Parksanatorium Kochel Walchensee
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bernd...@aol.com
Mar 12, 2021, 3:38:18 AM3/12/21
to Mario Lanza, Tenor
Dear Mario Lanza Friends,
my 10 years ago died mother has been a nurse in the Parksanatarium in Kochel near Lake Walchensee. She has taken care Mario lanza and spent time with him and his family in the end of the fifties. So i grew up with his music and photos from the Lanza family.
Now i plan holidays in Kochel and try to find out the adress of the Sanatorium but nobody knows it.
Can you help me?
Regards
Bernd
Steff Walzinger
Mar 12, 2021, 5:59:26 AM3/12/21
to Mario Lanza, Tenor
Hi Bernd,
Steff
I doubt very much that the sanatorium would still be there.
However, you could contact the "Gemeinde Kochel am See." Here's their website where you will find a contact e-mail address:
I am sure they can help.
Good luck!
Steff
BERND DAELEN
Mar 12, 2021, 7:40:47 AM3/12/21
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Dear Steff,
Thank you for your help!
Ive already contacted the Gemeinde, but even the History Specialist couldnt help me....
The Sanatorium is supposed to be closed a long time ago. But i hope to find the building!
Regards!
Bernd
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Steff Walzinger
Mar 12, 2021, 2:34:30 PM3/12/21
to Mario Lanza, Tenor
Hi Bernd,
That is indeed a surprise that they could not help!
Not sure, if you have already seen the two pictures of the sanitarium below, which I found on the internet. From what I can see I would assume that the clinic was located at the edge of the woods.
Now, here's what I would suggest you to try: Below you find the links of the websites of three hotels in Kochel am See. As far as I can see, these are hotels with a long tradition and which did already exist in the 1950s. So, if I were you, I would e-mail them and maybe attach the photos, hoping that someone might remember or at least recognize the building. Kochel am See has only about 4,000 inhabitants, so it is a very small area and therefore very manageable. Those Bavarian hotels often are still family operated, so maybe there's a senior, who was a little boy or teenager back then and can remember this clinic. I understand, many celebrities were there for medical treatments (Liz Taylor, if I am not mistaken, for example), so I would think that everybody in Kochel knew about this place. However, I doubt that the building does still exist.
Incidentally, maybe you would like to tell us more about your meeting the Lanza family. It would be great if you did share your memories with us here on the forum. Being from Germany (Freiburg), I am always thrilled to learn something new about Mario's time in Germany, as we do not know much about it so far.
Herzliche Grüße!
Steff
Steff Walzinger
Mar 12, 2021, 2:48:21 PM3/12/21
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P.S.: Churches, too, might be helpful in locating the building.
Steff
Karen Fries
May 8, 2021, 8:41:59 PM5/8/21
to Mario Lanza, Tenor
Hello, my name is Karen and I am writing to you from Berlin in Germany.
I think, that I can contribute to this discussion.
Two years ago I did my own Mario Lanza memory journey and visited some places in Germany and Italy, interested to see some of the places, where he stayed.
I came to Walchensee with the same questions about the Sanatory. There I got help from the very friendly girls at the Tourist-information, who called some old ladys, who still live in the locality and who remember the late 50ies.
So I found out: the Parksanatorium Walchensee was closed in 1963. The buildings were sold and torn down, except for one. The area is now a small town settlement with single family houses.
As a matter of fact, the one house that not got destroyed is actually the one, where Mario Lanza should have stayed. Today the owner is said to be a wealthy doctor from Munich. I add a photograph that I took. It is the white house with dark roof in the background. An old lady (members of her family worked in the Sanatory), who lives nearby, told me, that the rooms behind the two windows with the balcony on the top floor were inhabited by Mr. Lanza during his stay in Walchensee. From there you should have a great view of the lake.
In the Photo-section of the Mario Lanza Tenor-website there is also a picture cut from a magazine, that shows Mr. Lanza taking a walk in Walchensee. In the background you can see the house. The setting changed, but the house is still there.
Of course, this is, what people told me, I have no evidence to proof it.
Best greetings from Berlin!
