The Badersee mermaid at the Hotel am Badersee

Introduction

King Ludwig II loved art and the fine things in life, and he also had a passion for hunting. While out stalking small game animals, he was taken for a break by the Badersee by Werdenfels foresters. At that time, a fisherman lived in a little Alpine hut on the spot where the Badersee Hotel now stands. He earned a reasonable living from catching trout. The crystal-clear spring water provided ideal conditions for the fish to grow in, and still does, as any visitor who looks at the fish in the Badersee will see.

King Ludwig would not let anything stop him climbing into the fisherman's boat and paddling around with him. Taken by the romantic position of the lake, the king decided to build a hunting lodge there. His builders advised him against it, thinking they would be unable to build the waterworks Ludwig wanted - including a hundred metre high fountain and a grotto. The water pressure here would not allow it. However, the king's dreams did come true later at Linderhof Castle. But Ludwig II left a lasting impression behind him at the Badersee. According to the legend: he dropped a likeness of Lola Montez into the lake near the granite monolith. Some sources deny that this ever happened - but the mermaid is still there for anyone to see.

The Badersee mermaid

The bronze figure does bear a resemblance to the mysterious dancer Lola Montez. Her relationship with King Ludwig I forced him to abdicate. This "demi-mondaine", born in 1818 in Limerick in Ireland, not in 1823 in Seville as she claimed, was accused of all sorts of lewd relationships and caused a deep rift between the king and the people of Munich.

The bronze figure might have sunk into obscurity if she had not made headlines by being kidnapped. The papers proclaimed: "Mermaid surfaces - nude statue abducted from Badersee". Young divers had broken the chains and shipped the mermaid to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where the police confiscated the mute lady and ended her little excursion. The mermaid is now back safe and sound in the Badersee. She has her arm raised, and almost appears to be waving to passers-by from the depths. She likes to be visited by the nearby rowing boats.