Ammergau

The Ammergau (also Ammertal) is a lower area between Ettal and Bad Kohlgrub on the Amper (or Ammer) river in Bavaria. It is near the border with Austrian Tyrol and maintains some cultural and geographical similarity. The nearby mountains are called the Ammergau Alps. It has the main municipal divisions of Unterammergau and Oberammergau (lower and upper Ammergau), with Oberammergau as the main town, and is a part of the Garmisch-Partenkirchen District. The name possibly derives from the nearby Amber Road (Amber = Ammer) or the word Ameri, meaning Swamp.

The area is important for its folk art, especially woodcarving. Also famous is the Oberammergau Passion play, a continuous tradition since 1633. King Ludwig II heavily taxed the area in order to finance his small castle, Schloss Linderhof, in the neighboring valley of Ettal, in which he spent most of his tenure. Two spas are located in the neighboring mountains upstream, Bad Kohlgrub and Bad Bayersoien.

Historically, the valley was located on the trade routes between Italy/Venice and the north toward Augsburg. The Benedictine monastery in Ettal was long the largest landowner, and it also exercised wide legal jurisdiction until secularization in 1803 dissolved the German clerical states including the Garmisch-Partenkirchen district and Oberau.