A unique sculpture trail has been established along the hiking path from Marienstein to Rechelkopf mountain in Bavaria, offering visitors an extraordinary blend of natural beauty and contemporary art. The Alm Residency, celebrating its tenth anniversary, has created this innovative outdoor gallery where seven artistic installations now punctuate the forest landscape, creating an otherworldly experience for hikers.

Approximately 60 visitors, including District Administrator Olaf von Löwis and Waakirchen Mayor Norbert Kerkel, attended the walking vernissage last weekend to inaugurate the sculpture trail. Seven artists – six women and one man – have contributed installations to the seven stations currently established along the mountain path, with plans for additional works to be added gradually over time.

The sculptures create a striking contrast against their natural forest setting, appearing almost alien in their woodland environment. Janina Totzauer's ceramic creation "Flut" (Flood) lies pale in a streambed, resembling an octopus with only three arms and an open cavity in its body, constantly caressed by cool mountain water. "We don't know what will happen – whether it will be overgrown by moss and algae," explains Totzauer, who co-organizes the Alm Residency with photographer Magdalena Jooss and helped initiate the sculpture trail. "That's what makes it exciting."

Anna Pasco Bolta's ceramic pieces titled "chewed matter" hang like oversized pieces of chewing gum between tree trunks and roots. A brilliant blue Nazar eye in Gülbin Ünlü's "Helter Shelter" gazes skyward from within a tangle of blackberry bushes. Benedikt Gahl's "Planet of the Apes" features concrete steps that lead nowhere, while Anna Lena Keller's aluminum cast work "fixing leaves 2" appears to climb up a spruce trunk like a bizarre insect. Herta Seibt des Zinser's slender iron pipes "Hojas 2021" are positioned between spruce trunks and can only be detected with very careful observation.

The sculpture trail exists thanks to Leonhard Bendel from Gut Oberkammerloh, who has allowed art to flourish in the forest and, since 2015, has provided accommodation for five artists annually in the Ochsenhütte and Jagahaisl cabins below Sigriz-Alm. For ten days each year, these artists live and work in this mountain setting, creating their art in direct dialogue with nature.

Despite the potential for more profitable commercial use of his properties, the 40-year-old forester and father has no interest in commercialization. "Of course, some people say: 'What is he doing there now?'" Bendel acknowledges. However, being locally bound to his farm, the art enthusiast sees the Alm Residency as an opportunity to "bring the world to him." Over the past ten years, 55 artists from 11 different nations have participated in the residency program.

To ensure the Alm Residency and its projects remain independent from commercial sponsors, the organizers have established a nonprofit association. Both Löwis, who referenced his plans for a cultural fund, and Kerkel pledged their support during the vernissage ceremony. Kerkel expressed particular appreciation that he can now take small breaks on his way to Sigriz-Alm at Linda Weiss's work "Zu Risiken und Nebenwirkungen fragen Sie" (For Risks and Side Effects, Please Ask), which features a gabion filled with limestone, wooden mushrooms, and a ceramic container, topped with a seating surface.

Bendel uses the residency as an opportunity to introduce often urban-influenced artists to forest ecology, while simultaneously hoping the project will dispel the misconception that art is elitist. "Many people believe they don't understand art. But you don't have to understand it," Bendel explains. He hopes the sculpture trail will encourage passersby to reflect and think critically, emphasizing that "the thought process is never wrong." An overview map at the beginning of the sculpture trail guides visitors to the various artworks, ensuring that sometimes art can indeed serve a practical purpose, even when it doesn't have to.