The Herzogstand is a mountain in the

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 ...

n foothills of 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. ...

, south of the city of

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. It has an elevation of and is northwest of Lake Walchen.

Maximilian II of Bavaria Maximilian II (28 November 1811 – 10 March 1864) reigned as King of Bavaria between 1848 and 1864. Unlike his father, King Ludwig I, "King Max" was very popular and took a greater interest in the business of Government than in personal ext ...

had a hunting lodge built underneath today's so-called ''Herzogstand-house'' in 1857. His successor,

King Ludwig II Ludwig II (Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886), also called the Swan King or the Fairy Tale King (), was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke ...

, had a royal lodge built further up the mountain in 1865. The Herzogstand Cable Car renewed in 1994 following a fire in 1992, runs to Herzogstand-house at above sea level, and then continues on to the summit of Farnkopf at . The most popular ascent (AV way 446) leads from the valley station of the

aerial tramway An aerial tramway, aerial tram, sky tram, cable car or aerial cablecar, aerial cableway, ropeway, téléphérique (French), or Seilbahn (German) is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary cables for support, with a third movin ...

across the south side to Herzogstand-house and on to the summit of the mountain. An alternative descent leads along the somewhat exposed but well-secured

ridge A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...

to the Heimgarten mountain (), passing a lodge to the south of the Ohlstaedter Alm (). The descent east of the Rotwandkopf continues down to the spa town of Walchensee (

Kochel Kochel am See (, ) is a municipality and a town in the district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen in Bavaria, on the shores of Kochelsee. The municipality consists of the Altjoch, Brunnenbach, Ort, Pessenbach, Pfisterberg, Walchensee and Ried district ...

Transmitter

The summit of Herzogstand has been used since 1920 for radiotechnical purposes; a VLF transmission antenna was erected between 1920 and 1934. Today, an FM radio transmitter on Fahrenbergkopf broadcasts the following stations: Herzogstand was the site of Germany's first

ionospheric The ionosphere () is the ionized part of the upper atmosphere of Earth, from about to above sea level, a region that includes the thermosphere and parts of the mesosphere and exosphere. The ionosphere is ionized by solar radiation. It plays ...

sounding station in 1929. It operated until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, when a mistranslated telegram seemed to request the relocation of its equipment. Later, it was discovered that the request was for a 'typical German record' and not their 'typical German recorder.'

References

{{Authority control Mountains of the Alps Mountains of Bavaria One-thousanders of Germany Bavarian Prealps Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen

Transmitter

See also

References