Murnau am Staffelsee

Murnau is a market town in the Oberbayern region of Bavaria, Germany. It is on the edge of the Bavarian Alps, about 70 kilometres (43 mi) south of Munich. The name Murnau comes from Mure ("mudslide") and Aue ("meadow"), referring to the Murnauer Moos and Loisachtal valleys. The town suffered a major fire in 1835 and subsequently was almost completely rebuilt, leading to the enclosed townscape seen today. In 1908 two pairs of artists (Gabriele Münter and Vassily Kandinsky; and Marianne von Werefkin and Alexej Jawlensky) stayed in Murn Kau to paint together. This period before the First World War is called the "Murn Era" and marks stylistically development from expressionism to abstract art. In 1932 a private girls' high school (later a Gymnasium) was founded by Dr. James Loebau, who was an opponent of the Nazis. In 1933 the author Ödön von Horváth lived and worked in the town from 1923 to 1933.