Tuesday 6th October – Massing, Germany

I think that the rule about registering your stay with the museum is just to keep out unwanted guests. They seemed to be very relaxed even when we said that we would be staying tonight as well.
I volunteer at Avalon Archaeology, a small (but fascinating!) open air museum with reconstructions of archaeological buildings from the Iron Age through to the Anglo-Saxon period. Massing’s Freilichtmuseum is an open-air museum that is designed to show Bavarian life in the more recent past. Farm buildings from the local area were taken down on site, transported to the museum and reconstructed. Work started in the late 1960s and there are now many buildings spread out over a large site with room for plenty more in the future.
We walked out of the reception building into the Schusterod farm yard and a view of the beautiful farmhouse dating to 1770. On another side of the yard, one of the farm buildings has been converted into a restaurant. When researching the museum, we read very good reviews of the restaurant and we would return later for lunch. Just outside the farmyard was the bakehouse with a large wood-fired oven inside. I was intrigued by this as I have built a much smaller wood-fired in my back garden and it was good to see a Bavarian oven in such good condition and obviously still in use.
We continued our walk around the site, viewing other farmsteads, workers huts and farm-based industrial buildings. The farmhouses were furnished with typical furniture and artefacts, giving a view into the farmers’ lives in the period. There were extensive information boards in every location and, although they were only in German, Google Translate enabled us to read them. In one farm building they have reconstructed a village shop from the end of the 20^th century. There was good clay in the area and both bricks and pottery were produced on the site. Excavations retrieved pottery sherds and many pots have been reconstructed to show the styles produced. A potter still works on site and there is a modern kiln as well as a reconstruction of a 19^th century kiln. One farmhouse had a long rope-making shed in the grounds. Hemp would have been grown on the farm and then turned into twine and rope in the shed. There are parallels here with Somerset as, in the area around West Coker, flax was grown and made into rope for the Royal Navy sailing ships, amongst other markets.
Having covered most of site, we took a break and went back to the restaurant. The lamb shank, served with roasted potatoes and a large salad, was excellent.
Over lunch, we read about events held at the museum and that included bread baking every Wednesday and rope making on the first Tuesday of the month. We realised that it was the first Tuesday of the month and that there would be a demonstration this afternoon. We headed back to the rope-making shed and found that the man demonstrating spoke good English. It was hands-on and I was able to get involved with creating a length of rope. It was made with sisal twine rather than hemp and that produces a rather rough, but strong, rope. It was a very quick process and I was able to buy the resulting rope – handy as a tow rope if the motorhome breaks down! We talked to the rope-maker about the bread baking and he said that it is the best bread in Bavaria! I decided that I would have to come back tomorrow to see it being done.
We visited the last few buildings on the circuit and were very surprised to find a skittle alley. Built in 1912, it is very similar to traditional 9-pin skittle alleys found all over the English West Country. Visitors can even borrow skittles and balls from the museum reception and use the alley – very tempting but another day, perhaps.
Having spent over six hours in the museum, we returned to the van for a cup of tea before walking into to Massing. It isn’t a very interesting town apart from the ensemble of bronze sculptures of animals in front of St. Francis. There was a little piece of excitement as we walked back as we were stopped at the level crossing. It is a single-track railway with slow-running trains servicing the local area but it was fun to see it in action.
Photos: The Schusterod farmhouse; This farmhouse was lived in for nearly 400 years and shows its age with many modifications and patching – its is good to see something that is not perfect!; The main bedroom of a farmhouse dating to 1812 – note the painted panels on the bed; The recreated village shop; The rope-making shed; The skittle alley with the positions of the nine skittles clearly marked; The animals surrounding St. Francis in Massing.

