The Hochkönig is a mountain group containing the highest
mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...
(Hochkönig) in 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 ...
,
Salzburgerland
Salzburg (, ; , also known as ''Salzburgerland''; ) is an Austrian federal state. In German it is called a , a German-to-English dictionary translates that to ''federal state'' and the European Commission calls it a ''province''. In German, its o ...
,
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
. The Berchtesgaden Alps form 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 ...
.
Location
It lies to the west of the town of
Bischofshofen
Bischofshofen () is a List of cities and towns in Austria, town in the district of St. Johann im Pongau District, St. Johann im Pongau in the Austrian federal state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg. It is an important traffic junction located both on ...
in the
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
n state of
Salzburg
Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...
, 42 km due south of the city of
Salzburg
Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...
. Hochkönig is separated from the rest of the Berchtesgaden Alps, and more specifically from the
Steinernes Meer
The Steinernes Meer (literally "Rocky Sea") is a high karst plateau in the Northern Limestone Alps. As one of the nine sub-ranges of the Berchtesgaden Alps the Steinernes Meer belongs partly to Bavaria and partly to Land Salzburg, Salzburg.
Loc ...
(''stone ocean'') by the mountain pass ''
Torscharte'' at 2246 m. The summit itself is at the southern edge of a large
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) ...
plateau
In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...
, which is covered 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 ...
known as the "
Ãœbergossene Alm", however this glacier is currently shrinking at a rate of 6.2% per year, and is likely to vanish in the relatively near future.
The edge of the summit plateau is surrounded by an almost circular chain of mountains:
*
Hochseiler,
*
Lammkopf,
* Hochkönig,
*
Großer Bratschenkopf
Grosser or Großer is the masculine nominative singular form of the German adjective "gross", meaning "big", "great", "large", "tall", and the like. It is part of many placenames, especially of mountains. It is also a surname. People with that surn ...
,
*
Kleiner Bratschenkopf Kleiner () is a German or Jewish surname, meaning "smaller":
* Alfred Kleiner, Swiss physicist
* Marianne Kleiner, Swiss politician
* Bruce Kleiner, American mathematician
* Krista Arrieta Kleiner, Filipino-American TV actress/singer and host
* ...
,
*
Torsäule
The Torsäule () is a very steep, about 500-metre-high limestone formation on the eastern flank of the Hochkönig massif in the Berchtesgaden Alps.
The imposing column (''Torsäule'' means "gateway column"), which bears a summit cross, lies imme ...
,
*
Schoberköpfe
The Schoberköpfe are several ridge-shaped peaks, arranged along the eastern edge of the Hochkönig plateau in the Berchtesgaden Alps, and which lie in a semi-circular arc that opens towards the east facing the Salzach valley:
* Southwestern Sc ...
, , und
*
Floßkogel,
*
Eibleck,
*
Hohes Tenneck,
Hut
In 1898, the Österreichischer Touristenklub (''Austrian Tourism Club'') built an
alpine hut
A mountain hut is a building located at high elevation, in mountainous terrain, generally accessible only by foot, intended to provide food and shelter to mountaineers, climbers and hikers. Mountain huts are usually operated by an Alpine Club ...
at the summit. The current building dates from 1985 and can sleep nearly one hundred mountaineers. The massif is also home to the
High King Mountain Ski Area
High may refer to:
Science and technology
* Height
* High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area
* High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory
* High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift to ...
.
Hochkonig
SummitPost. Accessed April 5, 2012.
Gallery
Image:Hochkönig Dientner Sattel B164.jpg, Hochkönig seen from the approach to Dientner Sattel at the B164
Image:Hochkönig.jpg, The karst
Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...
ic plateau north of the summit
Image:HochkoenigFromSchneeberg.jpg, Hochkönig from the south in winter
Image:SunnyFeb1.jpg, Hochkönig view from Hinterthal
Image:Hinterthal_View4.jpg, Hochkönig from the Aberg
Image:Hochkonig_from_the_air.JPG, Hochkönig from the air
Image:Hochkoning_Rear.jpg, Hochkönig from the rear
See also
* Bischofshofen
Bischofshofen () is a List of cities and towns in Austria, town in the district of St. Johann im Pongau District, St. Johann im Pongau in the Austrian federal state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg. It is an important traffic junction located both on ...
* Salzburg
Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...
* Salzburgerland
Salzburg (, ; , also known as ''Salzburgerland''; ) is an Austrian federal state. In German it is called a , a German-to-English dictionary translates that to ''federal state'' and the European Commission calls it a ''province''. In German, its o ...
* 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 ...
*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. ...
*Berchtesgadener Land
Berchtesgadener Land (Central Bavarian: ''Berchtsgoana Land'') is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the district of Traunstein and by the state of Austria.
History Middle ages and early modern era
The southern a ...
*Berchtesgaden
Berchtesgaden () is a municipality in the district Berchtesgadener Land, Bavaria, in southeastern Germany, near the border with Austria, south of Salzburg and southeast of Munich. It lies in the Berchtesgaden Alps. South of the town, the Be ...
* Jenner
References
External links
skiing Mt. Hochkönig - English)
Mountains of the Alps
Mountains of Salzburg (federal state)
Berchtesgaden Alps
{{Salzburg-geo-stub