The beauty of this quaint town, surrounded by stunning sights, such asthe Zugspitze, cannot be denied.
While Garmisch-Partenkirchen is an ideal destination for the outdoorsman, the city holds a piece of Third Reich history that is worth visiting.
In 1936 Adolf Hitler's power in Germany was still growing. With a desire to impress the world, he had built an impressive Ski Jump Stadium complete with luxury boxes, (at least that time's version of them), restaurants and enough space to hold 100,000 spectators. Before you get too excited, the majority of those spectators were 'standing room only.' And I can only imagine that they were stuffed in there pretty tight.
The ski jumps were towering, and they still are today, although they have been renovated and modernized.
The stadium still hosts a number of national and international ski jump competitions, and if you make it to GAP during the winter, it would be worth your while to try to attend one of them.
The present-day stadium also houses a hotel with rooms facing the ski jumps. If you do happen to stay there, make sure you close the curtains before doing anything naughty because you're sure to have peeping eyes peering in from anyone up on the ski hill.
The Jumps
Not only are the jumps themselves an impressive sight, but the stadium structure is decorated with various monuments to Olympic legends.
Unless you're there to view a ski jumping event or stay in the hotel, the stadium won't take more than an hour or two to view, not including sitting for lunch on the outdoor patio of the restaurant.
The Olympic stadium is definitely worth the visit, if for nothing else than the historical value of the site, but it's also on the way to the Partnach Gorge, a must see if you visit the area.
So, on a day where you're recovering from the Zugspitze, don't forget to visit the Garmisch-Partenkirchen ski stadium, host of the 1936 Winter Olympics.
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