Dorfstraße
On the wall above the famous Paradiso Ice Cream Shop at Dorfstraße 4 are charming images from fairytales by the Brothers Grimm, including Cinderella and Puss and Boots.
The false architecture around the front door of the Oberammergau Museum at Dorfstraße 8 was first added between 1905 and 1908 by architect Franz Zell.1
Dorfstraße 11 is literally covered in Lüftlmalerei by Sebastian Pfeffer.
On the wall facing the street at Dorfstraße 17, a Lüftlmalerei depicting the Walking Tour of the Star before Jesus and the Kofel Mountain.
This tradition in Oberammergau differs from Sternsinger (literally “Star Singers”) in the rest of Catholic Southern Germany. In Oberammergau, on December 31st, on the final evening of the year, everyone gathers at the Ammergauer Haus at Eugen-Papst-Str. 9a for the “Walk of the Star.” The tour stops at specific locations throughout the village to herald the coming new year with traditional star songs and, at every station, fanfare is played by the band and the crowd gives a loud shout of “A guat’s nei’s Johr!” — Bavarian for “Happy New Year!”.2
In the rest of Southern Germany, such singing is performed on or close to the holiday of Epiphany, January 6th, and the children of both sexes knock on every door in town and are given sweets and money for charity. After having sung their songs, recited a poem, and collected donations for children in poorer parts of the world, they will chalk the blessing on the top of the door frame or place a sticker with the blessing. For instance, if the year is 2014, “20 * C + M + B + 14” would be written above the door in chalk. The initials refer to the Latin phrase “Christus mansionem benedicat” (“May Christ bless this house”), while the letters are often interpreted as the names of the Three Wise Men (Caspar, Melchior, Balthasar), who the children often dress up as while singing.
The Lüftlmalerei on the front gable of Dorfstraße 18 depicts the people of Oberammergau making their promise to perform the Passion Play in 1633.
Around the corner, an image of Mary, her mother, Anna, an infant Jesus and a young Saint John the Baptist, as well as a tondo of Saint Luke, the patron saint of artists.
Originally painted by Karl Gries before 1960, the Lüftlmalerei here were renovated by Sebastian Pfeffer in 1999.
At the Bavarian State Archives online, you can see a photograph of what these Lüftlmalerei looked like soon after they were first painted.
The Lüftlmalerei were painted by Sebastian Pfeffer.
The largest picture painted depicts a 17th century Bavarian street scene referencing the Oberammergau’s place in the Rottstraße trade route.
According to the inscription beside the picture: “This picture commemorates old times, the whole past, the old Rott route that led from Augsburg to Venice” („Das Bildgemahnt an alte Zeit, An gsanzende Vergangenheit, Die alte Rottstraß’ führet da Von Augsbug nach Venezia”).
In the Lüftlmalerei, the covered wagon, trader, and Postillon, symbolize the building’s history and place on the trade route and as a Post Hotel. In the background, Oberammergau’s famous Kofel mountain.
Originally built in the 18th century, Doftstraße 20 has been a magistrate’s house, a publishing house, a post office,5 but most consistently it has been the home of the Georg Lang sel. Erben woodcarving company since it was first founded in 1775.
In a tondo at the top left of the facade, an image of this building as it looked in 1875, before it was rebuilt in 1898 to the way it looks now.
On the right, a portrait of the woodcarving company’s founder, Georg Lang (1747 – 1821).
Dorfstraße 20 is also the birthplace of the writer and poet Ludwig Thoma (1867 – 1921).
As the inscription painted on the front of the building explains:
In diesem Hause schenkte AM 21. JANUAR 1867 die Schwaben Wirtstochter von Oberammergau Katharina Thoma geborene Pfeiffer als Ehefrau des Revierförsters Max Thoma dem Bayerischen Heimatlande und dem Deutschen Volke den Dichter LUDWIG THOMA
Which translates to:
In this house, ON JANUARY 21, 1867, the Swabian landlord's daughter from Oberammergau, Katharina Thoma, née Pfeiffer, as wife of the district forester Max Thoma, gave to the Bavarian homeland and the German people the poet LUDWIG THOMA
In his writings, Thoma exaggerated and satirized small-town life in Bavaria.
Fittingly, the building now boasts a massive Lüftlmalerei depicting 19th century rural Bavarians painted by Gerhard Ester in 1969 — almost exactly 100 years after the writer was born here.
