2023-09-13 07:24:31
She doesn’t know how often border commuter Gabi Hinterbrandner crosses the red-white line between Germany and Austria every day. But it will be dozens, if not hundreds, of times. Because the border runs right through the “Purtschellerhaus” Alpine club hut on the Hohen Göll at an altitude of 1,692 meters, of which she is the landlady. And she always has a lot to do: after 520 wooden steps up to this rustic mountain hut, the hikers are hungry. Numerous alpine delicacies are served, from cheese dumplings to Kaiserschmarrn.
Anyone who then goes from the pub to the toilet also becomes a cross-border commuter. But even though everything is European Union, “the chimney in the German half has to be maintained by the German and the chimneys on the Austrian side by the Austrian chimney sweep,” says Gabi Hinterbrandner and brings a few bacon sandwiches to the table. Even Berchtesgaden, Germany’s southeasternmost tip, is not spared from bureaucracy, no matter how surreally beautiful the panorama may be.
St. Bartholomä, the tiny church with the arched, red roof and the onion domes of the same color, proves how great something small can be. The Königssee alone is incredibly beautiful, but the mixture of shimmering lake, mighty mountains and this little church is hard to beat as a Bavarian work of art in terms of romance.
Countless painters and photographers have found and continue to find this. And at the latest when the brass player on the ship to St. Bartholomä unpacks his trumpet and gives his solo in front of the echo wall, some vacationers may even see a few tears of emotion rolling down their cheeks.
Cattle drive across the lake
The Königssee is eight kilometers long but only a maximum of 1250 meters wide. Like a fjord, it squeezes itself between the steep rocky massifs of Watzmann, Hagengebirge and Jenner. There is no land route on the walls that fall almost vertically into the bank. The boats have been using electric propulsion for around a hundred years! However, Prince Regent Luitpold was not an early environmentalist – he just didn’t want to scare away the game with the noise of engines.
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Ships are even used here for the cattle drive – a spectacular spectacle. Every autumn around 30 cows are loaded onto boats from the alpine pastures on the southern banks of the Königssee and Obersee. In 60 minutes you will sail across the Königssee to Seelände, the north bank of the Königssee.
During the cattle drive, the cows travel by boat across the Königssee
Quelle: picture alliance/dpa/ruc axs
They even used to be rowed across. They are the only cows in the entire Alpine region that travel on their way to the Schifferl stable at home. On land they are then given their traditional headdresses and driven through the village to the winter stables.
Holidaymakers who book a trip with Engelbert Aigner experience a completely different but equally original type of transport. He drives her around in his bicycle rickshaw – for example on the Romy Schneider tour to the places where the famous actress visited as a child. During a work-and-travel stay in New Zealand, he worked as a rickshaw driver and thought to himself, “You can do that at home in Schönau” – in a traditional shirt, leather trousers and Haferl shoes. Although he is “actually a trained bagmaker and lederhosen maker”.
Bad Reichenhall is the city of salt
A highlight of the region is Bad Reichenhall, the center of Berchtesgadener Land with 17,000 inhabitants. 300,000 tons of table salt are sold here every year and holidaymakers are attracted with the spa house, open-air inhalatorium and drinking hall. Spa guests can use the services of the two municipal health concierges free of charge. “We advise, plan, give tips on spa hotels and clinics, but we also know the service providers,” says Susanne Dewies, one of them. Nowadays, fountain keeper Sebastian Hänel pumps the brine up from the Old Saltworks, now one of Germany’s most important industrial monuments, just for visitors. According to the Upper Bavaria Tourism Association, he is the only fountain keeper in Germany.
What many people don’t know or only know inaccurately: Berchtesgaden was also one of Adolf Hitler’s favorite places. He had his “Berghof” on Obersalzberg, the Nazi leadership had holiday homes built around it, and Hitler’s Alpine fortress was expanded here during the war. After the end of the war, the Americans destroyed most of these buildings because there should not be a brown Olympus.
