The castle museum shows how Murnau played an important role in international art and literary history at the beginning of the 20^th century. The museum's central exhibit is the largest existing public collection of the paintings of Gabriele Münter, along with details and documentation of the life of dramatist Ödön von Horvàth, who lived in Murnau in the 1920's and wrote important works here, such as “Zur schönen Aussicht“ and “Italian Night”.

Murnau, which is only 25 kilometres from Garmisch-Partenkirchen, is elevated like a terrace above the “Murnauer Moos” nature reserve. This area - which at 36km² is the largest living moor in the Alps – is singular in central Europe because of its size, unity and the wide variety of animal and plant-life which live there, which include several endangered species.