In the center of the Lüftlmalerei, the man in the middle holding the Bavarian flag is Richard Lang, descendant and owner at the time of the Georg Lang sel. Erben woodcarving company, and the one who commissioned Ester to paint the facade. Next to Lang sits his wife. These scene is includes several woodcarvers who worked in the workshop at the time and who also all played music together.6
On the far left side, the image of a Postillion on horseback with his distinctive post horn harkens back to the building’s more than 40 years as a post and telegraph office.8
On the right, an image of a sculptor and a Fassmaler, a “barrel painter”. A Fassmaler paints and gilds finished wooden sculptures, giving carvings their finished appearance.
On the far right, an image of a Kraxeträger walking up the stairs. A “Kraxe”is a wood frame with straps, carried on the back like a backpack. Goods could be tied to the frame and carried where mules and wagons couldn’t go — a type of inner-Alpine trade that is now almost forgotten.9
At Dorfstraße 24 has had Lüftlmalerei on its walls since it was built in 1774.10
According to the plaque on the wall, publisher Franz Anton Rutz, known as “Plepperle,” built this house after the fire that swept through the town on January 26,1774. In 1778, Franz Seraph Zwinck painted the frescoes which were renovated in 1991. The coat of arms in the gable was added around 1890 by Josef Posch.11
Zwinck signed the mural of the Coronation of Mary in the gable: “Franz Zwinck invenit et pinxit 1778”. The mural on the left is a depiction of the presentation of the rosary to Saint Dominic by Our Lady. On the right, an image of the Expulsion of Hager and her son, Ishmael. Above the door, and image of the Flight into Egypt.12
Dorfstraße 30.
Dorfstraße 33.
The Lüftlmalerei decorating Dorfstraße 43 were painted by Franz Seraph Zwinck around 1780.13
Dorfstraße 45, a former rectory, was first built by Joseph Schmuzer in 1731, rebuilt in 1877, and last renovated in 1963.14
As the painted banner at the top explains, the large Lüftlmalerei on the wall depicts the first performance of the Passion Play here in Oberammergau in 1634.
- Bayerisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege. Denkmalliste, Gemeinde Oberammergau. 26 March 2021, https://www.geodaten.bayern.de/denkmal_static_data/externe_denkmalliste/pdf/denkmalliste_merge_180125.pdf, p. 1: "Dorfstraße 8. Heimatmuseum mit sog. Hauskapelle, zweigeschossiger historisierender Gruppenbau mit Altane, Zwerchhaus, Putzgliederung und Fassadenmalerei, von Franz Zell, 1905-08; mit Ausstattung."
- Walking Tour of the Star. https://www.ammergauer-alpen.de/oberammergau/en/Media/Artikel/Walking-Tour-Of-The-Star. Accessed 21 June 2021: "Walking Tour Of The Star
Every year onNew Yearâs Evelocals and guests alike make their way around Oberammergau and Ettal with a large illuminated star accompanied by singers and musicians
This tradition differs from the 'Star Singers in other towns where the singers usually move from home to home to performing songs on the eve of Epiphany, January 6th.
On the final evening of the year at 7 pm everyone gathers at the Ammergauer Haus in Oberammergau for the 'Walk Of The Star . At representative locations throughout the village the tour stops with its numerous colourful lanterns and heralds the coming new year with traditional star songs- songs whose origins date back to medieval times.
The finale at every station is the fanfare played by the band and the loud joint shout'A guat s nei s Johr (Bavarian for A happy new year)."
- Bayerisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege. Denkmalliste, Gemeinde Oberammergau. 26 March 2021, https://www.geodaten.bayern.de/denkmal_static_data/externe_denkmalliste/pdf/denkmalliste_merge_180125.pdf, p. 2: "Dorfstraße 19. Hotel, sog. Alte Post, zweigeschossiger Flachsatteldachbau in Ecklage mit Erker, Giebelluken, Fassadenmalerei und barockem Ausleger, im Kern 1612, 18. und 19. Jh."
- Preisinger, Anton. "AW: Fragen zu den Lüftlmalereien an der Außenwand Ihres Gebäudes in Oberammergau". Message to the author. 21 April 2021. Email: "Unser Haus wurde im Jahre 1612 das erste Mal erwähnt und ist seit 1897 in Familienbesitz."
- Bayerisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege. Denkmalliste, Gemeinde Oberammergau. 26 March 2021, https://www.geodaten.bayern.de/denkmal_static_data/externe_denkmalliste/pdf/denkmalliste_merge_180125.pdf, p. 2: "Ehem. Amtsrichterhaus, seit 1785 Verlagshaus, bis 1922 Posthalterei, dreigeschossiger stattlicher Schopfwalmdachbau in Heimatstilformen mit Giebellaube, Zwerchhaus, Belvedere-Turm und reicher Fassadenmalerei, im Kern 18. Jh., 1898 Umbau zur heutigen Größe, Malerei modern."
