Ellen von Unwerth’s Heimat has us All Hankering for Bavaria

At last, a celebration of Bavaria that has the whole world talking. Sure, there are stunningly beautiful scantily clad models involved, falling off sledges and the like, but just look past them (they’ll still be there when you look back) and there in all its glory is the undeniable alpine beauty of the Bavarian countryside.

Famed music and fashion photographer Ellen von Unwerth’s fabulously witty celebration of her Bavarian homeland took her a year to shoot, and sees a limited edition of 1,500 self-signed and numbered coffeetable works available from fabulous design publisher, Taschen.

Ellen von Unwerth is renowned for her avant-garde photos and fun approach to her art; here combining her kitsch aesthetic with Bavarian traditions like Brez'n, Dirndl, Lederhosen, sledges and much frolicking in the alpine countryside, she effortlessly blends old-world charm and historic elements with a contemporary, provocative and high fashion edge. There's no photographer quite like Ellen von Unwerth, and this exciting art book is for sure something that you’re gonna want on your shelf.

Called Heimat ('homeland') as an ode to her Bavarian childhood, the finished publication is being released by Taschen in English, French and German, so you can read it in different languages should you wish to (although, we don’t know how much reading you’ll be doing, you’ll be staring at Bavaria, right?)

Commonly overlooked or bandied in with Germany, Bavaria has its own customs, traditions, enticements and stunning scenery, all of which we have long known and loved.

Should you wish to explore it yourself, we have two fabulous Bavarian hotel suggestions high up in the mountains:

Alpenloge

Originally conceived as the village schoolhouse back in the 1930s, the traditional house, with alpine curb appeal of larch shingles, gabled rooftop and green shutters frame the lattice windows, is now a fabulous small design hotel surrounded by the Bavarian alps and pastures.

Kulturhof Stanggaß

A mountainside eco-friendly bolthole of smooth timbered charm wrapped by the snow-dusted pinnacles of Watzmann and Hochkalter, in the pretty village of Bischofswiesen at the entrance to Berchtesgaden.