Kathy's birthday in Seebruck on Chiemsee

 We finally had good weather for Kathy's birthday this year on the lake in Bavaria called Chiemsee.

We stayed in a small town called Seebruck on the northern point of the lake. It was the site of an ancient Roman fortress called Bedaium on the road from Augsburg (named after Emperor Augustus) to Salzburg.  The name Bedaium comes from locally worshiped Celtic god Bedaius, and the addition of Celtic culture to the local history was interesting. The Celtic people, the Alauni, along with Bedaium are even mentioned in Roman texts.

 

ancient Roman smokehouse foundation

The site was excavated from 1972 until 1974, and some of the treasures are on display in the small museum next to the excavation site. Adjacent to our hotel is the foundation of roman smokehouse. They would light fires and channel the smoke between stone walls under the floor, which is indicated by some wooden planks in the photo. The smoke would come up into the room where fish and meats were hung. Next to the building was a well, where four well-preserved wooden baskets (see photo) were found. The purpose of the baskets is not known. Everyone loves a mystery.

baskets found in a Roman well

 

 

 

 

 

 

grave stone of Amanda

Many of the treasures found during excavation can be seen in a small museum next to the old fortress foundations. The museum contains the same types of durables that you see in many museums: vases, jewelry, metal weapons, and mile stones. Two grave stones were on exhibit. One marked the grave of a 50-year-old former slave named Amanda.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some Celtic artifacts  were also found during excavation. I especially liked the colorful vases from the 7th to 6th centuries b.c., which predates the Roman times.

 

Of course, we had to go for a boat ride on Kathy's birthday trip, so we went to one of the islands in Chiemsee called Fraueninsel (Ladies' Island). It is a small island with 300 inhabitants, some of whom still smoke fish and eels from the lake. Many of them are artists who run shops out of their houses. The icon of the island is the bell tower of the convent of Benedictine nuns. The nuns still live there, in spite of the secularization that occurred during the Napoleonic wars. They have a small shop where you can buy some of the products they make, like honey, candles, gingerbread, liqueurs and bitters. 

The convent goes back to 782, when the Duke of Bavaria, Tassilo III, founded the first German-speaking convent beyond the alps. In 850, the convent became very important when the daughter of Ludwig the German (who was Charlemagne's grandson) was made abbess. Irmingard was considered a saint, as indicated by location of her marble coffin, which was originally in the foundation of the south-western pillar of the church. (The idea was to show that holy people were the supports of the Church.)   

fresco in the Michael's Chapel

About 50 years after Irmingard's death, the convent was destroyed by the Huns, and the only remains from that period are the gatehouse and the foundations of the Minster. But the upper floor of the gatehouse contains the chapel of St. Michael, which contains original frescoes, one depicting archangels watching over Christ. 

On exhibit are also treasures such as Tassilo's chalice, which was made around 770 from copper with gold and silver overlay.

Tassilo's chalice

There is also a bishop's cross, made in the late Merovingian period around the year 700 in a workshop on the British Isles and brought to Chiemsee perhaps in the 8th century by Irish missionaries. The cross is made out of maple wood with gold cladding.

bishop's cross

 

detail of the top of the cross

The lake itself and how we got there

Chiemsee (the name means Chiem Lake) is just north of the foothills of the alps. We took the train to the main train station at the southern end of the lake (Prien am Chiemsee), whence we planned to take the bus to the northern end. However, after missing the bus, we were lucky enough to take a little tourist train to the harbor on the lake.

A small steam locomotive (cute!) pulled the train for the 8 minute trip through town to the harbor. Along the way, kids on the streets waved at the train. The picture at right shows the steam locomotive at the harbor preparing to take the train back into town.

From the harbor, we took a boat to the town of Seebruck (lake bridge) at the northern end. This one happens to be a paddle boat. The whole trip took about an hour, with the boat making stops at the islands and towns along the way.

From our slick hotel, which had its own expansive lawn with roses in full bloom, we walked to a point of land designated as a nature preserve. There was a two-story tower offering a telescope for watching the local bird life. Many coastal areas on the lake, including large parts of the islands' shores, are designated nature sanctuaries to protect nesting and migrating bird species and fish spawning grounds. 

In the picture above, the metal structure in the background near the birdwatching pavilion is part of a sculpture commissioned for the town. Throughout the town, commissioned metal sculptures speak of the town's history. I call this one "Three Celts in a Boat"; it was on the lake front near the town beach.

 

On our second day there, we walked out away from town into a nature preserve. The path wound along the lake, going by reed beds where signs were posted encouraging people to protect the nesting grounds of the various birds in the area.

About 2 miles out, we found a campground packed with campers. It had its own café/beer garden, so we stopped for refreshments. Richard had an "Eisschokolade" - a scoop of ice cream dunked into a glass of hot chocolate. Just perfect for that hot day. 

Because Seebruck is a small town, not many options for dining existed besides the tourist places beside the town beach. Richard found the best place in town and made reservations for all 3 nights. It turned out to be the "taverna" outside the Roman museum. The food was wonderful, with some Austrian specialties, because the owner comes from Kärnten in Austria. 

The house aperitif was a mix of limoncello and prosecco with mint leaves. We also enjoyed a wonderful rosé wine 2 out of the 3 nights. 

Another great birthday trip, planned by Richard!