The weekend is just around the corner and you’re longing for water and wide-open spaces ? Forget the many overcrowded castles the area around Munich has to offer. We have a real insider tip for you that combines pure nature with a touch of eccentricity: Höhenried Castle in Bernried. Here, stately architecture meets a park so vast that you’ll want to lose yourself in it.
A park straight out of a picture book
Höhenried Castle itself, a building from the early 20th century, towers majestically over Lake Starnberg. The wealthy heiress Wilhelmina Busch-Borchard thus fulfilled her dream of a princess’s castle. It was completed in the summer of 1939 with 60 rooms. Unfortunately, this was during a historically difficult time: With the outbreak of World War II , Wilhelmina Busch-Borchard moved to Switzerland. She was only able to return afterward.
In the years that followed, she and her new husband had the approximately 600,000-square-meter park redesigned. For alongside the stately castle, Bernried Park is the absolute highlight. Ancient, gnarled oaks stand in vast meadows, having likely witnessed quite a bit over the years. Things also take a romantic turn here : After her death, Wilhelmina Busch-Woods was buried at Wilhelminen-Platz in Höhenrieder Park, and her husband followed shortly thereafter. The coffins bear the inscription:Love never ends.
Where imagination is at home
Often, a building so steeped in history remains purely a museum. But not so at Schloss Höhenried: in 1955, the German Pension Insurance Fund purchased the castle and its park. And since 1967, it has housed a cardiac rehabilitation clinic. However, it is also available for weddings, conferences, and other celebrations. There’s room for up to 400 people to gather! You can find more information about the castle itself on its website.
You absolutely must see the beautiful park — especially in spring, when all the flowers are blooming in the most vibrant colors; it’s a real experience! Right on the grounds, another very special highlight awaits you: the Buchheim Museum. From colorful Expressionist art to curious folk art objects from all over the world—it’s Munich’s answer to a “Museum of Wonders.” If you’re looking for a dose of inspiration after your walk, this is the perfect place for you.
