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Church

St. Bartholomä Chapel

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The red onion domes of the St. Bartholomae chapel rise from its white walls on the Koenigssee shore, backed by an autumn hillside and reflected in the lake.
The white pilgrimage chapel of St. Bartholomae with its two red onion domes stands on the shore of the Koenigssee below a huge grey rock face draped in cloud.
St. Bartholomae with its red onion domes sits on its low green peninsula across the Koenigssee, seen past the varnished rail and coiled mooring rope of the passenger boat.
St. Bartholomae and its dark boat sheds slide past on the left as the passenger boat moves off, the same scene doubled in the varnished windows on the right.
The twin red onion domes of St. Bartholomae chapel show small and pale across the Koenigssee in falling rain, a wooded headland filling the right of the frame.

Snapshot

Baroque pilgrimage chapel on the shore of Königssee, reachable only by electric boat. Red onion domes, working farm, lakeside restaurant, and the famous trumpet echo on the crossing. One of the most photographed scenes in Bavaria.

The Story

No road reaches St. Bartholomä. The only way in is across the water, and that is exactly the point. The electric boats that cross the Königssee from Schönau slide over a lake so clear and still it has repeatedly been described as a mirror, and the journey is as much the experience as the destination.

The chapel itself stands on a narrow finger of land with vertical cliff walls rising immediately behind it. The red onion domes date from the 17th century, though a church has occupied this improbable spot since the 12th century, dedicated to St. Bartholomew, patron saint of Alpine dairymen. That dedication explains the farm that still operates next door and the restaurant that serves fresh fish from the lake.

On the outward crossing, the boat captain pauses at a cliff face and plays a trumpet. The echo that comes back across the water is one of those small moments that stays with people long after they have forgotten the other details.

Visiting

Boats depart from Schönau am Königssee, approximately 5 km from Berchtesgaden. The crossing takes around 25 minutes each way. The chapel is free to enter when open. Allow one to two hours at the peninsula for the chapel, farm, and a meal at the restaurant. Boats run throughout the day; check the last return departure before lingering too long. In July and August queues form early at the Schönau landing stage. The return trip can extend to Salet at the lake’s far end for the smaller Obersee.