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Timber balcony in snow, trees, alps, |Der Schmiedhof Geitau | Beautiful Luxury Apartments in Bavaria, Germany

The Filtered Bavarian

Der Schmiedhof

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Intro

Der Schmiedhof sits in the quiet cradle of Geitau, housed in a five-hundred-year-old nail smithy that has lived more lives than most villages. The façade holds its Alpine composure, all limewash, shutters and time-worn timber, yet inside the spirit shifts towards a serene, design-led calm. It feels both ancient and curiously fresh, as if the building exhaled five centuries of history then chose a new rhythm.

Brigitte and Michael Schmied had long imagined their ideal farmhouse-hotel. They wanted mountain views, a heart-stealing location and that elusive sense of Bavarian soul. When they stumbled upon this derelict smithy in 2018, the dream found its anchor. Two years of intense restoration and one generous circle of family and friends later, Der Schmiedhof emerged as a retreat shaped by love, labour and the quiet satisfaction of getting things right.

Soft Farmhouse

Traditinoal fascade found int he beautiful villages of Bavaria |Der Schmiedhof Geitau | Beautiful Luxury Apartments in Bavaria, Germany Der Schmiedhof Geitau | Beautiful Luxury Apartments in Bavaria, Germany

The building has worn many hats through its lifetime. Smithy, post office, beer shop, bakery, grocery store; each left its trace. Brigitte and Michael worked closely with local architects and the heritage office to preserve the authentic single-roof farmhouse form. The listed residential wing was restored with care, its shutters, balconies and window boxes returned to their former grace. The barn, once beyond salvation, was rebuilt in its original silhouette using reclaimed timber salvaged from the demolition. The result is a dialogue between past and present that feels uncannily natural.

Interiors are guided by simplicity, proportion and a soft tonal palette. White and cream walls act as diffusers for daylight, which drifts across natural stone floors or fine oak parquet. Old beams carry the memory of the original structure while contemporary furniture inserts a clarity of line. Antique pieces are used with restraint, placed where they can speak without shouting.

Lighting is low and warm. Woven pendants echo craft traditions without slipping into pastiche. Materials stay local and honest. In a house that once shaped iron, the new design shapes the atmosphere instead. The aesthetic holds a quiet Alpine pulse, minimalist yet unmistakably Bavarian in its DNA.

Sleeping Apartments

Der Schmiedhof Geitau | Beautiful Luxury Apartments in Bavaria, Germany Der Schmiedhof Geitau | Beautiful Luxury Apartments in Bavaria, Germany

Eleven apartments inhabit the house, each a polished interpretation of Alpine living. Ground-floor units open onto small garden terraces where the mountains feel near enough to touch. Upper floors offer balconies and loggias that frame the valley’s changing light.

The penthouses are where the architecture shows its confidence. One sits within the original farmhouse, unfolding beneath old timber with a black kitchen that adds a precise contemporary edge. The other crowns the rebuilt barn, featuring an open living area, a fireplace and a sunset loggia that lifts the whole experience into something cinematic. Both operate at the meeting point of craft, comfort and clarity.

Every apartment is properly equipped for living. Kitchens use the same calming material language; bathrooms pair stone with soft illumination; and no room feels over-designed. Instead, the interiors breathe with the ease of a private Alpine home.

Sweet Bavaria

Geitau is a small Alpine fold an hour south of Munich, reached by a scenic valley train or an easy drive. It rests between Wendelstein and Aiplspitz, two mountains that define this corner of Upper Bavaria with their contrasting characters. Wendelstein offers a cable car and wide panoramas, while Aiplspitz leads into gentler forest paths and limestone ridges.

Bayrischzell, the village nearby, grew from an eleventh-century monastic cell into a historic trading stop between Bavaria and Tyrol. Painted façades, traditional farmhouses and the Baroque church of St. Margaretha keep that heritage in clear view.

Nature shapes the rhythm here. Sudelfeld, one of Germany’s largest ski areas, sits just up the road, partnered by long cross-country trails in winter and hiking networks in summer. Lakes Schliersee and Tegernsee lie close enough for morning swims or slow shoreline walks.

Geitau itself stays wonderfully quiet. Meadows, orchards and timber barns frame the valley, and every sightline returns to the mountains. It is a place where tradition and landscape steady the pulse, giving Der Schmiedhof its grounding and understated Alpine charm.

Custodians

Brigitte and Michael are custodians as much as hosts. Their restoration earned a heritage protection medal, an accolade reflected in the farmhouse’s front door, which is considered one of the most beautiful in the Miesbach district. It stands as a symbol of their care, their respect for craft and their refusal to take shortcuts.

They live in the front house with their family, which keeps the project tethered to real life rather than hospitality theatre. Brigitte’s interior design sensibility shapes every room. Michael’s connection to place and history steadies the vision. Together they have revived a farmhouse without diluting its story, giving it a fresh architectural clarity that feels beautifully of its time and deeply of its place.

Der Schmiedhof is their conversation with heritage, materiality and mountain culture. It listens, it refines, it distils. And in doing so, it becomes something rare in Bavaria’s Alpine quilt: a retreat where five centuries of history meet a crisp, contemporary mind.

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