A guide about Maker & Crafter, retailers, restaurants and accommodations in the foothills of the Alps between Lake Constance and Berchtesgaden.

Handmade quality in the foothills of the Alps

Join us along with Outville as we make our way to the foothills of the Alps between Lake Constance and Königssee, pausing at dazzling lakes, stopping by brewers and distilleries, artisans and merchants, serving up bread and dinners, and settling into our feathers with passionate hosts. Servus, Mahlzeit, Prost and bon voyage!

Handmade quality in the foothills of the Alps – a guide to makers & crafters, retailers and hosts.

Following the successful Munich guide “Handmade Quality”, our new guide is dedicated to the eastern foothills of the Alps, more specifically the regions between Lake Constance and Berchtesgaden, or if you look at the map, everything along and south of the A 96 freeway in the west and A 94 in the east, to the southern border of Germany.

It’s a destination that feels familiar to many, but beyond the clichés lies a diversity that never ceases to surprise. This time, too, we are focusing on makers & crafters, farmers, traders, restaurateurs and hoteliers whose products and offerings embody the real and genuine and represent an alternative to the ordinary. 

Not far from a metropolis like Munich, you are not alone if you want to enjoy the nice weather or if you are on your way to the Alps, Austria or South Tyrol at the same time as many others. One notices then fast, at the latest on the freeway exit Holzkirchen or at the end of the A95 in Oberau: Others had at the same time the same idea and suddenly one is part of it, which often diminishes the Vorfreude somewhat. You are part of the traffic jam. 

The alternative: stop beforehand. Well, the muscles don’t burn so much if you don’t climb a 2000-meter-high mountain. But by walking through the villages and hamlets, you discover the country and its people, and their products directly and in dialogue. You begin to wonder, then to understand and perhaps change your own buying behavior. 

Our curators

A centerpiece of the guide are our curators. Practical and inspiring tips from people with strong roots in their region on a variety of topics. Where are excursion destinations without crowded parking lots? Which forests are particularly pristine and worth experiencing. Personal recommendations for stopping off and getting cozy. Discovering the paths of the curators is especially good.

Excursion and recreation destination Voralpen 2020/2021

The years 2020/2021, in which the idea for this book arose, are very special. After all, a gap has opened up between the countryside, the urban population and tourists, which has been amplified by the media. 

Overcrowded trains and parking lots and their unavoidable consequences are all too obvious triggers for the one or other hat string to break in the otherwise so stoic and easy-going Oberländer. With consideration, respect and communication, everything can be solved.

Whether traditional costume, cheese or meat, schnapps or beer, whether youth hostel or wellness hotel, the destinations shown here – people and their offers – range from traditional to innovative.  Our selection is subjective and therefore not complete.

In our opinion it depends not only on what one consumes, but thus also, of whom products from the alpine foreland are also identification with the people, who manufacture and offer them. Whether it’s lederhosen or liver dumplings, those who have experienced the real thing no longer get involved with the copy.  

Handmade quality is resonance of the human and the result of time, talent and attentiveness and deserves all our appreciation. But first it must be discovered.   

The Makers Bible book series

We have published three books so far under the title Makers Bible. Always on different topics and always as a manifesto for craftsmanship, quality and passion.

Each issue of Makers Bible highlights authentic makers who make their products largely or entirely by hand. Some of them are traditional artisans, others have left a desk job behind to pursue something more hands-on. Others are decades or centuries old brands with legend status.

Travel and excursion routes with our maps and Polestar

With the headline “Handmade Quality”, the guide offers a wide range of products from the Voralpen. With our partner Polestar we show extraordinary, stylish and worth discovering places in the foothills of the Alps to which a trip is worthwhile. Navigate to our recommendations for a varied excursion directly with your smartphone using the map on our website or with the navigation system of your Polestar.

Makers Bible offers alternatives to the ordinary

An alternative to questionable and unfair production methods, an alternative to industrially produced food, an alternative to environmentally unfriendly materials and waste. Makers Bible always offers an alternative to the conscious shopper. Because our buying decisions have the potential to make a difference.