Highest Mountains in Germany

Geography

The Zugspitze belongs to the Wetterstein range of the Northern Limestone Alps. The Austria–Germany border goes right over the mountain. There used to be a border checkpoint at the summit but, since Germany and Austria are now both part of the Schengen zone, the border crossing is no longer staffed.

The exact height of the Zugspitze was a matter of debate for quite a while. Given figures ranged from 2,690–2,970 metres (8,830–9,740 ft), but it is now generally accepted that the peak is 2,962 m (9,718 ft) above sea level as a result of a survey carried out by the Bavarian State Survey Office. The lounge at the new café is named "2962" for this reason.

At 2,962 metres (9,718 ft) (eastern peak) the Zugspitze is the highest mountain of the Zugspitze massif.

History

The first recorded ascent to the summit was accomplished by a team of land surveyors on 27 August 1820. The team was led by Lieutenant Josef Naus, who was accompanied by two men named Maier and G. Deutschl. However, local people had conquered the peak over 50 years earlier, according to a 1770 map discovered by the Alpenverein.

According to one legend, the northern part of the Zugspitze was given to Bavaria as a present by Emperor of Austria and Apostolic King of Hungary Franz Joseph I as a marriage present to his wife Princess Elisabeth ("Sisi") in 1854. This would have made the Zugspitze the highest mountain in Bavaria and later Germany.

Tourism

For those wishing to reach the summit under their own power, various hiking and ski trails can be followed to the top. Hiking to the top from the base takes between one and two days, or a few hours for the very fit. Food and lodging is available on some trails. In winter the Zugspitze is a popular skiing and snowboarding destination, with several slopes on both sides. The Zugspitzplatt is Germany's highest ski resort, and thus normally has sufficient snow throughout the winter.

At the Zugspitze's summit is the Münchner Haus, a mountain hut (Alpenhütte), a facility built by the German Alpine Club (Deutscher Alpenverein). For more than a hundred years, the summit has also had a weather station, which nowadays also gathers data for the Global Atmosphere Watch.

Geology

The mountain's bedrock of gneiss is around one billion years old. The Feldberg region was uplifted three times and then eroded again. What exists today can be called the "third Feldberg". The "first Feldberg" was formed in the Precambrian as part of an orogen and was then completely eroded away. The "second Feldberg" arose during the Devonian and Carboniferous, as part of the Variscan orogeny. It, too, was eroded away, and, during the Mesozoic and Early Triassic, beds of Bunter sandstone, Muschelkalk, Keuper, Lias, Dogger and Malm were deposited in the resulting sedimentation space. Some of these sediments are maritime deposits from intercontinental oceans; the others are of continental origin. The "third" and current Feldberg was formed during the Alpine orogeny in the Tertiary.

Climate and vegetation

Feldberg features a subalpine climate (Köppen: Dfc), for its summers are mild enough to have fewer than four months with an average mean temperature above 10 °C or 50 °F. The annual mean temperature according to the 30-year mean from 1981–2010 is around 3.9 °C (39.0 °F), up 0.6 °C or 1.1 °F compared with the period from 1961–1990; temperature gradients are lower than those in adjacent valleys. During winter, there are long periods of sunshine, due to the low condensation point. This also means that the Feldberg has relatively mild winters; the surrounding valleys having noticeably colder temperatures. The lowest temperature ever recorded was −30.7 °C (−23.3 °F) on 10 February 1956.

Tourism

The mountain has several managed huts and inns – the Baldenweger Hut, Rinken Hut, Zastler Hut, St. Wilhelmer Hut and Todtnauer Hut – for the benefit of walkers that are linked by footpaths. These include the Felsenweg ("Rock Way") and the Alpiner Pfad ("Alpine Path") which run through some of the last landscapes in the Black Forest that still have an Alpine character. The 12-kilometre-long Feldberg Steig ("Feldberg Path") runs around the summit and the Feldsee. In addition there are metalled roads to the inns and other facilities around the peak.

Feldberg is the biggest winter skiing resort in Germany outside of the Alps. The first ski lift was originally built in 1907 in the Feldberg area.

Geography

Brocken rises over Harz National Park in the district of Harz, whose main town of Wernigerode lies about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) east-northeast of the mountain. The state boundary with Lower Saxony runs past Brocken some 2 km (1.2 mi) to the west. At the south-eastern foot of Brocken lies the spa resort of Schierke.

Somewhat to the north below the summit of Brocken is a reservoir, Brockenteich, constructed in 1744. On or near the mountain are the source areas of the rivers Bode, Ecker, Ilse and Oder. The rounded summit of Brocken is treeless, but vegetated with dwarf shrubs.

The highest point on Brocken reaches an elevation of 1,141.1 m above sea level (NN) (3,744 ft).

History

The first documented ascent of Brocken was in 1572 by the physician and botanist, Johannes Thal from Stolberg, who in his book Sylva Hercynia described the flora of the mountain area. In 1736 Count Christian Ernst of Stolberg-Wernigerode had the Wolkenhäuschen ("Clouds Cabin") erected at the summit, a small refuge that is still preserved. He also had a mountain lodge built on the southern slope, named Heinrichshöhe after his son Henry (Heinrich) Ernest. The first inn on the summit of Brocken was built around 1800.

Between 1821 and 1825 Carl Friedrich Gauss used the line of sight to the Großer Inselsberg in the Thuringian Forest and the Hoher Hagen mountain near Göttingen for triangulation in the course of the geodesic survey of the Kingdom of Hanover.

Tourism

Today a narrow-gauge railway, the Brocken Railway, once more shuttles between Wernigerode, Drei Annen Hohne, Schierke and the Brocken. The trains are regularly hauled by steam locomotives.

At the summit is the Brockenhaus with a museum on the history of the mountain and the Brocken Garden (a botanical garden), which is managed by the Harz National Park. In addition there are restaurants and the Brocken Hotel, which is run by the Brocken publican (Brockenwirt), Hans Steinhoff.