Chiemgau () is the common name of a geographic area in

Upper Bavaria Upper Bavaria (german: Oberbayern, ; ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany. Geography Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and seat ...

. It refers to the

foothill Foothills or piedmont are geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low relief hills and the adjacent topograp ...

s of 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 ...

between the rivers Inn and Traun, with the

Chiemsee Chiemsee () is a freshwater lake in Bavaria, Germany, near Rosenheim. It is often called "the Bavarian Sea". The rivers Tiroler Achen and Prien flow into the lake from the south, and the river Alz flows out towards the north. The Alz flows i ...

at its center. The political districts that contain the Chiemgau are

Rosenheim Rosenheim is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is an independent city located in the centre of the district of Rosenheim (Upper Bavaria), and is also the seat of its administration. It is located on the west bank of the Inn at the confluence of th ...

and

Traunstein Traunstein ( Central Bavarian: ''Traunstoa'') is a town in the south-eastern part of Bavaria, Germany, and is the administrative center of a much larger district of the same name. The town serves as a local government, retail, health services ...

. Wendelstein is the name of a famous mountain close by but not strictly in the Chiemgau, while

Kampenwand Kampenwand is a mountain of Bavaria, 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 ...

is actually the most inviting peak south of Chiemsee.

Explanation of the name

The name ''Chiemgau'' and ''

'' together with the place name ''

Chieming Chieming is a municipality in the district of Traunstein in Bavaria, Germany. Etymology The name ''Chieming'', ''Chiemsee'' and the name of the area ''Chiemgau Chiemgau () is the common name of a geographic area in Upper Bavaria. It refers t ...

'' allegedly go back to the Old High German personal name ''Chiemo'' (7th/8th century). At the end of the 8th century the name ''Chiemgau'' appeared for the first time in documents as ''Chimigaoe'' but it stood at that time for a smaller area around the village of Chieming.

History

From the

New Stone Age The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

to the

Bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids suc ...

and

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly ...

s humans have left their traces in the Chiemgau. After that this region was settled by the Celts and later by the Romans. The Romans settled mainly near the river Alz and made a crossing for their Roman road which goes from Salzburg to Augsburg at Seebruck (Bedaium). At that time the Chiemgau was on the outskirts of the Roman province of 'Noricum'. The Chiemgau was for a long time closely connected with the Bavarian dukes and also the princebishops of Salzburg. After the secularisation of 1803, the whole Chiemgau district became part of Bavaria. The Chiemgau is a source of wood, iron and salt. The production of salt, which existed from 1619 till 1912, had a big cultural and economical influence on the Chiemgau. The Chiemgau has traditionally been horse breeding country, especially workhorses.

Nature and geography

The

ice-age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

, which took place 15000 years ago, formed the foothills of the

and the morainic landscape. For this reason the Chiemgau is a hilly countryside with numerous

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...

s, forests and fens; additional there are plenty of lakes of which the biggest one is the Chiemsee. The biggest mountains are almost 2000m high.

Notable residents

* Karl Streibel (1903–1986), German Nazi SS concentration camp commandant Upper Bavaria Cultural landscapes of Germany {{Bavaria-geo-stub