Zugspitze in Geography,Mountains,Europe,Alps,Northern Alps,Peaks

Zugspitze

Overview:
HEIGHT:	2,962.06 m above sea level NHN
LOCATION:	Border Grainau (Germany) / Ehrwald (Austria)
MOUNTAINS:	Wetterstein Mountains, Alps
FIRST ASCENT:	mid 18th century
FEATURES:	Highest mountain in Germany

Location and Surroundings

The Zugspitze belongs to the Zugspitze massif and forms the main summit there.
It is a border mountain between Germany and Austria. It is located in the Northern Alps and is part of the Wetterstein Mountains.
The mountain was given the name Zugspitze because of the avalanches on the steep slopes of the north foot.
In the massif of her you meet the Schneeferner and Höllentalferner, these two belong to the very few German glaciers.
At about 350 meters below the summit, above the Reintal, is Germany`s only and highest glacier ski area.
The metrological station, which has existed for a hundred years, is located a little higher on the summit of the Zugspitze.
It is located in the so-called Munich House and collects climate-related data there.

history

The Zugspitze was first mentioned by name in a border description in 1590.
Her popularity hadn`t improved even 200 years later. The Zugspitze was not even mentioned in the Bavarian travel atlas that was published in 1796. Interest in this mountain only awoke in the 19th century, when the first documented expedition set out on August 7, 1807 to explore the massif. This started from Partenkirchen with the aim of researching the course and development of the temperature of the Partnach, a mountain river, to the western end of the Reintal, the position of its source. In addition, the region and its botany should be explored.

Members of this expedition were:

François Gabriel Graf von Bray, President of the Regensburg Botanical Society, the botanist Kaspar Graf von Sternberg, Professor Charles François Duval, Major General Reinhard Friedrich Freiherr von Werneck and twelve locals as guides and porters.

However, even in the report of Count Brays, who must have been only about four kilometers away from the Zugspitze with his expedition group, it is not mentioned at all.

First ascent

The Zugspitze was climbed on August 27, 1820 by Lieutenant Josef Naus on the orders of the Royal Bavarian Topographical Bureau.
Together with a mountain guide Joh. Georg Deutschl and the measuring assistant Maier, he set out to climb the west summit of the Zugspitze.
That is why he is considered to be the first climber to be known by name on the Zugspitze.

With the help of historical maps, however, it can be proven that an earlier ascent by locals must have taken place as early as 1770.
They clearly show a marked path to the summit.
The first winter ascent of the Zugspitze can be traced back to January 7, 1882 and was carried out by Ferdinand Kilger, H. and J. Zametzer and Heinrich Schwaiger.

In 1898 Councilor of Commerce Adolf Wenz began to plan a meteorological observatory.
Construction began just one year later and, after completion, it was handed over to the royal state government on July 19, 1900.
In the same year, the mountaineer, meteorologist and later Antarctic researcher Josef Enzensperger spent the winter in the obsavatory.
Since then, continuous weather observation has taken place on the Zugspitze, but the station is now managed by the DWD.