- Lang, Florian. "Re: Fragen zu den Lüftlmalereien an der Außenwand Ihres Gebäudes in Oberammergau". Message to the author. 29 April 2021. Email: "Der Mann mit der bayrischen Fahne ist mein Vater Richard Lang, daneben meine Mutter, sowie verschiedene Schnitzer, die damals in unseren Werkstätten gearbeitet haben und auch zusammen musiziert haben."
- Lang, Florian. "Re: Fragen zu den Lüftlmalereien an der Außenwand Ihres Gebäudes in Oberammergau". Message to the author. 29 April 2021. Email: "Die Szene in der Mitte mit den Musikanten stellt die sogenannte "Kleppermusi" dar. "Klepper" ist der Hausname unserer Familie."
- Lang, Florian. "Re: Fragen zu den Lüftlmalereien an der Außenwand Ihres Gebäudes in Oberammergau". Message to the author. 29 April 2021. Email: "Auf der ganz linken Seite ist ein Postillon dargestellt, da über 40 Jahre ein Post- und Telegraphenamt in unserem Hause war."
- Lang, Florian. "Re: Fragen zu den Lüftlmalereien an der Außenwand Ihres Gebäudes in Oberammergau". Message to the author. 29 April 2021. Email: "Ganz rechts ein sogenannter Kraxenträger und ein Bildhauer, sowie ein Fassmaler."
- Bayerisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege. Denkmalliste, Gemeinde Oberammergau. 26 March 2021, https://www.geodaten.bayern.de/denkmal_static_data/externe_denkmalliste/pdf/denkmalliste_merge_180125.pdf, p. 2: "Dorfstraße 24. Ehem. Doppelhaus, seit 1906 Wohn- und Geschäftshaus, dreigeschossiger barocker Flachsatteldachbau mit reicher Fassadenmalerei, 1774, Fresken teilweise von Franz Seraph Zwinck 1778."
- "GEROLDHAUS „Zum Plepperla”" (Plaque on the wall of Dorfstraße 20). Oberammergau, Germany: "Nach dem Brand am 26.1.1774 errichtet der Verleger Franz Anton Rutz „Plepperle” dieses Haus. Von der Gesamtbemalung i. J. 1778 durch Franz S. Zwinck „Lüftlmaler” blieben vier Fresken, renov. 1991. Das Wappen im Giebel (ca. 1890) stammt vom Wagner Jos. Posch. Seine Hälfte erwirbt 1906 der Schumacher Alois Gerold; die jahrhundertalte Hausteilung ist beendet, der Hausname „Grötsch” erlischt. Die Familie Hans Wolf, die heute in diesem Haus lebt, sind die direkten Nachkommen des Alois Gerold."
- Baur-Heinhold, Margarete. Bemalte Fassaden. Verlag Georg DW Callwey, München, 1975, p. 99: "Oberammergau, Dorfstraße, sog. Geroldhaus. Heute verändert. Signiert in der Krönung Marie im Giebl »Franz Zwinck invenit et pinxit 1778«. Links die Überreichung des Rosenkranzes an den hl. Dominikus durch die Muttergottes, rechts die Vertreibung der Hager mit ihrem Sohn Ismael[...]. Über der Türe Flucht nach Ägypten."
- Bayerisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege. Denkmalliste, Gemeinde Oberammergau. 26 March 2021, https://www.geodaten.bayern.de/denkmal_static_data/externe_denkmalliste/pdf/denkmalliste_merge_180125.pdf, p. 2: "Dorfstraße 43. Wohnhaus, zweigeschossiger Satteldachbau in Ecklage mit Kniestock, Giebellaube, Zwerchhaus und Fassadenmalerei, im Kern 18. Jh., um 1900 aufgestockt, überarbeitete Malerei von Franz Seraph Zwinck um 1780."
- Bayerisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege. Denkmalliste, Gemeinde Oberammergau. 26 March 2021, https://www.geodaten.bayern.de/denkmal_static_data/externe_denkmalliste/pdf/denkmalliste_merge_180125.pdf, p. 2: "Dorfstraße 45. Ehem. Pfarrhaus, jetzt Café, zweigeschossiger Steildachbau, von Joseph Schmuzer, 1731, Umbau 1877 und 1963."