Monika Erhardt from the Werdenfelserei

"You experience genuine hospitality through warmth, through openness, through the willingness to really engage with the guest standing in front of you."

Those with deep roots can aim high. The Erhardt family proves this with the Werdenfelserei boutique hotel in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The Erhardts have been anchored as a host family in Partenkirchen for many generations, farming at the foot of the Zugspitze as early as the 17th century. In 2018, Monika Erhardt and her family realised their idea of translating the tradition, cosiness and closeness to nature of their Werdenfels home into a cosmopolitan and modern hotel.

Our Interview

"I consider it a gift to be able to spend my whole life here. I love the panorama when I look at the Alpspitze from my bed in the morning and see our "skyline", the most beautiful mountain massif in the world. Above all, I associate my home with a sense of security, "dahoam und gut aufghobn", our Werdenfels customs, our dialect and our way of life," explains Erhardt.

Just as the Zugspitze stands out from the surrounding Wetterstein mountains, the Werdenfelserei stands out from the hotel landscape of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Instead of classic Bavarian architecture and Lüftlmalerei paintings, an airy solid timber construction method was used for the building, which interprets traditional, handcrafted building elements in a convincingly modern way in an independent design language.

For Monika Erhardt, the Werdenfelserei should be one thing above all: "A feel-good place! And for everyone, whether house guests or "locals"! We enjoy a good mix and dialogue with each other and value the interaction between guests, our team and the people of Werdenfels."

What this means can be experienced in the "Wurzelwerk" restaurant, which is open to everyone. Locals and guests enjoy snacks, desserts, business lunches, Sunday brunch or a cocktail at BAR19. The ingredients are sourced locally wherever possible: from the cheese dairy in Ettal, the sustainable fish farm in the Isar Valley, the Grünkunst nursery in the south of Munich or sometimes even from the employees' own farm.

"The Werdenfelserei wants to leave the beaten track, which is why we don't offer half board, but would like to give our guests the freedom to choose their own meal times, according to their taste and as far as this is possible in the hotel business," explains Monika Erhardt.

She is convinced: "You experience genuine hospitality through warmth, through openness, through the willingness to really engage with the guest in front of you. This requires a certain character, but also simply time." Time that the Erhardts are happy to take for their guests.

During a brief chat, the Werdenfels hostess will reveal some of her favourite places in her home region that you should definitely plan to visit during your stay at the Werdenfelserei: The alpine meadows of the Stepbergalm, the rugged terrain of the Riffelscharte, the valley floor behind the Höllentalklamm gorge, the Eibsee lake at seven in the morning for a swim, or the "Tunnelfenster" slope for skiing.

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You will find the Werdenfelserei directly at Michael-Ende-Park, Alleestraße 28, in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. www.werdenfelserei.de