Dear Family and Friends,
We have put together some
information for those of you who will
be joining us for our wedding in Germany.
We hope the information
and links on this page will help you plan your stay! Below the
schedule of events, you will find further descriptions of the
festivites as well as the local area. We will be
updating the page over the next few weeks, so check back soon to
see what's
new! If there
is more information you would like to have, just send us a note!
Last
updated July 30,
2006
Schedule of
Events:
Saturday,
September 30th
Civil
Ceremony
4pm, City
Hall, Kochel am See, Bavaria
Meet in front of City
Hall
3:45 PM
Civil Ceremony
4:00 PM
Meet outside City Hall
4:45 PM
Champagne Toast at Villa
Waldfrieden 5:00 PM
Meet at restaurant Graue Bär
6:00 PM
Sunday, October 1st
Hang
out and Relax Day
We plan to spend time with family and
friends in the area around Lake
Kochel. See the information below for ideas of what to do and see
in the region around Kochel. All guests are welcome to join!
Monday, October 2nd
Wedding Ceremony, Reception and Dinner
3:00 PM, Herzogstand, Walchensee
Guests meet at the
bottom of the Gondola
1:00 PM
Check-in to Guestrooms
2:00 PM
Walk to Chapel
2:30 PM
Cermony
in
front of the Fahrenberg Chapel
3:00 PM
Champagne Toast in
the Guesthouse
4:30 PM
Recpetion
Dinner
7:00 PM
Breakfast
8:00 - 10:00 AM
Check-Out
10:30 AM
Civil
Ceremony:
All
guests are welcome to join us for the civil ceremony in Kochel am
See. However, the main wedding event is on Monday, October
2nd. We would like to meet friends and family
after the ceremony at the restaurant Graue Bär (Gray Bear).
Here is some information from the internet regarding the civil
ceremony in Germany (Standesamt):
A Standesamt is a German civil registration office, which is
responsible for recording births, marriages and deaths. The
register offices (Standesämter) are a part of the administration
of every German municipality (in small communities, they are often
incorporated with other offices of the administration). Since 1876,
Germans in Germany can only enter into a legal marriage in a
Standesamt. Therefore, every German marriage takes place before the
local registrar (called Standesbeamter). A religious ceremony can be
organized afterwards, but has no legal effect. Many couples choose not
to have an additional ceremony. If two ceremonies are planned,
the civil wedding is usually held a few days before the religious
wedding. After the civil ceremony, the couple is joined by a number of
friends and family (including those who witnessed the ceremony) and
toasted with champagne. This is usually followed by lunch or dinner.
Wedding
Day:
We
plan to celebrate our wedding with a
ceremony, reception and dinner on the Herzogstand mountain peak at
4,500
feet elevation. Acess to the Herzogstand peak is by gondola or a
hiking path only. Please give your name to the gondola station
attendant and he will mark you off the list and give you a free pass
for the gondola ride.
We have arranged for all
guests to spend the night at the Herzogstand
Guesthouse (see additional information below). The guesthouse is
a 10 minute walk (flat, gravel path) from the upper gondola station.
The ceremony will take place in
front of the
Fahrenberg Chapel. The chapel is a 15 minute walk uphill from
either the Herzogstand gondola upper station (rustic stairs) or the
Herzogstand Guesthouse (hiking
path). In
case
of rain, the ceremony will be held in the guesthouse. If
you plan to wear spike heels, you may want to
bring a pair of sensible shoes for the chapel ceremony.
Otherwise,
bring a coat in case of cool or windy weather and plan to enjoy the
view!
Wedding
Registry:
Your
presence at our wedding is
present enough!
For those who would still like to honor us with a gift, we have
assembled a wedding registry with
a few gift ideas. With
a user name of your choice the
password "Kochel", you can log onto the registry web page and reserve
gifts such that no gift will be purchased twice. There is a short
english description of the gifts accompanied by a photo. We would
also appreciate financial gifts specified for the items listed
on the registry.
Kochel
am See:
Kochel am See is a small town located on
Lake Kochel (Kochelsee) approximately
65 km south of Munich. This magnificent lake
sprawls an area of around 6 squared kilometers and has a maximum depth
of 66 meters. With
mountains overlooking
it and shores filled with hiking trails, Kochelsee has long been an
attraction to sport enthusiasts and artists alike. The
Expressionist
painter Franz Marc called this area his home from the years of 1908 to
1916. A lover of nature, he expressed himself through his various
famous wildlife pieces based on the surrounding area.
His work can be admired, along with other artists from "Der Blaue
Reiter" at the Franz Marc Museum.
For those spending the weekend in Kochel am See, we have reserved
several apartments and the Alp Chalet at Villa
Waldfrieden (owned and operated by Hotel Alpenhof
Postillion). Villa Waldfrieden is a five minute walk to the
Kochel am See City Hall. The use of the swimming pool at the
hotel is free.
