ISTOCK DECEMBER/JANUARY 2019 BCBUSINESS 65
I
t's one of those moments
that screams, "How did I
get here?" The methods
of transportation are easy to
explain: a 10-hour •ight from
Vancouver in one of Lufthan-
sa's nest aircraft (see side-
bar), followed by a two-hour
bus ride into the mountains
on a road that feels a bit like if
the Sea-to-Sky and the High-
way to Hell had a baby. But the
view of Southeast Germany
on a clear May afternoon is
another matter.
Below me are rolling hills
as far as the eye can see; The
Sound of Music was lmed a
half-hour drive from here.
About a kilometre above
stands a small house at the
apex of the mountain range.
Called Kehlsteinhaus, it's
known in English as the
Eagle's Nest and was a well-
known gathering place for
the Nazi Party.
This is the scene at Kem-
pinski Hotel Berchtesgaden,
up the road from Munich,
Germany's third-biggest city.
The comparisons between
Berchtesgaden, with its
population of some 7,600, and
Whistler are obvious: it's a top
ski destination surrounded by
pristine bodies of water, and
tourism is the lifeblood of
the economy.
But B.C.'s favourite
winter wonderland lacks
the old-timey charm of
Berchtesgaden. And while
some aspects of the Bavarian
retreat's history are undoubt-
edly regrettable (thanks to
historical museum Dokumen-
tation Obersalzberg and its
Bavarian Behaviour
TRAVEL
The beer is great and the history is unsettling, but
there's a lot more to Munich and its alpine counterpart,
Berchtesgaden, than stereotypes
by Nathan Caddell
170,000 visitors in 2017, the
village doesn't shy away from
its past), others have aged well.
A trip across a lake named
Königssee, for example, yields
the Church of St. Bartholomä,
built in the 12th century, plus a
family-run food stand special-
izing in smoked trout on a
bun. (Just don't ask for WiFi.)
The right to sh in the lake is
passed down from generation
to generation, with only one
person holding the right to
catch at any given time. Not a
bad business model.
Speaking of which, two
other notable commercial
endeavours in the region that
have stood the test of time are
lederhosen clothier Engelbert
Aigner and the Grassl distillery,
which specializes in schnapps.
The former is another fam-
ily business, though instead
(
quality time
)
PEAK VIEWS
Berchtesgaden
invites compari-
sons to Whistler,
but it also fea-
tures historical
landmarks like
the Church of
St. Bartholomä
(below)
