Ammersee

 I was seated in one of many chairs at the beach - end table facing the Indian Ocean.

I had hardly seen any objects in the Ocean, nevertheless the shining stars in the far distance and the Bavarians near me triggered my thoughts back in the good old Bavaria over the Ammersee.

Now I could see the several beautiful rivers across Bavaria. The Danube, the Main, the Isar and the Inn were passing so silently. I could also visualise the greatest lake in Bavaria, the lake Chiemsee with other picturesque lakes Starnberger and Ammersee near Munich and in the little distance the lake Königssee in Berchtesgaden, which can be surrounded by the impressive mountains of the Alps. The lake Bodensee, one of many largest lakes in Europe, which belongs to Bavaria, is silently shining to sun beams.

The scenic panorama of the Bavarian beauty in the vicinity of the Alps lasting for many centuries was saturating my mind. Now I could see with my inward eye the breathtaking Alps Mountains using its highest peak Zugspitze offering a breathtaking panorama across several hundreds of peaks with a scenic view of four countries, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and Germany. Bavaria is one of many oldest states in Europe.

The ethnic group of the Bavarians had arrived at be mixed with Romans, Celts and Teutons some 2500 years ago. The Otto of Wittelsbach founded the State of Bavaria. Hitler took over power in 1933 and Bavaria became no more an independent state. After Germany's capitulation in 1945, the American Forces occupied Bavaria.

The events were moving in my inner eye one by one towards today's day Bavaria. Fredrike Wagner has inspired me a great deal on Bavaria and the Munich on our tsunami visit to the Northern the main Island. When From the Fredrike Wagner, my mind used to recall the legendary Richard Wagner who revolutionized German opera by making the music secondary to the dramatic action. Still in Bayreuth each year the Wagner festival takes place - a top society event. Wagner's most famous works "The flying Dutchman", "The ring of the Nibelungen" and "Tristan and Isolde" are such fascinating works that could inspire any one in the world.

Bavaria is the greatest land of the federal republic of Germany with nearly 18 million people. Munich, the capital of Bavaria with more than 1.2 million inhabitants is one of many dynamic cities in Europe and in the world. A number of German Praktikum (Internship) students from Bavaria said that the culture in Bavaria is extremely distinct from the others of Germany. They have told the differences are very marked still in the rural areas but are less significant in the major cities.

The religious faith in Southern Bavaria may be the predominant faith of Roman Catholicism, contrasting with the more Lutheran-Protestantism in the Northern areas of Bavaria. The students told the typical expression of greeting in Bavaria and Austria is: "Grüss Gott!" meaning God greet you. Bavaria might be pleased with today's pope, Benedict XVI, his name being Joseph Alois Ratzinger who is from the Marktl am Inn in Upper Bavaria.

Nevertheless when I asked Fredrieke Wagner which religion she's practising, she told simply, "I don't have religion" ;.I wondered and couldn't make out whether she does practise a religion in the Catholic-dominated Bavarian region or she had expressed merely a pleasantry.

I heard that Bavarians resemble the inhabitants of Latin countries and tend to offer great attention to their personal appearance, while folks in some other parts of Germany dress more casually. It is fascinating even at business meetings to see southern Bavarians wearing traditional clothing.

Bavarian cities and towns, whether they're rich or poor, are the very best looked-after locations in Germany. The students also said that Bavarians are very proud of these different dialects and a lot of them speak with a Bavarian, Franconian or Swabian accent.

I also heard from a few of the German students and others that the Christian Social Union, which has ruled Bavaria uninterruptedly since 1957, is arguably the absolute most inward looking of the major German political parties, which combines socially conservative positions having an advocacy for extensive involvement of their state in its economy Ammersee.