Bavarian Alps
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The Bavarian Alps (, ) is a collective name for several mountain ranges of the
Northern Limestone Alps The Northern Limestone Alps (), 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 Germany. The distinction from the ...
within the
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
state of
Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
.


Geography

The term in its wider sense refers to that part of the
Eastern Alps The Eastern Alps are usually defined as the area east of a line from Lake Constance and the Alpine Rhine valley, up to the Splügen Pass at the Main chain of the Alps, Alpine divide, and down the Liro (Como), Liro River to Lake Como in the south. ...
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''). In this narrower sense, the
Allgäu Alps The Allgäu Alps () are a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps, located on the Austria–Germany border, which covers parts of the Germany, German states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg and the Austrian states of Tyrol (state), Tyrol an ...
in
Swabia Swabia ; , 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 Swabia, one of ...
, which have only been part of Bavaria in more recent times, and the
Berchtesgaden Alps The Berchtesgaden Alps (, ) are a mountain range of the Northern Limestone Alps, named after the market town of Berchtesgaden located in the centre. It is crossed by the Austria–Germany border: the central part belongs to the Berchtesgadener Lan ...
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
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
, Austrian and
South Tyrol Alpine Club The South Tyrol Alpine Club (, ), abbreviated AVS, is an association of German and Ladin-speaking mountain climbers in South Tyrol, northern Italy. Founded in 1946, it is subdivided into 36 sections and 58 local divisions. The AVS is based in Bol ...
s. It should not be confused with the term
Bavarian Prealps The Bavarian Prealps () are a mountain range within the Northern Limestone Alps along the Austria–Germany border. They include the Bavarian Prealp region between the river Loisach to the west and the river Inn 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'' classification, the Bavarian Alps (''Alpi Bavaresi'') comprise the
Allgäu The Allgäu (Standard ) 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 Alps. The main rivers flo ...
and Lechtal Alps as well as the adjacent Achen Lake mountains.


Early human settlement

A rising number of mega charcoal pieces dated to the Bronze Age suggests increased slash and burn activities, possibly linked to the creation of open space for pasturing. These results provide evidence of human interaction with the mountain environment, beginning in the Neolithic Age and clear evidence of mountain pasture use beginning during the Iron Age at 750 BC. Based on palynology and pedoanthracology it is, however, difficult to clearly differentiate between pasturing, hunting, and other human interactions with the environment.


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
Allgäu Alps The Allgäu Alps () are a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps, located on the Austria–Germany border, which covers parts of the Germany, German states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg and the Austrian states of Tyrol (state), Tyrol an ...
, the high
Großer Krottenkopf The Großer Krottenkopf is the highest mountain in the Allgäu Alps of Austria. It is Bundesamt für Eich- und Vermessungswesen Austria: Austrian Map online (Austrian 1:50,000 map series)''. and is part of a side branch of the Hornbach chain, wh ...
, 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 lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
as a whole is the
Zugspitze The Zugspitze ( , ; ), at above Normalhöhennull, sea level, is the highest peak of the Wetterstein Mountains and the highest mountain in Germany. It lies south of the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, and the Austria–Germany border ...
. It lies in the western part of the Wetterstein range and has a high Alpine character with its height of as well as its two small
glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...
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.


Landscape

Like the
Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...
as a whole, the Bavarian Alps as part of the
Northern Limestone Alps The Northern Limestone Alps (), 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 Germany. The distinction from the ...
were heavily influenced by the last ice age.
Cirque A (; from the Latin word ) is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by Glacier#Erosion, glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from , meaning a pot or cauldron) and ; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landform a ...
s,
lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...
s and typical
U-shaped valley U-shaped valleys, also called trough valleys or glacial troughs, are formed by the process of Glacial period, glaciation. They are characteristic of mountain glaciation in particular. They have a characteristic U shape in cross-section, with s ...
s were formed by the
glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...
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 (), refers to a tria ...
with lakes and bogs.


Animal life in the region

Due to hunting and environmental shifts, many animals are just now being reintroduced into the habitat they once roamed. The continent's giant cat, the lynx, is one of those returnees. The lynx disappeared from the Bavarian Alps in the 19th century due to human persecution, along with predatory demands. A release project by Czech colleagues in the 1980s allowed for the lynx to have a second wind in the area, with the growth of the lynx population in the region. The gray wolf is the second giant predator and native to the Bavarian Forest. Like the lynx, the wolf was presumed extinct in the region, but due to conservation efforts and restraint on hunting in the area, they, too, are making a comeback. Mammals such as wildcats, otters, or beavers inhabit the national park too. The region's most well-known bird is the capercaillie. The stocks of the capercaillie, which is quite rare in Germany, also decreased and nearly vanished in the Bavarian Forest during the 20th century. Although the bird was close to extinction, path regulations and sanctuaries helped to further their population growth. The persecution of native animals in the region has been a long-time concern and issue along the Bavarian Alps. Thanks to recent strides in conservation, many of these animals are being reintroduced into this habitat through park services such as the National Forest in Bavaria.


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
Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...
Mountain ranges of Bavaria pt:Pré-Alpes bávaros