Around
Kochel:
There are several things to do and
see in the area (most links in English):
Visit Gentleiten Open-Air Museum
Tour of Walchensee Power
Station
Hike through a narrow Gorge in
the Alps, Partnachklamm
(easy)
or
Höllentalklamm
(easy-moderate)
Hike on the Ridge between Austria and Germany, Mittenwalder
Klettersteig (difficult)
Walk around Lake
Walchensee
Visit the Franz Marc
Museum
Visit the Gliding
Airfield
in Königsdorf
Tour the old city center of Bad
Tölz
Swimming at Alpamare oder
Trimini
Visit the Monastery at
Benediktbeuern
Ride the rack railway to the highest peak in Germany, the Zugspitze
Visit the near-by Bavarian towns of Murnau, Mittenwald, or Oberammergau
Cook Dinner together at Villa
Waldfrieden
Herzogstand
Guesthouse:
The
Herzogstand Guesthouse is at 4,500
feet elevation, 2,700
feet above Lake Walchensee to the south-east and 3,400 feet above Lake
Kochel to the north. On a clear day, the Karwendel mountains can
be seen in the south and the steep Benediktenwand
in the north-east. The Herzogstand guesthouse can only be reached
by hiking or a ride on the Herzogstand
Gondola.
Bed linens are provided by the guesthouse. Guests should bring
their own towels (we have extras towels for the guests arriving by
plane.) There are shared bathrooms on each floor (flip flops for
the shower?)
Check-out is at 10:30 AM on Tuesday morning. Guests are welcome
to leave their luggage at the guesthouse if they plan to spend more
time on the mountain. There are several hiking trails reachable
from the guesthouse. When you are ready to take the gondola back
down, please give the attendant at the station your name and he will
give you a free pass. Please check to see what time the last
gondola runs.
How to
get to Kochel am See:
Autobahn (bottom
right), Kochel am See, Walschensee, Herzogstand gondula
Here you will find a detailed map of
the town of Kochel (pdf).
By Car:
From Munich follow the highway signs to
Autobahn A95 in the direction of Garmisch
Drive south about 50 kilometers on
A95.
Take exit (Ausfahrt) number 10 to Murnau/Kochel.
At the end of the off-ramp, turn left at the light towards Kochel am
See.
Drive about 9 kilometers to the city center of Kochel am See.
At the end of the street, turn right onto Highway B11 in the direction
of
Innsbruck.
From Highway B11 to Kochel am See
City Hall (Rathaus):
After turning onto Highway B11, follow the signs to the tourist
information
office as the city hall is in the same building.
Following the signs to the tourist information, turn left from Highway
B11
onto Kalmbachstraße (about 200 meters).
After 150 meters, you will see the city hall and tourist information on
the left side of the street.
From Kochel am See City Hall to the
Restaurant
Graue Bär:
Drive south on Highway B11 (Mittenwalder Straße) in the direction
of
Innsbruck.
The Graue Bär is about 2 Kilometern on the ride hand side.
From Highway B11 to Herzogstand:
Follow Highway B11
(Mittenwalder
Straße) in the direction of Innsbruck.
Follow the switch backs on the Kesselbergstraße over the
Kesselbergpass to Lake Walchensee.
Stay on the same road and pass through the town of Urfeld and two short
tunnels.
After about 8 kilometers (from Kochel) turn right into the parking
lot of the Gondola (Herzogstandbahn).
Tell the parking attendant that you are part of the wedding party
(Hochzeitsgesellschaft) and follow his instructions to the reserved
parking area.
At the gondola station, there will be an alphabetical list will all
guest names. Tell the attendant your name and they will give you
a free pass for the Gondola.
After exiting the gondola, turn left and follow the flat path to the
guesthouse (the stairs go up to the chapel).
By Train:
To City Hall:
Trains run hourly from Munich Central
Station (Hauptbahnhof) to Kochel city center. Link to train schedule
From the strain station, walk about
400 meters along the Bahnhohfstraße and turn left onto the Kalmbachstraße
After 150 meters,
you will see the city hall and tourist information on the left side of
the street.
To the Herzogstand:
After arriving at the Kochel train station, take the bus to the
Herzogstandbahn. Link to the bus schedule
At the gondola station, there will be an alphabetical list will all
guest names. Tell the attendant your name and they will give you
a
free pass for the Gondola.
After exiting the gondola, turn left and follow the flat path to the
Guesthouse (the stairs go up to the chapel).
By plane:
From the Munich airport, trains S1 and
S2 (S-Bahn) leave every 20 minutes towards Munich city
center. Exit the train at Munich Central Station (Hauptbahnhof)
and follow the directions above to Kochel City Hall or to the
Herzogstand.
Links:
Check
out some of the funniest articles
ever written about Germany in the
Germany
Survival Guide
Test
your German knowledge with the
Germanizer
Don't Compromise, Germanize!
Online
German-English Translator
LEO
Contact:
We
are looking
forward to seeing you in Germany!
If you need to contact us for
whatever reason, we can be reached at:
Anne Hiigel
und Jörg Selle
Bereiteranger 9a
81541 München
Telefon: 089-20009795
Mobil: 0179-5307428
email: hiigela@web.de oder
joergselle@web.de
