The Northern Karwendel Chain () is the northernmost of the four great, largely parallel mountain chains in the

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 ...

in 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. ...

. It is made from very pure

Wetterstein limestone The Wetterstein Formation is a regional geologic formation of the Northern Limestone Alps and Western Carpathians extending from southern Bavaria, Germany in the west, through northern Austria to northern Hungary and western Slovakia in the east ...

, which has its heart in the Karwendel and runs for a total length of c. 18 kilometres from

Scharnitz Scharnitz is a municipality in the district of Innsbruck-Land in the Austrian state of Tyrol located north of Innsbruck and from Seefeld in Tirol on the German border. It is one of the largest municipalities and has 10 parts: Au, Eisack, Gi ...

in the northeast via

Mittenwald Mittenwald () is a German municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria. Geography Mittenwald is located approximately 16 kilometres to the south-east of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It is situated in the Valley of the river Isar, ...

to the Wörner, where it turns sharply east, until it finally ends west of the Johannestal valley. It has 25 main summits with an average height of 2,400 m. The highest peak is the Eastern Karwendelspitze (). The boundary between Germany and Austria runs along the crest from the Brunnensteinspitze in the west to the Eastern Karwendelspitze in the east. The northwestern side is Bavarian, the southeastern flank is Tyrolean. The Northern Karwendel Chain should not be confused with the southernmost chain of the Karwendel, the

Inn Valley Chain Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway. Before the advent of motorized transportation, they also provided accomm ...

, which is known colloquially as the ''Nordkette'' or "North Chain" due to its location north of the city of Innsbruck. The southwestern part is sharply divided by

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 into side ridges (most clearly in the ''Dammkar'' cirque), while the eastern part presents a very consistent rock face. A little to the east of its centre point, the chain is interrupted by a very marked saddle, the Bäralpl, which is about 1 kilometres wide and 500 metres deep, a broad plateau which provides the only easy crossing from the Soiern Group north of the range into the Karwendeltal and to the next mountain chain in the Karwendel, the

Hinterautal-Vomper Chain The Hinterautal-Vomper Chain (), also called the main chain of the Karwendel (''Karwendelhauptkette''), is the longest mountain chain in the Karwendel Alps in Austria. It has numerous peaks that reach heights of 2,500 m, including the highe ...

Important summits

The most important summits of the Northern Karwendel Chain, following the course of the chain from west to northeast and east, are the: * Brunnensteinspitze () * Rotwandlspitze () * Kirchlspitze () * Sulzleklammspitze () * Southern Linderspitze () * Gerberkreuz () * Northern Linderspitze () * Viererspitze () * Western Karwendelspitze () * Western Larchetfleckspitze (Lärchfleckspitze) (), * Eastern Larchetfleckspitze (Lärchfleckspitze) () * Tiefkarspitze () * Schönbergspitze () * Südliche Großkarspitze () * Mittlere Großkarspitze () * Nördliche Großkarspitze () * Wörner () * Hochkarspitze () * Raffelspitze () * Bäralplkopf () * Vordere Schlichtenkarspitze () * Hintere Schlichtenkarspitze () *

Vogelkarspitze Vogelkarspitze is a mountain of Bavaria, Germany. Mountains of Bavaria Mountains of the Alps {{Bavaria-geo-stub ...

() * Eastern Karwendelspitze () * Grabenkarspitze () * Lackenkarkopf () * Kuhkopf () * Talelespitze () * Southern Stuhlkopf () * Northern Stuhlkopf ()

External links

{{Commons category, Nördliche Karwendelkette, Northern Karwendel Chain
Report of the first ascent of the Eastern Karwendelspitze and the Vogelkarspitze on 4 July 1870
by

Hermann von Barth Hermann von Barth (5 June 1845 – 7 December 1876) was a famous German mountaineer. Life and career Hermann von Barth was born on 5 June 1845 at Eurasburg Castle. He initially studied law in Munich, where he was affiliated to the Corps Fr ...

(Chapter XIX of the book: '' Aus den Nördlichen Kalkalpen'', Gera 1874, pp. 420 ff.) Mountain ranges of the Alps Karwendel Garmisch-Partenkirchen