Berchtesgaden

Germany 2004 - Home

In the very southeast corner of Germany, nestled in the Alps and flush with the Austrian border, is Berchtesgaden National Park. The entire area -- near the town of Berchtesgaden proper and into the park -- is stunningly magnificent. Even in April when we were there, the majority of trails were open, with only the peaks of mountains and shadowed hillsides closed due to snow. Simply spectacular.

The town of Berchtesgaden makes a nice base of operations for forays towards the park or to surrounding towns and sights. We rented mountain bikes to avoid depending on bus schedules. From Berchtesgaden, you can see the massive Watzmann peak (2nd highest in Germany) -- the south and middle peaks are easily identifiable. The 2nd shot is the Ramsauer Ache (stream) leading into Berchtesgaden and the 3rd one is the view out my hostel window at 7am.

Our first day, we took the Obersalzbergbahn funicular (cable car) up the side of Mt. Kehlstein so as to hike back down into the valley. The views did not disappoint. (Incidentally, Hitler's mountaintop teahouse, aptly named the Eagle's Nest by American soldiers, adorns the peak. Still snowed in during our visit). 

This an assortment of parts of Berchtesgadener Land -- most of these shots are worth seeing enlarged:

Nothing quenches your thirst after a hard day of biking and hiking like a cold beer, or five. If your hostel is full of screaming school children on their spring class outing, definitely opt for multiple brews before heading back.

Berchtesgadener Land has always been rich, and not only in scenery. It has been a source of white gold since 1517, although nowadays we just call it salt. The Salzbergwerk (salt mines) near Berchtesgaden dress you up in big overalls, drop you on a mini-train and take you deep into the mountain where you fly down a wooden slide and raft across a subterranean salt-water lake:

The next day we biked west to Ramsau and hiked through the Zauberwald (Magic Forest -- truly awesome trees) to the sparkling green waters of the Hintersee.

Since the lakeside vistas were so nice, the next day we headed straight south to Schönau and saw the Königsee (King's Sea). The Jennerbahn gondola wasn't in service, so we stayed around the lake instead of clambering up the mountain. My favorite is this shot when I was setting up the camera on an improvised table-tripod so we could both be in the picture. I said, "Andrea can you move that pole outta the picture?" Her reply, "What pole?" (You have to enlarge it to get the joke).

Eventually we did get it right. The 3rd shot is from the Malerwinkel (Painter's Outlook) on the northeast shore of Konigsee (looking south), and the 4th shot is of the famous echoing cliffs. We took the ferry ride down the length of the lake to the beautiful St. Bartholoma church. A subsequent hike took us in search of the Eiskapelle (Ice Chapel), although we never got there because the trail towards the glacier was still snowed in. The view, however, was still jaw-dropping. (And Andrea took a great picture of me in action, bottom left).

We returned our bikes and trained back to Munich the next day to pick up our rental car.