The Bavarian homeland can be found everywhere at the Herzogliches Gasthaus Altes Bad: beer tradition, the finest regional ingredients and traditional cuisine that is allowed, at times, to be wonderfully hearty.

It is Bavaria as if from a picture book: the charming chapel, the old inn with its weathered wooden gables, and in the background the untouched nature of Wildbad Kreuth. Inside, freshly limewashed parlours; around windows and doors, artful Lüftlmalerei winds its way across the walls.

“It was important to me to create something from the heart of the region in which I live and grew up,” says Korbinian Kohler. He had the spruce benches in the dining room upholstered in fine leather, the heavy oak tabletops of the inn freshly refurbished, and the linen cushions hand-printed using an ancient Gmund technique. Not only the stone and wooden floors, but also the pull-down pendant lamps with their flower-painted glass shades from the 19th century have been preserved in their original form. “I like rediscovering the identity of Tegernsee in material and atmosphere,” says Kohler. And exactly the same applies to the cuisine.

It is deliberately traditional. Hearty, generous and based on honestly produced ingredients from the region. Cheese comes from Naturkäserei Kreuth, game and mushrooms from the surrounding forests, and the proper Maß of beer from the Tegernsee brewery. The menu features double-strength beef consommé from pasture-raised cattle with liver dumplings, veal meat patties with potato and cucumber salad, or sometimes braised venison goulash with bread dumplings, Brussels sprouts and wild cranberries. For vegetarians, there are spinach or beetroot dumplings with Tegernsee mountain cheese and melted butter.

The fish, however, are something truly special. They have been allowed to grow slowly in cold mountain spring water; the Herzogliche Fischzucht, the ducal fish farm, is only a short walk from the Alte Bad. A visit here feels like an excursion into the past: the fish ponds lie romantically in a large clearing in the middle of the forest – and have done so since 1850.

At that time, Wildbad Kreuth was a popular spa resort among the high nobility. Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph Istayed here, as did Tsars Nicholas I and Alexander I. In order to offer his spa guests fresh fish all year round, Duke Max Joseph in Bavaria had the fish farm established. To this day, in this secluded place far from the world, fish is caught, cured and cold-smoked almost every day – with fish master Alexander Widmann guaranteeing the quality.

Guests at the Alte Bad can choose whether they prefer their freshly caught char and trout served blue or pan-fried, accompanied by boiled potatoes. As a starter, there is cured char with creamed horseradish and wild herb salad, or smoked trout with a flavourful house dressing.

Inside, in the cosy parlours, everything is served in classic style on specially made Brotzeit boards and traditional porcelain. For hikers and cyclists who do not wish to linger too long, there is the inviting self-service beer garden outside. But one thing applies to everyone: the oven-warm apple strudel with vanilla ice cream is not to be missed as a sweet finale.

KATHARINA REBMANN