Schäftlarner Konzerte

Schäftlarn Monastery Church as a Concert Hall

Since 1968, the Schäftlarner Konzerte concert series has used the acoustically and atmospherically outstanding monastery church of the Benedictine Abbey of Schäftlarn as its concert venue. Schäftlarn Abbey was founded as early as 762 by the deacon Waldram and is considered one of the oldest monasteries in Bavaria. The current baroque monastery church was built between 1733–1751 according to plans by Johann Michael Fischer, with interior design by Johann Baptist Zimmermann (frescoes) and Ignaz Günther (sculptures) — three master artists of Bavarian Late Baroque and Rococo.

An Almost 60-Year Concert Tradition

In 1968, the concert series was founded by musicians from Munich to make the acoustic qualities of the monastery church accessible to a wider audience. Today, Michael Forster, as artistic director, leads the festival, which offers around eight to twelve concerts annually between May and October. The artistic level is international: soloists from the Munich Philharmonic, the BR Symphony Orchestra, members of the Vienna Philharmonic, as well as chamber orchestras and vocal ensembles from all over Europe regularly perform.

2026 Season — Serenades

The motto of the 2026 season is „Serenades«. As „a wonderful playground for composers«, according to festival director Forster, the serenade form offers classical composers from Mozart to Tchaikovsky a particularly wide scope for expression. The 2026 concerts span from the Viennese Classical period (Mozart, Haydn) through Romanticism (Brahms, Tchaikovsky) to the Modern era. The season opens on May 9, 2026; the season runs until October.

Opening Concert June 13, 2026 — Haffner, Vienna and Wolf

The first programmatic highlight of the season is the concert „Haffner, Vienna and Wolf« on June 13, 2026, at 7 p.m. On the program:

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Serenade No. 7 in D major „Haffner« K. 250 — one of Mozart's most effective serenades, composed in 1776 for the wedding of the Salzburg mayor Haffner's sister
• Edvard Grieg: Works for violin and orchestra
• Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 99 in E-flat major — the first of the twelve „London Symphonies«

The soloist is violinist Markus Wolf, concertmaster of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich.

Würmtal and Munich's Outskirts

Schäftlarn is located in the idyllic Würmtal valley, about 25 kilometers south of Munich, easily accessible by S-Bahn (S7 Wolfratshausen) and car (B11). The combination of a monastery visit, a concert, and a walk along the Würm river has made the Schäftlarner Konzerte a popular excursion destination for classical music enthusiasts from Munich. Alongside Schloss Elmau, Andechs, and Tegernsee, the festival is one of the most important classical festivals in the Bavarian Munich area.