The Bavarian Alps (german: Bayerische Alpen) is a collective name for several mountain ranges of the

Northern Limestone Alps The Northern Limestone Alps (german: Nördliche Kalkalpen), also called the Northern Calcareous Alps, are the ranges of the Eastern Alps north of the Central Eastern Alps located in Austria and the adjacent Bavarian lands of southeastern Germa ...

within the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

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 l ...

Geography

The term in its wider sense refers to that part of the

Eastern Alps Eastern Alps is the name given to the eastern half of the Alps, usually defined as the area east of a line from Lake Constance and the Alpine Rhine valley up to the Splügen Pass at the Alpine divide and down the Liro River to Lake Como in t ...

that lies on Bavarian state territory. However, it is traditionally understood that the Bavarian Alps are only those ranges between the rivers Lech and

Saalach The Saalach is a river in Austria and Germany, and a left tributary of the Salzach. Course The river begins, as the stream, in the Austrian state of Tyrol in the Kitzbühel Alps at the lake below the high Gamshag. From there it flows ini ...

(''

Altbayern Altbayern ( Bavarian: ''Oidbayern'', also written Altbaiern, English: "Old Bavaria") is the territory and people of the three oldest parts of the Free State of Bavaria, which were earlier known as Kurbayern (English: "Electoral Bavaria") after the ...

''). In this narrower sense, the

Allgäu Alps The Allgäu Alps (german: Allgäuer Alpen) are a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps, located in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in Germany and Tyrol and Vorarlberg in Austria. The range lies directly east of Lake Constance. Charact ...

Swabia Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...

, which have only been part of Bavaria in more recent times, and 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 ...

in the east are not considered part of the Bavarian Alps. The term is frequently used, but does not correspond to the common classification of the Eastern Alps (AVE) developed by the

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

and

South Tyrol Alpine Club The South Tyrol Alpine Club (german: Alpenverein Südtirol), abbreviated AVS, is an association of German and Ladin-speaking mountain climbers in South Tyrol, northern Italy. Founded in 1946, it is sub-divided into 32 sections and 58 local divisi ...

s. It should not be confused with the term

Bavarian Prealps The Bavarian Prealps (german: Bayerische Voralpen) are a mountain range within the Northern Limestone Alps in south Germany. They include the Bavarian Prealp region between the river Loisach to the west and the river Inn to the east; the range is ...

either. The latter only covers the Bavarian section of the Prealps between the River Loisach in the west and the River Inn in the east. According to the Italian ''

Partizione Delle Alpi The ( Italian for "Partition of the Alps", german: Einteilung der Alpen, french: Partition des Alpes) is a classification of the mountain ranges of the Alps, that is primarily used in Italian literature, but also in France and Switzerland. It was ...

'' classification, the Bavarian Alps (''Alpi Bavaresi'') comprise the

Allgäu The Allgäu (Standard German: , also Allgovia) is a region in Swabia in southern Germany. It covers the south of Bavarian Swabia, southeastern Baden-Württemberg, and parts of Austria. The region stretches from the pre-alpine lands up to the ...

and

Lechtal Alps The Lechtal Alps (german: Lechtaler Alpen) are a mountain-range in western Austria, and part of the greater Northern Limestone Alps range. Named for the river Lech which drains them north-ward into Germany, the Lechtal Alps occupy the Austrian st ...

as well as the adjacent

Achen Lake Lake Achen (german: Achensee) is a lake north of Jenbach in Tyrol, Austria. It is the largest lake within the federal state, and has a maximal depth of 133 metres. Together with the Achen Valley it parts the Karwendel mountain range in the west ...

mountains. Watzmann (Ostseite)

Notable summits

The Bavarian Alps in their broader sense include the following parts of the mountain ranges listed − in this tabular overview sorted according to AVE roughly from west to east and with maximum heights above sea level (NN). The highest peaks and elevations shown relate to that part of the mountain group that lies in Bavaria, and not to the overall group. For example, the highest mountain of the

, the high Großer Krottenkopf, lies in Tyrol and is not shown in the table. The highest peak in the Bavarian Alps and in

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 ...

as a whole is the

Zugspitze The Zugspitze (), at above sea level, is the highest peak of the Wetterstein Mountains as well as the highest mountain in Germany. It lies south of the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and the Austria–Germany border runs over its western su ...

. It lies in the western part of the

Wetterstein The Wetterstein mountains (german: Wettersteingebirge), colloquially called Wetterstein, is a mountain group in the Northern Limestone Alps within the Eastern Alps. It is a comparatively compact range located between Garmisch-Partenkir ...

range and has a high Alpine character with its height of as well as its two small

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such a ...

s. By clicking on the word "List" in the various rows of the Lists column, a list other mountains in the particular range may be viewed (noting that some of them will be outside Bavaria or the Bavarian Alps). The table may be sorted by clicking on the sort symbols in the column headers. Zugspitze-Schneefernerkpf1

Landscape

Like the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

as a whole, the Bavarian Alps as part of the

were heavily influenced by the last ice age.

Cirque A (; from the Latin word ') is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from Scottish Gaelic , meaning a pot or cauldron) and (; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landf ...

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

s and typical

U-shaped valley U-shaped valleys, also called trough valleys or glacial troughs, are formed by the process of glaciation. They are characteristic of mountain glaciation in particular. They have a characteristic U shape in cross-section, with steep, straight s ...

s were formed by the

s. Depositions by ice age rivers and glaciers left behind a gently rolling landscape in the

Alpine Foreland The Alpine Foreland, less commonly called the Bavarian Foreland,Dickinson, Robert E (1964). ''Germany: A regional and economic geography'' (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, pp. 585-586. . Bavarian Plateau or Bavarian Alpine Foreland (german: Bayerisches ...

with lakes and bogs.

References

Sources

* DAV. ''Alpenvereins-Jahrbuch'', "Berg '84": Die Einteilung der Ostalpen * Bogner Franz X. (2011). ''Die deutschen Alpen aus der Luft''. Rosenheimer Verlag, .

External links

Tour descriptions for the Bavarian Alps
{{Authority control Mountain ranges of the Alps

Mountain ranges of Bavaria pt:Pré-Alpes bávaros