I happened to meet the owner of Archstraße 26 who was sitting in his front yard when I came by taking pictures.  He was pleased to speak with me and happy to pose for a photo for this website.  He spoke no English, and my German was terrible.  At one point, he flat out told me, if I lived here, I ought to learn to speak German.  I told him, “Ja, Ich lerne, aber langsam,” (“I’m learning, but slowly”).  He then sympathized with me, because here in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, people don’t just speak German, but Bavarian.  He teased me a bit, speaking Bavarian.

When I asked, he told me his name was Franz.  70 years old.  Proud to share the lüftlmalerei of him on his house.  Said the painter was from somewhere outside of Garmisch, who, when he was a young apprentice, offered to paint this mural for just a little money or for beer.  “Rapp.”  Told me that the painter asked him if he wanted a Saint or something like that, and Franz said no.  So the painter asked him what his hobbies were.  When Franz said he enjoyed working with wood, this was the image the lüftlmaler painted.