In Hechendorf, the Loisach and St. Anna tell stories from different periods: of former rafting activities and of a church with a medieval core and early Baroque character. Molo Park adds a 20th-century garden to the village’s history; a cycling tour through the Murnauer Moos also leads to Hechendorf. Cultural history and a scenic route thus offer different ways to explore the village.
Rafting on the Loisach
The Loisach flows directly past Hechendorf, where a distinct profession of raftsmen developed. From April to September, the Hechendorf raftsmen regularly travelled between Oberau and Schönmühl near Wolfratshausen. Rafting on the Loisach came to a complete end in 1892. These key facts trace the former work on the river: a distinct profession, a seasonal period, a named route and the end of rafting. Hechendorf is regarded as a former rafting village; the Loisach Cycle Path provides information about this history.
St. Anna: Building history in several layers
The Catholic subsidiary church of St. Anna is a Baroque-style hall church with a recessed choir and a mansard-roofed tower on the north side. The recessed choir joins the hall church at a narrower width. The core of the church dates from the mid-15th century; it was extended and altered in the mid-17th century. Within the Murnau parish, St. Anna is considered probably the oldest church building. At the same time, it is an unusually consistent early Baroque church, with some Romanesque and Gothic masonry preserved in its core. Its design, alterations and surviving older components thus tell of different periods in the church’s history.
Molo Park: Garden and remembrance
Molo Park is a garden covering more than four hectares in Hechendorf. It was created between 1932 and 1934. A gravestone in the park commemorates Walter von Molo. The history of a garden created in the 20th century is thus linked with a specific memorial to a named person. Compared with the far-reaching architectural history of St. Anna, the park adds a more recent historical note.
Cycling through the Murnauer Moos
The cycling tour through the Murnauer Moos leads through Central Europe’s largest contiguous raised bog. The route as described first follows the cycle path along Olympiastraße to Hechendorf, then continues along the Loisach. Hechendorf is therefore one section of the route through the moor. The two cycling routes have different focuses here: the Moos tour provides a sequence of route sections; the Loisach Cycle Path offers information about rafting in Hechendorf. The scenic route and local history thus sit side by side, without both references addressing the same question.
Culture in the wider destination of Murnau a.Staffelsee
In the wider destination of Murnau a.Staffelsee, Murnau Castle Museum offers a distinctive cultural experience. It displays works by Gabriele Münter and works by artists of the New Artists’ Association of Munich and the Blue Rider, including Wassily Kandinsky, Marianne von Werefkin, Alexej Jawlensky, Franz Marc and Heinrich Campendonk. The museum houses the largest publicly exhibited collection of Münter’s works. Its themes also include Murnau’s art and literary history in the first third of the 20th century, as well as the special features of the Alpine foothills and local traditions and culture.
Murnau Castle Museum has an extensive documentation dedicated to playwright Ödön von Horváth. Horváth lived mainly in Murnau from 1924 until his politically forced departure in 1933. There he wrote, among other works, the plays “Zur schönen Aussicht” and “Italienische Nacht” and began the novel “Jugend ohne Gott”. The museum also showcases local crafts such as feather-flower making and reverse-glass painting. The international Dammert Collection complements these themes with works from Europe and Asia that extend beyond local products.
Other cultural highlights in Murnau a.Staffelsee include the historic town centre, which can be explored independently or as part of a guided tour, and the Münter House, which offers insights into the lives of the artists associated with it. An art walk is another activity for visitors. The literary walk through Murnau follows in the footsteps of Ödön von Horváth; advance registration is required to take part.
See the overview of the wider destination: Murnau Am Staffelsee.
