The Ester MountainsBourne, Grant and Körner-Bourne, Sabine (2007). ''Walking in the Bavarian Alps'', 2nd ed., Cicerone, Milnthorpe, p.8 and 115-168. . () are a small mountain range in

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 ...

. They are classified either as part of

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 ...

or the larger chain of

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 ...

. The range stretches for about 15 kilometres. From the west it is bordered by the valley of the river

Loisach The Loisach is a river that flows through Tyrol, Austria and Bavaria, Germany. The Loisach runs through the great moors and The Loisach is a left tributary to the Isar whose source is near Ehrwald in Austria. It flows past Garmisch-Partenkirc ...

and from the east by

Walchensee Walchensee or Lake Walchen is one of the deepest and largest alpine lakes in Germany, with a maximum depth of and an area of . The lake is south of Munich in the middle of the Bavarian Alps. The entire lake, including the island of Sassau, ...

lake and the valley of the river

Isar The Isar () is a river in Austria and in Bavaria, Germany. Its source is in the Karwendel mountain range of the Alps. The Isar river enters Germany near Mittenwald and flows through Krün, Wallgau, Bad Tölz, Munich, and Landshut before reaching ...

. With its highest peak being Krottenkopf (2,086 m), the highest part of the range just exceeds 2,000 m. The range is of composed of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

. The treeline is around 1,700 m.

Etymology

Probably from preceltic ''ester'' (cf. basque ''Ezterenzubi'', occitan ''Esterel'').

Peaks

Most important summits

The most important summits in the Ester range are the Krottenkopf (2,086 m), the

Bischof Bischof () is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Gustav Bischof (1792–1870), German chemist * Horst Bischof (born 1967), Austrian computer scientist * Frank-Peter Bischof (born 1954), German canoeist * Werner Bischof (1916–19 ...

(2,033 m), the Hohe Kisten (1,922 m), the

Hoher Fricken The Hoher Fricken ("High Fricken") is a mountain high, in the Ester Mountains in the Bavarian Prealps and lies between the Wank and the over 2000 m high Bischof. Below and to the north is the Niederer Fricken ("Low Fricken", ) and the Fric ...

(1,940 m) and the Simetsberg (1,836 m). The climbs both from the

valley as well as from

Krün Krün is a municipality in the Upper Bavarian district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It belongs with Garmisch-Partenkirchen as district capital and cultural center as well as other municipalities to the region Werdenfelser Land. A few kilometers sout ...

Wallgau Wallgau is a municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria, Germany. Population Growth :''*Statistics according to the Bavarian government, as of 2007.'' Demographics :''*Statistics according to the Bavarian gov ...

in the southeast are relatively long. As a result the Ester Mountains are relatively quiet with the exception of the Wank mountain (1,780 m) which is accessible by cable car (the

Wankbahn The Wank () is a mountain in southern Germany, situated in the Loisach valley close to the Austrian border in the southwestern Ester Mountains range near Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It rises from about above mean sea level up to at the summit.Renne ...

). Most tourists and mountaineers are attracted to the nearby higher ranges

Wetterstein The Wetterstein mountains (), colloquially called Wetterstein, is a mountain group in the Northern Limestone Alps within the Eastern Alps, crossing the Austria–Germany border. It is a comparatively compact range located between Gar ...

Karwendel The Karwendel is the largest mountain range of the Northern Limestone Alps. It is located on the Austria–Germany border. The major part belongs to the Austrian federal state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol, while the adjacent area in the north is part ...

and to the highest peak of Germany, 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 ...

Other summits

* Risskopf * Platteneck * Klaffen * Wallgauer Eck

Activities

The Ester Mountains offer various trekking and mountaineering possibilities both in summer and winter.

References