The theologian and philosopher Johannes Müller founded Schloss Elmau in 1916 as a cultural retreat in a high valley of the Bavarian Alps, 1,000 metres up near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, to designs by his brother-in-law Carlo Sattler. Dietmar Mueller-Elmau, who took over in 1997, rebuilt it after a fire in August 2005, reopened it in 2007 and added the Retreat in 2015, the year the first of two G7 summits was held here; the second followed in 2022. Culture is still the axis. A concert hall stages 140 to 160 concerts a year alongside 30 to 40 book presentations and debates, and there are two libraries, a historic ballroom and a bookshop. Six spas, three for adults only and three for families, share nine pools, and the hotel won a MICHELIN Wellness Award in 2026. Nine restaurants run from family dining to IKIGAI, where Christoph Rainer holds a two-MICHELIN-star rating for modern cooking with Japanese threads; its chef sommelier, Marie-Helen Krebs, was Michelin Germany's Sommelier of the Year in 2025. The Hideaway has 100 rooms and suites and the Retreat 47.
- Nearest airport
- Innsbruck Airport (INN), 16 Miles / 25 Kilometres
- Rooms
- 147 rooms and suites in two houses
- Taken whole
- The Retreat (47 rooms), the Hideaway (100 rooms), or both together
Insider tip Try a Finnish sauna session with a therapist, who uses birch branches before the cold plunge.
Why I choose it An Alpine hotel where concerts, books and six spas carry equal weight, with room for families and couples alike.