Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Ammersee

A busy day. A truck from the "Franziskaner"-brewery just arrived and now parks behind the St. Jakobus church, built around 1200 and only meters away from the Ammersee. There is not much to see. It has a simple and clear structure, but there is a "special". It has an upper floor, that can be reached via a staircase inside. The patrozinium "Jakobus" connects the little church with the medieval pilgrimage and coming from east, having just crossed the lake, this was for sure an ideal place to stay overnight. So the room upstairs was probably used as a dormatory for pilgrims before.

See the apse of "St. Jakobus" to the right - and a bavarian pub and beer garden to the left. This combination may have started, when the church was built. So here the pilgrims could have dinner, before the went up the stairs into the dormitory - centuries ago. Actually the floor in the church still exists, but is not used as a dorm any longer. The symbiosis of pub and church is still very strong in Bavaria. The strongest it is in nearby Andechs. But that is another story.

The church St. Jakobus was built on a little hump, only a few meters away from the Ammersee. Standing there and looking south, you can see the Alps.

The snow finally melted on a hill overlooking the Ammersee. The town of Diessen is in the foreground. There is the steeple of the church, that belonged to an old abbey, and is now parish church. On the other side of the lake at the horizon, you see the benedictine Andechs abbey, known for it´s brewery and the wonderfull "beer-garden".. The Ammersee was a barrier for all medieval travel as it continues further south into a very swampy area. Ferries were used to cross the lake. One of the pickup points for passengers was the still existing village Wartaweil on the opposite side of the lake. "Wart a Weil" is bavarian language for "Wait A While". - - The snow was back next morning!