
13 December 1992	Vail	Super-G
16 January 1993	Cortina d'Ampezzo	Super-G
27 November 1993	Santa Caterina	Giant Slalom
21 January 1994	Maribor	Giant Slalom

References[link]

External links[link]

• Ulrike Maier at the International Ski Federation
• Ski-db.com - Ulrike Maier
• Deadly Ski Accident from Ulrike Maier - YouTube
• Ulrike "Ulli" Maier At Find A Grave

Awards
Preceded by Sigrid Wolf	Austrian Sportswoman of the year 1989	Succeeded by Petra Kronberger