Untersberg

Untersberg
View from Göll massif
Elevation	1,973 m (6,473 ft)
Location
Location	Germany Austria
Range	Berchtesgaden Alps
Coordinates	47°42′N 12°59′E / 47.700°N 12.983°E / 47.700; 12.983
Climbing
First ascent	12th century

The Untersberg is a massif of the Berchtesgaden Alps, a prominent northern spur that straddles the border between Berchtesgaden, Germany and Salzburg, Austria. The highest peak of the table-top mountain is the Berchtesgaden Hochthron at 1,973 metres (6,473 ft).

Geography

The Untersberg rises at the rim of the Northern Limestone Alps, immediately at the Salzburg Basin and the broad Salzach Valley. Neighbouring peaks are the Hoher Göll in the southeast and Mt. Watzmann in the south, beyond the Berchtesgaden Basin. In the northwest, the Saalach Valley with Bad Reichenhall separates it from the Hochstaufen mountain range. About two-thirds of the area, including the Berchtesgaden Hochthron, is located in Germany, while the northernmost steep edge above Salzburg belongs to Austria.

The mountain is popular with tourists due to its proximity to the city of Salzburg: less than 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) south of the city centre and within easy reach by bus, for example city bus line 25 to Grödig, which runs every 15 minutes on weekdays. Several trails lead to the top, though most people prefer the Untersbergbahn cable car. Constructed over a period of over two years, and opening in April 1961, the eight and a half minute journey lifts passengers from the lower terminus at the village of St. Leonhard at 456 m (1,496 ft) over 1,320 m (4,330 ft) to the Geiereck spur at an altitude of 1,776 m (5,827 ft), transporting them a horizontal distance of almost 2.5 km (1.6 mi).

The first recorded ascent was in the first half of the 12th century, by Eberwein, a member of the Augustinian monastery at Berchtesgaden. The mountain lends its name to an 1829 opera, Der Untersberg, by Johann Nepomuk von Poißl (1783–1865), and has inspired a series of works by German artist Stephan Hess.^[1]

Peaks

• Berchtesgaden Hochthron: 1973 m
• Rauheck: 1892 m
• Gamsalpkopf: 1888 m
• Salzburg Hochthron: 1853 m
• Mitterberg: 1840 m
• Geiereck: 1805 m

Geology

The Untersberg massif is mainly made up of limestone, a bed of Dachstein chalk—mined as "Untersberg marble"—on a dolostone basis, and of small deposits of bauxite.

The Karst topography of the limestone includes numerous caves. So far, more than 400 have been explored—including the Schellenberg ice cave at an elevation of 1,570 m (5,150 ft), a show cave since 1925, and the Kolowrat Cave with a 300 m (980 ft) high dome. The Riesending pit cave with a depth of 1,059 m (3,474 ft) and a length of 18.2 km (11.3 mi) is the largest known in Germany. There also is a lake in 930 m (3,050 ft) depth. An expedition in August 2008 revealed that its lowest point had not yet been reached.

Legend

Karl Girardet (1813 – 1871): Frédéric Barberousse dans la grotte de l'Untersberg

According to a king in the mountain legend, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa is asleep inside Mt. Untersberg until his resurrection. His beard is said to be growing longer and longer around a round table and to have grown round two times. Myth says that when the beard has grown three times around the table the end of the world has come. When Frederick leaves the mountain, there will be no further Holy Roman Emperor and the last great battle of humankind will be fought on the Walserfeld, a pasture at Wals, west of Salzburg. There is a similar legend for the Kyffhäuser Mountain in Thuringia.

Other legends say that it is Charlemagne waiting inside the Untersberg, taken care of by the Untersberger Mandln, small dwarf-like creatures. Every hundred years he awakes and when he sees the ravens still flying around the Untersberg he sleeps for another century. The Alpine tradition of the Untersberg Wild Hunt has recently been revived. There are also legends about the cave system below the mountain.

Gallery

See also

• Salzburgerland
• Bavaria

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Untersberg.

• Outlook from Untersberg
• Salzburg Tourist Office – salzburg city tourist board website.