Berlin To Bad Reichenhall

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From Berlin to Our Bad*

November 6, 2001

Bad Reichenhall, Bavaria

Dear Friends and Family,

Starting from the end, our destiny was Bad Reichenhall. (*German lesson: "bad" - pronounced "baad" - means "bath" or, in our case, an resort community famous for salt baths.) We needed a break from Berlin's bigness and Marianne knew Bad Reichenhall would be that break.

First however, we needed to drive from Berlin in the north to the Bad on the southern edge of Germany. A true autobahn flyer would plan one day but, despite the car's capabilities, we don't "fly" so we planned two. After all, we are on a journey that we hope places more value on the path than on destinations. Therefore, a two-day pathway is preferred.

On the first day, we successfully exited Berlin in morning rush hour with only a single miscue. That minor error led to one of those where-are-we moments, but our recovery time seems to be getting better. After that, it was autobahns for the next few hours.

For the most part, this was a serious, three-lanes-per-side autobahn. We had heard warnings of left-lane drivers going 200 kilometers-per-hour (200kph = 125mph) and the importance of staying out of their way. Well, we didn't see much 200 kph traffic and our 130-140 kph (80-85mph) was not too much slower than the average left-laner. We were driving well below our car's capability but some of those little cars passing us looked pretty shaky as they approached 160kph (100mph). Naturally the huge BMWs and Mercedes looked perfectly comfortable and a few did pass us in the blink of an eye.

This autobahn had one disturbing feature. Every so often, it was under construction and the traffic had to slow down quickly - sometimes to a stop. We were always a bit uncomfortable with a slowdown before there were three or four vehicles stopped behind us to absorb the impact of one of those beemers, if the driver wasn't paying attention. But, every time, everyone behaved correctly.

Our autobahn journey was good for our diets too. Unlike the back roads, there were no convenient bakeries or homey restaurants we could sample. The only eating seemed to be rather sterile establishments in large autobahn-only oases. Good parking, bad food, so we simply grabbed a sandwich to eat in the car and then hurried on to an over-night "gasthaus".

Although the autobahn was great for covering ground, we welcomed getting back to the smaller highways shortly after finishing off our sandwiches. Early in the afternoon, we passed several small hotels and guesthouses. They looked just right but there was still too much left in the driving day. We did not want a long second day on this Berlin-to-Bad trip.

The plan, as the plan always is, was to stop for a hotel in the afternoon before sunset. On our map, it seemed that we would hit the town of Weiden at about the right time. Besides, it looked big enough to have a cash machine and we were low on deutsche marks. Weiden was another bad idea. It took us 10 or 15 minutes to follow the signs to "Centrum" (downtown in American - the usual place for hotels and banks). When we got there, we had to go into a parking lot because the Centrum was walking-only. The cash machine was easy enough to find but the few hotels we spotted looked pretty plain and uninviting. This was not one of the quaint southern German towns written about in tour books. So, an hour or more after leaving the highway, we got back on heading back south, hoping for the perfect, quaint hotel - before dark.

Naturally, nothing showed up soon. The sun was going down as we entered the small town of Tannesberg and veered off to "Centrum", about 100 feet off the highway. We immediately spotted both a hotel and a pension that looked as quaint as we could want. That was the good news. After we parked, we learned the bad news; both were closed and dark. Oops, this is one of the drawbacks of off-season travel.

Luckily, we turned around and spotted a small "post hotel" that we had missed on the drive in. The neighboring bakery must have distracted us when we drove in. While it looked less interesting than its neighbors, it was open and, after all, the sun was down. And, again, we were pleasantly surprised. Behind the rather plain facade was a relatively complete resort with a good restaurant, an indoor pool, therapeutic baths and even a little two-lane bowling alley. A nice stop, all we could ask for.

The next morning started out foggy, so we took our time getting onto the road. Once we did start, the sky remained gray and the air hazy but the road through the Bavarian forest was delightful nonetheless. We still had the autumn colors that have been a feature of our trip for over a month. The road was smooth and curvy. It was fun to drive. Passing trucks and farm tractors is a necessary evil on these roads, but today the evil was reasonable.

For a mid-day break, we looked on our map and determined that we would hit the town of Berghausen a bit after mid-day, good timing. However, when we reached the town, we found ourselves passing through an industrial neighborhood, complete with an oil refinery. The only lunch spots looked completely unattractive. Just as we were about to pass out of town, Marianne spotted a small sign pointing left to "the old town". She ordered an immediate left turn. At first, it was just a winding road through nondescript parkland, but then we passed by an imposing tower in the corner of a medieval fortress wall. The road quickly descended to a splendid old town square below the fortress. We'd gone from refinery to storybook setting in five minutes.

On the square, we selected one of the many restaurants and had a nice Bavarian meal. Then we wandered the area and did the required church visits. The large cathedral had a typical Bavarian onion-dome steeple but the smaller 17th century "student's church" at the other end of the square exerted more of an attraction for us. Maybe we are just saturated on large cathedrals.

After the downtown walk, we headed for the fortress that runs for a kilometer or more on the bluff above the town square. It was an absolutely magical walk. There were very few tourists. Many buildings were occupied, but the residents were at work or at school. Even the Tourist Information office was closed, opening only on weekends in the winter season.

The fortress is long and narrow. It is built like a series of separate fortresses with walls, moats and bridges between several sections. Each section has it's own internal buildings, one with a picture-perfect chapel, another a peaceful green space and another a thousand-year-old jail.

Looking outside the fortress, the old city and a bridge to Austria lay before us. Off the other side was a wonderful park, complete with pastures and a crystal lake. Napoleon Bonapart was reportedly enchanted with this place and we could understand why.

Berghausen did not appear in our guidebook. Of course the closed TI office gave us no factual information we could repeat. But, despite our lack of "facts", this may end up a "favorite town" because walking through the sections of the peaceful fortress felt just a bit like a walk from a thousand years ago

But we did have to leave. Our highway passed through two more walled cities on our way south. Clearly, some of these wall gates were designed more for ox-carts than tour buses. Inside each wall, were more quaint shops, a town square, and a church or two. But we still preferred the impression of the walled fortress of Berghausen.

Finally, we reached Bad Reichenhall. It was as picturesque and friendly as Marianne had promised and we were able to settle into a wonderful new base camp. But that's another story.

Take care and take the left turns your spouse orders.

John and Marianne

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Created November 10, 2001

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