Ballengasse

Ballengasse, or “Bale Alley,” although short, is one of my favorite streets in town. Its name is reference to the “Rottzeit,” or the time when covered wagons would carry goods between Venice and Augsburg and the couriers would stop to refresh here in Partenkirchen along the old Roman Road.

The “bales” of goods would be stored in warehouses along this street.

Today, its charm is in how hidden-in-plain-sight it is — an alley just off the popular Ludwigstraße, it’s barely wide enough for a car. But it winds past homes covered in clever lüftlmalerei most tourists probably never see.

Ballengasse 1.

“Fensterumrahmungen” around the windows and the door. In the center, a Lüftlmalerei of an angel, a variation on Guido Reni‘s 1635 painting, “The Archangel Michael Defeating Satan.”

Beneath, the signature of the artist, Franz Winterholler, and the date, 1982.

Large narrative Lüftlmalerei cover the front facade of Balengasse 4.

On one end of the building, an image of Saint Martin cutting his cloak beside the original inscription stone.

On the other, a Lüftlmalerei labeled “Stasiger, the last delivery from Partenkirchen” depicting the time when covered wagons would pass through this city on their way to Augsburg or Venice laden with goods.

Beneath, the signature of the artist, Eberhard Hülsmann, and the date, 1961.

Here, at the Bavarian State Archives, you can see Franz Kölbl’s photograph of this building taken soon after these murals were painted, some time between 1965 and 1970.

Ballengasse 5.

Ballengasse 6.

On the far left facing the street, a large narrative lüftlmalerei of Saint Leonard above a farmer beside a wagon.

Painted on a stone in the picture, the signature of the artist, Gerhard Ester, and the date, 1976.

Ballengasse 7.

This Alt-Werdenfelser house survived the fire in 1863 and is protected by the Denkmalshutz.

At Ballengasse 8, on one wall, a sundial depicting Father Time harvesting time with a sythe and an hourglass at the top, while an infant New Year or Present reads a newspaper.

This Lüftlmalerei, like the one next door, was painted by Gerhard Ester in 1976, and likely inspired by another Lüftlmalerei painted by Heinrich Bickel not far from here.

Around the corner.

The Lüftlmalerei on the front of Ballengasse 11 have changed.

The front facade used to have Lüftlmalerei painted by artist K. Erhardt. In 2021, those Lüftlmalerei were repainted by S. Gilligen.

On the left, used to be an image of Saint Joseph, while on the right, used to be a picture of poet and shoemaker Hans Sachs, with a quote: “Ich will in meiner Arbeit leben und nehmen, was mir Gott tut geben daß feine Anruß mir erwacht durch zeitlich Gut. So spricht Hans Sachs.” Or: “I will live in my work and take what God does to me and gives to me, so that I may receive a fine welcome through my good on Earth. So said Hans Sachs.”

Today, there is a new image of Saint Joseph on the left, while on the right, shoemaker Hans Sachs has been replaced with images of putti holding woodcarving tools.