With its unique setting in an expansive park, the boutique hotel LA VILLA on Lake Starnberg is regarded as one of the most beautiful event and wedding venues in the greater Munich area. The characteristic architecture of the historic summer residence, built in 1855 in the then-popular Maximilian style, together with a strikingly modern seminar building that today opens up views of the picturesque panorama, provides the perfect setting for exclusive events.
The special atmosphere of the estate has inspired renowned film and television producers for decades. It served as the ideal backdrop for the romantic wedding show Guidos Wedding Race featuring fashion designer Guido Maria Kretschmer, as well as for the TV film Zwei am großen See starring Ruth Drexel and Uschi Glas.
Popular German productions such as Die Verbrechen des Professor Capellari with Friedrich von Thun, Bier Royal, Dahoam is Dahoam, Mein Nachbar, sein Dackel und ich, the long-running crime series Der Alte, and Autobahn on DMAX have all used LA VILLA as a filming location.
The approximately 1.4-hectare woodland and meadow grounds extend directly to the shores of Lake Starnberg. A traditional boathouse, home to a Venetian gondola for lake excursions, along with the adjoining jetty, offers a wide range of possibilities for staging film and television productions.
Culinary highlights are provided by a renowned chef who prepares creative menus on site. Twice a year, LA VILLA becomes a gathering place for the southern Munich region during its own open-air events – the summer festival and the Christmas market. The combination of architectural charm from two eras and private lake access makes LA VILLA a truly unique venue for unforgettable experiences.
Excursions from LA VILLA to Other Filming Locations
The Five Lakes region is, by its very nature, one of Germany’s most stunning film settings. Historical films about Empress Sisi or King Ludwig only truly come into their own against an Alpine backdrop. For the film Ludwig II, Helmut Berger and Romy Schneider filmed scenes on Lake Starnberg. Just a few kilometres from LA VILLA lies Possenhofen Castle, where the young Empress Elisabeth loved to spend her summers.
In the 1970s, episodes of the crime series Der Kommissar starring Erik Ode were filmed in the area. The lakeside venue Undosa served as a location for the 1978 film Der Komantsche. In 2016, Hollywood director Oliver Stone travelled to Tutzing to shoot scenes for Snowden. Oscar-winning director Florian Gallenberger, who hails from the Würm Valley, filmed scenes with Emma Watson for Colonia in Gauting. In 2025, Russell Crowe and Ethan Hawke made headlines with the blockbuster production The Weight in Penzing. The Munich-based Tatort detectives Ivo Batic and Franz Leitmayr, along with series such as Die Rosenheim-Cops, continue to investigate professionally in the atmospheric Five Lakes landscape.
A vibrant creative scene lives and works around Lake Starnberg. With the Five Lakes Film Festival, the region now even hosts its own major film festival – the second largest in Bavaria.
A long weekend at the boutique hotel LA VILLA offers the perfect opportunity to explore the surrounding area and discover locations that have made film history.
