The Place
Many tourists visit the unusual Klostergasthof Raitenhaslach on a sightseeing excursion from Burghausen, because the hotel occupies buildings that once belonged to a Cistercian monastery. Its ancient church, founded in the 1100s, is famous for its ceiling paintings illustrating the life of St Bernard of Clairvaux and other works by celebrated German Baroque painters. The spiritual peace that once reigned here is replaced in the daytime by the secular high spirits of the groups who turn up in coachloads to visit the large Biergarten on one of the garden terraces; the other is for hotel guests to sit with a coffee or a drink and admire the old monastery buildings.
Peace returns in the evenings when the tourists and beer-drinkers have gone and guests can stroll around the monastery complex and admire the antiques and paintings that ornament the hotel’s public rooms and bedrooms. The huge, vaulted dining rooms are often full of guests and diners from towns and villages roundabout enjoying the regional and international specialities of the German chef.