A Guide to Bavaria

It is predicted to be a successful summer travel season, and Bavaria Tourism wants to enlighten future travelers with seven practical and important lessons they should know before visiting Bavaria. A guide to learning the ins and outs of the Bavarian culture can be essential, like how to drink a true Bavarian beer, eat Weisswurst properly, how to dance and even yodel. These special crash courses hosted by the local Bavarian insiders “teach” travelers how to live and breathe the Bavarian lifestyle on their next Bavarian vacation.

There Is a Special Way To Eat Weisswurst

Weisswurst, or veal sausage, is an iconic dish of Bavaria. It is only original when it is made with veal. Traditionally it is eaten before twelve o’clock, accompanied by pretzels, sweet mustard, and a Bavarian wheat beer. However, there are specific rules on how to eat Weisswurst to maximize this culinary experience. An important rule is to never eat the skin. It should be cut diagonally in half and then the meat should be peeled right off from the skin, the same with the other half. Or the more traditional way, called “Zuzeln” is to dip the sausage in the sweet mustard and suck the meat out of the skin. Mahlzeit!
Crash Course with Jakob Portenlänger: How to eat Weisswurst

Bavaria Has Its Own Wine Region

Bavaria is home to the largest beer festival in the world, Oktoberfest, but unbeknownst to many, it’s also the land of award winning wines. In Franconia, Bavaria’s northern district, the local vineyards produce whites such as Silvaner, Müller-Thurgau, Bacchus and Riesling, while popular red varieties include Spätburgunder and Domina. Franconian wine is also known for its trademark Bocksbeutel bottle. Many winemakers offer guests experiences like scenic vineyard walks, wine tastings, overnight stays and even the exclusive opportunity to take part during their harvest season. Here are five Vinotheque locations between the wine towns of Würzburg and Iphofen that wine connoisseurs and novices will enjoy.

The Dance Party Starts at the Crack of Dawn

Bavarians love to celebrate. Festivals and events are adored traditions by the locals. One of these is the Kocherlball or “cook’s ball”, Munich’s largest open-air dance event. Everyone dresses in traditional Bavarian “Tracht” such as lederhosen for the gentlemen and dirndl for the ladies. Everyone gathers in the English Garden and is ready to start the dance party right before dawn, 6 am. All eyes are on Katharina Mayer, a local dance teacher who has passionately worked to maintain this Bavarian dance culture alive in the last years. She typically opens the festival with a traditional dance routine on stage. The origin of the festival goes back to the 19th century, where domestic servants gathered every Sunday at the crack of dawn to enjoy a few hours of dancing and drinking before their masters returned from Sunday mass. The Kocherlball takes place on the third Sunday in July at the English Garden’s Chinese Tower. Dancing shoes are a must!
Crash course with Katharina Mayer: How to dance Bavarian style

Local People Are Traditional and Creative, Yet Unconventional

Bavarians are creative characters with enthralling stories. They reinterpret Bavarian traditions and customs in a whole new way. They are deeply rooted in their homeland like nowhere else in Germany. Artists, musicians, craftsmen, brewers, winemakers, chefs, and many more make up the faces of Bavaria. For instance, the boys from Snow White Gin, produce gin using pure ingredients sourced exclusively from the Spessart forest region, while at the same time, they preserve the special and old Bavarian tradition of distilling. They named their gin after the prominent fairy-tale character, Snow White, said to have been inspired in their small hometown of Lohr am Main. Further, Daniel Bensmann from the Bavarian Alps, is a tattoo artist, hunter and animal skin painter. All three of his vocations are connected as hunting provides him with the inspiration from the landscape to create his motifs. Hunting was ultimately what led to the idea of painting on animal skin. When he noticed the skin was usually disposed as waste, he decided to use it to create something new and unique out of it.

Monks Have Been Making Beer for Over 1,000 Years

Bavaria is richly blessed with abbeys and monasteries. Over 1,000 years ago the first monastery breweries began producing beer, so it’s guaranteed the beer is delicious. These range in style from traditional to innovative. For instance, Weltenburg Abbey boasts a spectacular location on the Danube Gorge with its steep rocky sides. It’s the oldest monastic establishment in Bavaria said to have been founded in year 600 and evidence shows that beer has been brewed in the abbey since 1050. Its beer has even won the Gold Award at the World Beer Cup in the USA. With such an extensive beer history, it is important for every visitor to know how to drink beer like a true Bavarian.
Crash course with Markus Hoppe: How to drink beer

There Is a Cheese Route

For the cheese lovers, cheese in Bavaria tastes like the fragrant Alpine meadows. This region is one of the world’s largest cheese producers. From the Alps to Lake Constance, The Allgäu cheese route meanders through southwestern Bavaria. It represents a network of producers of quality agricultural products featuring twelve Alpine pasture dairies and five farm-based cheese dairies. In Kempten, a visit to Thomas Breckle’s cheese shop in Kempten is a must. Thomas, Germany’s only hard cheese affineur, ages and takes care of his cheeses in a centuries-old monastery vault which he promises brings out the best flavors. The 150 km cheese route has seven selected stages – which can be done on two wheels, four wheels or on foot.

Yodel Pop and Bavarian Rap Are a Thing

Yes, traditional Bavarian music is dearly connected to the locals and their Bavarian heritage, but new music genres have emerged showing the resilience of Bavaria’s music scene. Ria Reiser is known as the first lady of Bavarian Rap, born, and raised in the Hallertau region of Bavaria, she is proud of her homeland and stays true to her roots by rapping in Bavarian. She started her music career as a professional yodeler and is noted for inventing “yodel pop”, which brough her great recognition but later found her sound in Bavarian rap. Her music is fun and danceable but with cheeky and strong lyrics about female empowerment, conveying messages of respect and assertiveness for women.
Crash course with Ria Reiser: How to Yodel