I have finally caught up with what I wanted to post before starting on our September holiday. From now on for the next two weeks or so, you will see plenty of mountains and trees, big skies and small churches. Much of it will look familiar to you, because I have been showing you similar pictures from our walks and hikes in the mountains many times. You are forgiven, therefore, if you rather skip this and the following posts ;-)
On Monday, September 20, after a 2 1/4 hours drive O.K. and I arrived at Oberjoch (literally "upper yoke") in the mountainous region of Bavaria called Allgäu. At 1,200 m above sea level, Oberjoch claims to be Germany's highest village and ski resort. They also claim to have the purest air with almost no allergens. There are no smokey factories around, just a very busy tourist industry, several farms and wood processing places. I imagine the place is heaving with people in winter, as there are some good ski slopes dotted around the village.
We checked into our hotel and had a look at the room and the views from it:
As it was still only mid-afternoon, we then went on a first walk around the village to explore what was going to be our home base for the next 9 days.
Not far from our hotel, at the bottom of the valley, is a moorland nature reserve. There is only one path through it, and visitors are forbidden to stray from that path so as to protect plants and animals.
View from the other end of the nature reserve:
Back towards the village:
In the village, we found a small, older chapel open. Only now, when putting together this post, have I realised that I did not take a picture of the chapel from the outside. Inside, it looked like this:
Leaving the chapel, just up the road is the actual village church, a relatively new building:
More often than not, I am not overly fond of modern churches; they tend to have the charm of a parking garage with plenty of concrete and not much warmth. This one was an exception, though, and I found its combination of cobbled stone floors, wooden beams and clear lines rather appealing:
We had done our exploring for the day and returned to the hotel in time for a delicious dinner.
"the charm of a parking garage" - well put. Wood makes a big difference.
ReplyDeleteIt does indeed! As you can see, our hotel room was entirely done in wood (except for the bathroom floor and the wall behind the shower, which were tiled). It looks and feels so much warmer.
DeleteI do love this beautiful shining angel, the green colour is rather unusual. Thanks for the picture. I took it on my mobile display for background.
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome, Mama. As you know, I took this picture especially for you and sent it to you the same day.
DeleteI don't think that I would find the huge pews and vast space in the Village Church anywhere near as conducive to contemplative thought as the smaller church. It is certainly very interesting, though, and a lot better than most of the concrete monstrosities masquerading as churches. They have no soul.
ReplyDeleteYou do have a point; I wasn't thinking of contemplative thought when I walked around in the village church. Instead, I was imagining it as a central point for the community, which is wide-spread along the valley but close-knit from what locals told us and the glimpses of community life we caught.
DeleteI love the angel too.
ReplyDeleteThe banner he holds reads "The whole world is full of His glory".
DeleteI never get tired of your photos. And that new church really IS appealing! I love the wooden beams.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jennifer!
DeleteThey have so much woodland there; many buildings feature balcony railings, fences etc. of wood rather than steel.
You and O.K. found a beautiful place for your holiday! Your pictures are lovely and I look forward to seeing more about this trip!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bonnie! O.K. had been at that same place six years or so ago, and we wanted to remain within German borders (because of possible Covid restrictions upon re-entry, had we gone to Austria, for example).
DeleteLovely mountain views, and interesting to see the inside of that church. I don't think I'd feel immediately "at home" there - but on the other hand I know that there is more to the atmosphere of a church than just the architecture :)
ReplyDeleteThere will be several more churches (inside and out) to look at on my next posts; this one was certainly like no other I've ever seen.
DeleteYes, a church is more than just the building :-)