Monday 5th October – Massing, Germany

We moving on to Regensburg but slowly. I was plotting a route and looking for options on the way and I discovered the Freillichtmuseum in Massing. The museum has taken typical Bavarian buildings and transported them to the museum where they have been reassembled. That appealed to us and it turned out that there was also a stellplatz (aire) at the site.
I forced the Garmin satnav to take a cross-country route, avoiding motorways where possible and we set off after dumping and filling.
We weren’t far in the journey when I spotted a fascinating-looking church and monastery(?) just off our road and we diverted to investigate. It turned out that it was the Augustinian Monastery of Hoglworth, built around 1125 on an island in a small lake and joined to the mainland by a wooden bridge. Part of the lake silted up so that the building now sits on a promontory into the lake. The monastery brewery started operating from 1734, producing beer for the monks and also for sale. The monastery was dissolved in 1817 and in 1820 the brewery family Wieninger bought the house. They still own it and run the family brewery in nearby Teisendorf.
There is a very popular walk around the lake and we spent a very pleasant 30 minutes following the walk. Next to the lake, next to the monastery, there is the monastery tavern that was mentioned as early as 1541. It is now a guesthouse and restaurant and has got very good reviews. We were very tempted to have a meal there but decided to move on.
Jane spotted a very well positioned layby that had views over two lakes, Waginger See and Tachinger See, and we had lunch looking over the lakes and watching a kestrel hunting, unsuccessfully, for mice in the grass.
Arriving at the open air museum, we found the stellplatz clearly marked and parked up. Not only is the stellplatz free but it also provides a free electrical connection. The rules say that we should register with the museum but the museum is closed today. We will resister in the morning and explore the museum.
Photos: The view of the monastery that we saw from our route; The monastery from the lake walk; The interior of the church.

Sunday 4th October – Winkl, Germany

On my way back from the shower, I heard three very loud echoing shots that sounded as if they came from a cannon. Jane said that there had been some before and they seemed to coincide with church bells ringing. There were still more later and on our way out of the campsite, I asked the owner about them. He explained that it was a holiday weekend and that many (hunting?) groups got together and fired black powder guns in celebration. I asked him where it was happening and he said “everywhere, you will hear it echoing all around the mountains.
We took the very crowded bus to Berchtesgaden and the Haus der Berge – the centre for the Berchtesgaden National Park. On the way we passed a large group of men in traditional dress standing in a field and taking it in turn to fire their guns in the air. An interesting tradition, or boys and their toys?
Haus der Berge is a very large building with fascinating information about the flora and fauna of the park. Stuffed animals were everywhere, from a coal tit, through a collection of chamois (mountain goats), to an Alpine cow. Many of the museums and information boards that we have seen have only been in German, but here everything was in German and English. There was a huge amount of technology – buttons to press, interactive panels, videos to watch, and it all worked! The exhibition was full of bird song and large birds apparently flew overhead as the sound moved over the exhibits. A small mountain cabin housed a video exhibition where we could select stories of the herdsmen and dairy workers who looked after the cows during the summer months when they were in the mountains. They gave us an interesting insight into the transhumance culture of farming in the area and all of the interviews were subtitled in English.
We walked up the stairs, two floors to where a massive screen showed an excellent video of the flora and fauna in the park. At the end of the video, the slats of the screen rotated to expose the real view of the mountains – very impressive.
The centre has a restaurant and we decided to go there for a coffee. It was very quiet and we were able to sit at a table on the balcony with a wonderful view of the mountains. We relaxed and enjoyed view and, as it was approaching lunch time, we decided to stay there for a meal. Jane had a schnitzel and I had a venison burger and they were excellent, especially with the accompanying view.
We then walked into the centre of Berchtesgaden, which is a major tourist resort and was full of, almost exclusively, German tourists. Many people were dressed in traditional costume – lederhosen for the men and dirndl for the women and we were entertained by two bands, which the crowds (and we) enjoyed. The band members were all enjoying the local beer and schnapps.
Photos: Part of the main exhibition hall; Coffee and cake with that lovely view; Two ladies in traditional dress inspect more options; One of the bands; A snatch of the second band playing.