Grafenau () is a town in the

Freyung-Grafenau Freyung-Grafenau () is a Districts of Germany, ''Landkreis'' (district) in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by (from the south and clockwise) the districts of Passau (district), Passau, Deggendorf (district), Deggendorf and Regen (district), Regen, ...

district, in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. 32 km north of

Passau Passau (; ) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the ("City of Three Rivers"), as the river Danube is joined by the Inn (river), Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's population is about 50,000, of whom ...

, the town is situated in the

Bavarian Forest image:Zell-bayerischer-wald.jpg, The village of Zell in the Bavarian Forest The Bavarian Forest ( or ''Bayerwald'' ; ) is a wooded, low-mountain region in Bavaria, Germany, that is about 100 kilometres long. It runs along the Czech Republic, C ...

and is the base of the Bavarian Forest National Park Authority. Grafenau is a holiday destination with a variety of kinds of accommodation from self-catering apartments to a "holiday village".

Location and facilities

The town lies in the Bavarian Forest at a height between 600 and 700 meters over sea level, right beside the Bavarian Forest National Park. The Kleine Ohe river flows along the east and south of the town. It is close to the Frauenberg. In April 1945, Major General Stafford LeRoy Irwin opened his XII Corps Headquarters there. Since 1976 there has been an artificial lake (surrounded by a park) which is used for sport and recreation. There are museums about the town and surrounding area, including a museum with a collection of traditional furniture, and also a museum about snuff. The town has curling and ice skating rinks (which are seasonal), and ski drag lifts in an area which in summer months is used for bobsleds. There is also a golf course. There is a Catholic church, a railway terminus, and a bus station, in addition to a range of hotels, shops, and garage facilities for motorists.

Gallery

Personalities

* Alfred Edel (1932–1993), actor, was buried in Grafenau. *

Fredl Fesl Alfred Raimund Fesl (7 July 1947 – 25 June 2024), better known as Fredl Fesl, was a Lower Bavarian musician and singer who was said to be the one who invented Bavarian musical ''Kabarett''. Early life Fesl grew up in the town of his birth, G ...

(1947–2024), singer-songwriter-musician, was born in Grafenau.

Twin towns

Grafenau is twinned with:Stadt Grafenau - Partnerstädte
/ref> *

Kašperské Hory Kašperské Hory (; ) is a town in Klatovy District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,400 inhabitants. It is known as a ski resort. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zone. Ad ...

(Bergreichenstein), Czech Republic *

Schärding Schärding ( , Bavarian name: Scharing) is a town in the northern Austrian state of Upper Austria, the capital of the district of the same name, and a major port on the Inn River. Historically, it was owned by the Wittelsbach family, which is r ...

, Austria

References

Freyung-Grafenau {{FreyungGrafenau-geo-stub