Derek McGovern
May 9, 2021, 12:19:31 AM5/9/21
to Mario Lanza, Tenor
Karen: Thank you for that interesting update! I hope that Bernd, the non-member who originally posted here about the Parksanatorium, sees your message.
Here is a slightly enhanced version of the newspaper photo of Lanza in Walchensee that you mentioned:
BERND DAELEN
May 9, 2021, 2:43:44 AM5/9/21
to mario...@googlegroups.com
Dear Members,
Thanks a lot for your help!
By pandemic reasons i havent traveled to lake walchensee yet.
But i plan to go there in the end of may and then i ll search for the house, karen has find! ( Dear Karen, do you still know the name of the street? And respect for the nice picture with the analogue player)
I havent reported storys of my mother yet, because i must visit my brother first , who has her old stuff at the attic. I remember some signed Photos by the lanza family...
And maybe there are diarys...
By the way, could it be that in the background of the lanza portrait by derek the two boys and the woman are his wife and sons?
So ill write more after my yourney!
Stay healthy and i hope you ll understand my pidgin english😊
Regards
Bernd
St. Vinzenz Str. 1a
33378 Rheda-Wiedenbrück
Mobil: 01725132522
Am 09.05.2021 um 06:19 schrieb Derek McGovern <derek.m...@gmail.com>:
Karen: Thank you for that interesting update! I hope that Bernd, the non-member who originally posted here about the Parksanatorium, sees your message.
Here is a slightly enhanced version of the newspaper photo of Lanza in Walchensee that you mentioned:
<Mario in Walchensee 1958.jpg>
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<Mario in Walchensee 1958.jpg>
Steff Walzinger
May 9, 2021, 5:45:20 AM5/9/21
to Mario Lanza, Tenor
Hi Karen,
This seems indeed to be the house that was shown in the newspaper (and yes Bernd, behind Mario you can see Betty, Damon and Marc). The orial and the dormer is identical. Of course it has experienced some "make up" over the decades. Not sure though, if it was part of the old sanatorium building, as it looks different to the photos I posted a while back. The house on the newspaper page seemed to be a stand-alone building directly on the edge of the woods and not part of a larger clinic building complex. On the photos I posted the building look rather Mediterranean, and definitely were not in Bavarian style. I wonder if Betty and the children stayed there (holiday apartments?) while Mario had a room at the sanatorium? Just a thought.
Bernd, I wonder if you have ever followed any of my several suggestions of many months ago, and contacted some of the people in Kochel am See (hotels, churches), or if you just skipped the idea of investigating yourself.
Steff
Karen Fries
May 9, 2021, 9:40:41 PM5/9/21
to Mario Lanza, Tenor
Hi again!
Thanks a lot for your comments, Stefanie and Bernd. Yes, I also took these postcard-pictures for research, when I looked for the Sanatorium. I really wonder, why nobody from the community of Kochel knows about the place, it should at least be in the land register, or not? But when I asked, I got the same answer two years ago.
Walchensee is part of the community of Kochel, but from Kochel you still have to drive twenty minutes on a mountain serpentine road to reach it. Walchensee itself is a tiny tiny place (250 inhabitants) and really seems to be the end of the world. An unbelievable beautiful end, however.
As C. Callinicos mentioned in "The Mario Lanza Story", they stayed in cottages. So it did not seem that far-fetched to me that the house is the house. But of course, how does one know that?
Halfway between Kochel and Walchensee is a small spot, called Urfeld. At the shore of the lake there is a huge hotel, nowadays an abandoned place, that also claims to have hosted Mario Lanza.
(I am sorry, but this article is in german. It mentions that Mario Lanza visited this location during his stay in Walchensee from time to time to eat his fill. Well, I guess there are lots of stories like that).
Bernd, I add a picture of the map of Walchensee. The house is one of the last on the road "Am Tanneneck".
And yes, on my journey I took my old travel gramophone with me (which was "born" in the early 50ies and still is in brilliant condition) and a collection of Lanza-records. Sure there are more practical methods of sound reproduction, but this one led to lots of interesting encounters and opened many doors during the travel.
Good luck for your journey to Walchensee, Bernd, and it would be nice to read about your experiences!
Greetings from Berlin!
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