Lenggries

Lenggries is a municipality in Bavaria, Germany. Lenggries is the center of the Isarwinkel, the region along the Isar between Bad Tölz and Wallgau. The town has about 9,500 inhabitants. By area, it is the largest rural municipality ("Gemeinde") in what was formerly West Germany, and the 7th-largest overall. (All six currently larger Gemeinden are in Brandenburg.)

Etymology

The name Lenggries is derived from Lenngengrieze (long Gries), a long rubble field with deposits of debris from the bed of the Isar.

Geography

Lenggries sits on the Isar River before it transitions into the Alpine foothills. To the east are the Tegernsee Mountains, to the west lies the home mountain of Lenggries known as the Brauneck with an elevation of over 1,555 meters above sea level. The Brauneck is a well known ski area tied together by lifts. The town of Lenggries sits 700 meters above sea level.

History

Lenggries first appears in documentation in the year 1220. For many years Lenggries was the only settlement on the "long Gries" ruled by the Barons of Hörwarth from the Hofmark castle, the Hohenburg. In 1705 the first resistance against the Austrians was organized in Lenggries. This later led to the killing of many peasants in a battle known as Sendling's Night of Murder. From 1808 to 1818 edicts from the Bavarian municipality formed Lenggries into a politically independent municipality. In 1924 Lenggries was connected to the railroad (known today as the Bayerische Oberlandbahn), and tourism first became important to Lenggries' economy. From 1935 until 1939 Gebirgsjäger (mountain infantry) were stationed in Lenggries.