There is something magical about Bavaria’s lakes. It is no wonder that artists have repeatedly been enchanted by their beauty and found inspiration on their shores. The best-known example is probably the Staffelsee, where the Blue Rider art movement gathered. But the Hintersee in the Berchtesgadener Land was also home to a colony of painters who immortalized the landscape in their paintings.
Via the Malerweg to the lake
Hintersee is part of the municipality of Ramsau and was formed about 4 , 000 years ago during a cold snap. It has a circumference of 2.5 kilometers and is up to 18 meters deep. Nevertheless, it freezes over quite quickly and can be used for winter sports time and again in the winter. Then the surroundings transform into an absolute winter wonderland, when the mirror-smooth surface of the lake lies before the snow-capped mountains and invites visitors to go ice skating.
But Hintersee offers a fabulous view in every other season as well. The painters of the Vienna and Munich schools recognized this and settled here to indulge in landscape painting. Alongside the parish church of St. Sebastian, the lake itself was an extremely popular subject in the colony. This movement gave rise to the Malerweg, which leads you from Ramsau past the church through the Enchanted Forest to Hintersee. On this walk, you’ll experience several must-see highlights all at once—scenes you simply can’t get enough of.
A Day at Hintersee
To reach Hintersee, as mentioned, you first walk through the Enchanted Forest. It lives up to its name with its gnarled trees and the babbling Ramsauer Ache stream along the path. As soon as you leave the forest, the emerald-green Hintersee stretches out before you, framed by towering mountains that are themselves covered in trees. Unlike the nearby Königssee, you can walk all the way around the Hintersee.
You can also rent a pedal boat or rowboat and explore Hintersee from the water. The hardy among you might dare to take a dip in the cool water, which reaches a maximum temperature of 16°C . Since the lake freezes over quickly, ice bathing isn’t an option, but curling or ice skating are possible. In addition, the wildlife feeding in the Klausbach Valley awaits you in winter, just 30 minutes from Hintersee. If inspiration strikes, you can of course set up your easel and follow in the footsteps of painters like Carl Rottmann by capturing this magnificent idyll on canvas.
