Facts about the Zugspitze
A summit through the ages
At an altitude of 2,962 meters, we enjoy the breathtaking 360-degree view of over 400 mountain peaks in four countries when the weather is fine. The queen of the Wetterstein mountains has a long history and many hundreds of years before us, Josef Naus, a Bavarian officer, stood on this legendary summit in 1820. But first things first…

On the trail of myths and legends
According to legend, the evil “Zuggeist” gave its name to the highest peak in the Wetterstein mountain range. The gigantic and malicious vulture is said to have guarded the mountain and fought off intruders. However, the Zuggeist is a legend. The real namesakes for the Zugspitze were the “trails” of the snow avalanches. These always descend into the valley in the same paths or “trains”, especially on the steep north faces and on the main summit. The name “der Zugspitz”, which was used until the 19th century, was only later feminized and renamed “die” Zugspitze.
203 years of first ascent
August 27th marks the anniversary of the day on which the Bavarian officer and surveyor Josef Naus made the first documented ascent of Zugspitze in the course of creating the Werdenfels map for the Topographical Atlas of Bavaria. Accompanied by the mountain guide Johann Tauschl from Partenkirchen and his measuring assistant and porter, Naus reached the western summit via the Zugspitzplatt and the Schneeferner. The historic route led via the Höllental valley up a whopping 3000 meters in altitude – today, two no less exciting routes lead from the Tiroler Zugspitz Arena to Germany’s highest peak. To mark the 200th anniversary of the first ascent, the world record for the heaviest piece of furniture carried up a mountain and set up there was broken in 2020 with the transportation of a bench to the summit.

The border crosser
The Zugspitze measures just under 3,000 meters high in the Zugspitze massif named after it, high above Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The highest peak in Germany lies in the Wetterstein mountain range and is also its highest peak. It forms part of the border between Tyrol and Bavaria. Of the three former peaks, only the eastern summit, which lies entirely in Germany, still rises in its original form today. The middle summit became the victim of a cable car station in 1930 and the western summit, which is two meters higher and over which the German-Austrian border runs, was blown up in 1938 as part of the construction of a Wehrmacht air traffic control station. The state border between Germany and Austria runs across today’s western summit. There is also a panorama restaurant, a snow crystal museum and an adventure museum and the Tyrolean Zugspitze summit cross rises up at 2950 meters.
Many roads lead to the Zugspitze
Today, the summit can be reached via three normal routes: from Höllental, from Reintal and from the west via the Austrian Schneekar. All tours require a high level of fitness due to the low starting points. Although the route through the Reintal valley is the technically easiest, it should not be underestimated due to its length. The annual Zugspitz Ultratrail is also a sporty event, where runners from all over the world can choose their route around the Zugspitze from 6 routes. The Tiroler Zugspitzbahn cable car from Ehrwald takes you to the summit faster and more comfortably. The panoramic cabins offer space for up to 100 people and cover an altitude difference of 1,725 meters in just 10 minutes. Since 2017, visitors have been able to marvel at the beauty of the mountain landscape in the floor-to-ceiling glass cabins of the “cable car Zugspitze” from the Bavarian Eibsee to the mountain station.
So there’s a lot to know about Zugspitze – at the Hotel Post in Lermoos on the sunny side of Zugspitze you can get a little closer and closer to the summit…