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.).

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.

Tina Maze (born May 2, 1983) is a World Cup alpine ski racer from Slovenia. She is the current world champion in giant slalom.

Maze first competed in the 2001 World Championships at age 17 and in the 2002 Winter Olympics the following year. She started her career as a giant slalom specialist but later expanded and started competing in all disciplines. At the 2009 World Championships in Val d'Isère, France, Maze won the silver medal in the giant slalom. At the 2011 World Championships in Garmisch Partenkirchen, Germany, Maze won the silver medal in the combined and the gold medal in the giant slalom. She was the Slovenian flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada, where she won two silver medals in the Super-G and giant slalom.

Through January 2012, Maze has 11 World Cup victories, 8 of which were in giant slalom. In February 2008, she won the first downhill in her career (also first Slovenian female downhill victory ever) in St. Moritz, Switzerland. She has one victory in Super Combined and one in slalom, both from 2011 season. In 2005, 2010 and 2011, she was awarded the title of the best Slovenian female athlete of the year.