Berchtesgaden National Park is in the south of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, on its border with Austria, in the municipalities of

Ramsau bei Berchtesgaden Ramsau is a German municipality in the Bavarian Alps with a population of around 1,800. It is a district located in the Berchtesgadener Land in Bavaria, close to the border with Austria, 35 km south of Salzburg and 150 km south-east o ...

and Schönau am Königsee,

Berchtesgadener Land Berchtesgadener Land ( Central Bavarian: ''Berchtsgoana Land'') is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the district of Traunstein and by the state of Austria. History Middle ages and early modern era The southern ...

Free State of Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total la ...

. The

national park A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual ...

was established in 1978 to protect the landscapes of the

Berchtesgaden Alps The Berchtesgaden Alps (german: Berchtesgadener Alpen) are a mountain range of the Northern Limestone Alps, named after the market town of Berchtesgaden located in the centre. The central part belongs to the Berchtesgadener Land district of sou ...

. Headquartered in the town of

Berchtesgaden Berchtesgaden () is a municipality in the district Berchtesgadener Land, Bavaria, in southeastern Germany, near the border with Austria, south of Salzburg and southeast of Munich. It lies in the Berchtesgaden Alps, south of Berchtesgaden; th ...

, the park was designated a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

Biosphere Reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

in 1990.

Location and geography

The park is located in the mountainous area south of the town of Berchtesgaden. The eastern, southern, and western boundaries of the park coincide with the state border between Germany and Austria. The area of the park is economically undeveloped, and there are no settlements. In the center of the park is a large lake, the

Königssee The Königssee is a natural lake in the extreme southeast Berchtesgadener Land district of the German state of Bavaria, near the Austrian border. Most of the lake is within the Berchtesgaden National Park. Description Situated within the Berch ...

, which is elongated from the south to the west and is the source of the Königsseer Ache, a right tributary of the Salzach. A smaller lake, the Obersee, is located above the Königssee and drains into it. The whole area of the park belongs to the

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

of the Salzach, and, consequently, of the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

. West of the lake is the massif of Watzmann (), and beyond that, separated by the Wimbachtal valley, the massif of Hochkalter (). The Watzmann is the third highest mountain massif in Germany. The Watzmann Glacier, located below the eastern face of the Watzmann, and the Blaueis, adjacent to the Hochkalter, are two of the five glaciers in Germany.

History

The first nature conservation area in the Berchtesgaden Alps was created in what is currently the southeastern part of the park in 1910. It had an area of and was organized according to the model of National Parks in the United States. In 1919, the mountain hotel of St. Bartolomew was built. In March 1921, the area was expanded to . At the time, it included both the Watzmann and the Hochkalter. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...

, who, among other responsibilities, was the State Minister of Forestry and Hunting, declared the area around Obersee a particularly protected natural conservation area. In addition, six areas formally protecting the fauna were designated. In practice, they were used for hunting. The initiative to create a national park was first introduced in 1953. In the 1960s, a concurrent initiative to build an aerial lift to the summit of Watzmann was put forward. It clearly contradicted the plans for creation of a national park, and in the end it was abandoned in 1972 by the decision of the Free State of Bavaria, which also decided to create a national park. The park was opened on 1 August 1978, and had a total area of .Nationalparkplan, pp. 5–6 In 1990, the national park was recognized by UNESCO as a Biosphere Reserve. In 2010, the park was expanded. As of 2012, its area was .

Tourism

There are six information centers, located in Berchtesgaden, in Ramsau, and inside the park. The park maintains an extensive network of trails. One of the cultural attractions of the park is the pilgrimage Church of Saint Bartholomew, located on the Königssee.

References

Notes

Sources

External links

* {{Authority control Protected areas of Bavaria National parks of Germany Protected areas established in 1978 1978 establishments in West Germany Protected areas of the Alps