The old town hall of Bad Reichenhall
Source: picture alliance/dpa/CTK/Libor Sojka
In 1999, the Free State of Bavaria opened the Obersalzberg documentation, an information and remembrance center on the history of the place and the Nazi dictatorship. From September 27, 2023, the documentation center will have a modern extension and a new permanent exhibition. Until it reopens, it can only be seen virtually due to renovation work.
“Anyone who wants to find out about the inglorious history on the Obersalzberg will get excellent information there,” explains Werner Müller, director of the luxury hotel “Kempinski Berchtesgaden”, just a few minutes’ walk from the documentation center. With a beautiful spa, star restaurant “Pur” and wonderful views of the sloping Hoher Göll and the Kehlsteinhaus, it exudes an innocuous holiday atmosphere. The landmark of Berchtesgadener Land can also be seen from here – the Watzmann, the most impressive massif in the area. For many fans it is the most beautiful mountain in the world.
The mountain claims lives
“Watzmann, Watzmann, mountain of fate – you are so big and I’m just a dwarf,” sang the Viennese Wolfgang Ambros in the 1970s about the 2,713 meter high mountain, which majestically dominates the Berchtesgaden mountains with the Watzmann woman and the Watzmann children. Legend has it that God’s punishment fell on King Watzmann and his family because the ruler trampled an old mother with his horse. The king was then petrified with his wife and children.
What is certain is that the massif now forms the center of the Berchtesgaden National Park, Germany’s only high mountain national park since 1978. Wolfgang Ambros’ LP “The Watzmann Calls” also includes “big and powerful, fateful,” which certainly has its meaning. Because “the mountain wants its victim”: In fact, more than a hundred mountaineers have lost their lives on the east face since the first ascent in 1881.
The view of the Watzmann characterizes the Berchtesgadener Land
Quelle: picture alliance/imageBROKER/alimdi/Arterra
This means that most visitors are unable to climb the Watzmann peak. There is no cable car, no ski lifts. “And the climb is too difficult for inexperienced people,” says someone who has mastered the east face several times: star chef Ulrich Heimann from the “Pur” restaurant in the “Kempinski”. “For me, mountaineering is the perfect balance to working in my kitchen.”
Songwriter Wolfgang Ambros concludes in his song: “It’s better to stay at home,” which would certainly be a mistake. Because the Watzmann is also a delight from below, offering hiking and mountaineering tours of all levels of difficulty on its massif – there is nowhere else like picture-perfect Bavaria.
Source: Infographic WELT
Tips and information
Accommodation: “Kempinski Berchtesgaden” (www.kempinski.com/de/kempinski-hotel-berchtesgaden), luxury hotel with star restaurant “Pur”, pools, spa, double rooms from 270 euros. “Purtscheller House” (www.purtschellerhaus.de); Mountain hut of the German Alpine Club on Hohen Göll with simple rooms for two or four people as well as mattresses, from 24 euros per person for non-members, from 12 euros for members, hut sleeping bag can be rented for a fee; Hotel “Four Seasons” (www.hotel-vierjahreszeiten-berchtesgaden.de) in Berchtesgaden-Ort, 1970s charm in the center, double rooms from 140 euros.
Worth seeing: The cattle drive across the Königssee takes place around or after St. Michael’s Day on September 29th, usually in early to mid-October, depending on the weather and other circumstances (www.koenigssee.de/tradition-brauchtum/almsommer/almabtrieb).
Boat tours across the Königssee: www.seenschifffahrt.de/de/koenigssee. Rickshaw rides, various tours: www.radl-taxi.de. The Obersalzberg Documentation Center (www.obersalzberg.de) is closed during the renovation and expansion work; a new permanent exhibition will be on display when it reopens on September 27, 2023. It will be open to normal visitors from September 28th.
Hiking and mountaineering tours can be found on the Berchtesgaden website (www.berchtesgaden.de/wandern/wanderwege), Watzmann mountaineering tours at the German Alpine Club (www.alpenverein.de/bergsport/sicherheit/bergsteigen/sicher-auf-den-watzmann_aid_14003.html).
Further information: www.berchtesgadener-land.com
Participation in the trip was supported by Kempinski Hotels. Our standards of transparency and journalistic independence can be found at go2.as/unabhaengigkeit
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