Stone Sea
| Stone Sea | |
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 View from the Großer Hundstod over the plateau of the Stone Sea |
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| Highest peak | Selbhorn ( 2655 m above sea level ) |
| location | Bavaria , Salzburg |
| part of | Berchtesgaden Alps |
| Coordinates | 47 ° 30 ' N , 12 ° 55' E |
| Type | Karst stock |
| rock | 230 million years, Dachstein limestone over Ramsaudolomit from the Triassic |
The Stone Sea is a ver karsteter massif with distinct plateaus formations in the Northern Limestone Alps . As one of the nine mountain ranges of the Berchtesgaden Alps , the Steinerne Meer belongs partly to Bavaria and partly to Salzburg . It reaches its greatest heights in its southern peripheral peaks ( Selbhorn 2655 m above sea level , Schönfeldspitze 2653 m ).
location
In the northwest the Hochkalterstock and the Watzmann border the mountains , northeast the Hagengebirge and southeast the Hochkönig . With an area of around 160 km², it is the largest mountain range in the Berchtesgaden Alps . 55 km² are located above 2000 meters above sea level. Towards the south the mountains drop steeply into the Saalfeldner basin . Immediately at the foot of its northern falls is the Königssee .
The Bavarian parts of the Stone Sea are part of the Berchtesgaden National Park , the Austrian parts of the Kalkhochalpen nature reserve .
Landscape image
Dachstein limestone and karst phenomena shape the landscape. Around 800 karst caves have so far been recorded in the Stone Sea. The distinctive plateau character of the Steinernes Meer above a height of 2000 meters is also typical, which can be proven with figures using two parameters: First, 50 - i.e. almost all - peaks are 2000 to 2600 m high, only around ten peaks are lower ; the average prominence and dominance of the peaks is low; only a few mountains stand out clearly from the plateau.
By and large, the plateau slopes from south to north. In the north there used to be a number of alpine pastures , all of which are now abandoned (e.g. the Oberlahneralm).
The Funtensee in a valley basin in the middle of the Stone Sea has become known as Germany's cold pole.
Since the 17th century , the Almer pilgrimage from Maria Alm to St. Bartholomä am Königssee has been celebrated annually on August 24th, Bartholomäustag . The pilgrimage route that crosses the Steinerne Meer from south to north (via the Riemannhaus , the Kärlingerhaus and through the Saugasse ) has been carefully built from local natural stone; the current state of conservation is very uneven.
summit
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The most distinctive and at the same time best-known summit of the Steinerne Meer is the Schönfeldspitze ( 2653 m ) on the southern edge on the Pinzgau side , the summit pyramid of which is also visible from Berchtesgaden and is one of the landmarks of the Berchtesgadener Land . The lesser known Selbhorn ( 2655 m ) is the highest peak of the Steinerne Meer. Other high and well-known peaks are the Brandhorn ( 2610 m ), which forms the "junction" of the Berchtesgadener Land with the Pinzgau and Pongau; the Große Hundstod ( 2593 m ), the Funtenseetauern ( 2578 m ) and the Breithorn ( 2504 m ).
If you use a notch height of 30 meters as a criterion for counting the peaks, there are at least 63 peaks in the Steinerne Meer. 47 peaks have a notch height of at least 50 meters, 22 peaks have a notch height of over 100 meters, only five peaks have a notch height of over 200 meters.
A good 20 peaks are accessible with a marked hiking trail or path. The tourist use is concentrated on a few destinations, some peaks are rarely climbed.
The most important elevations of the Stone Sea, sorted by height (incomplete list):
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The most important elevations of the Stone Sea, classified according to prominence or notch height and according to dominance :
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These figures make it clear that the Große Hundstod, which dominates the western end of the group, is only the fourth highest peak of the Steinerne Meer, in terms of orographic criteria is at least "number 2" of the mountains - even before the Schönfeldspitze, which is primarily known for its slim shape their summit construction results.
Huts
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The western part of the Steinerne Meer is accessible to hikers and mountaineers through four Alpine Club huts . On the German side, these are the Kärlingerhaus ( 1630 m ) on the Funtensee and on the Austrian side the Riemannhaus ( 2177 m ) on the Ramseider Scharte, the Ingolstädter Haus ( 2119 m ) on the Dießbachscharte below the Großer Hundstod and the Peter-Wiechenthaler-Hütte ( 1707 m ) on the Kienalkopf. In the less accessible eastern part of the mountain range, alpinists below the Wildalmkirchl have a bivouac box ( 2457 m ) as a base and emergency shelter. In the Röth , at the transition to the Hagengebirge, the Wasseralm ( 1423 m ) , which is hosted in the summer season, offers overnight accommodation.
You can climb to the Kärlingerhaus am Funtensee from the Salet boat stop on the Königssee via the Sagerecksteig or - a bit easier - from St. Bartholomä via the Saugasse . In earlier times, the Saugasse was also the supply route for the Kärlingerhaus.
On the Austrian side, you can get to the Riemannhaus from Saalfelden via the Bürgerberg and the Ramseider Steig or from Maria Alm through the Sandten . The Ingolstadt house can be reached directly from Weißbach . From there it is possible to descend over the Wimbachgries between Watzmann and Hochkalter. As a rule, the way up to the Wiechenthaler hut is from Saalfelden.
The Steinerne Meer is also crossed by two Austrian long-distance hiking trails , the North Alpine Trail and the Ruperti Trail .
Ski touring
The Funtenseetauern, the hut summit of the Kärlingerhaus, offers slopes in all four directions. The routes of the Großer Reibn and Hundstod-Reibn, known among ski mountaineers, lead over the Diesbacheck, the Hochwieskessel and the Loferer Seilergraben into the Wimbachgries. Another descent in the eastern Steinerne Meer is the route from the Brandhorn or Marterlkopf via the Tauchertal into the Blühnbachtal. The Wimbachgries and, to an even greater extent, the Blühnbachtal are long and flat valleys that dry up early due to the low altitude. When the snow conditions are good, the Buchauer Scharte and the gatarte are popular, the sunny slopes of which can be reached from the villages of Maria Alm or Hinterthal near Saalfelden.
caves
The largest cave system in the German part of the Steinerne Meer so far is the Salzgrabenhöhle , of which only one entrance is known. This is located on the north side of the Simetsberg, approx. 350 meters above the Königssee. This cave is kept under lock and key by the national park administration .
A cave system that is difficult to enter is the Kolkbläser Monsterhöhle system , the first entrance to which was discovered in the south wall of the Schindlkopf. It is a giant system with a currently known extent of 44.5 km in length and 723 m in depth. The cave research group SAGA (Speleological Working Group Aachen) played a key role in the development. In the area around the Ladder Head, in the east of the Steinerne Meer, different groups were on the move, including from Frankfurt, Nuremberg and Munich. Many of them owe their inspiration to Toni Müller, who has worked as a mentor in cave exploration for decades . Other German cave exploration groups have been working in the Schneiber area for years. Research in the central Steinerne Meer focuses on the Rotwandl and Ramseider Birg areas. The Giengen cave friends have measured almost 300 cave entrances and explored numerous objects since the late 1980s. The longest cave here is the Stang-Rotwandl system with a length of over 9 km.
A short cave that is not too difficult to reach and easy to walk into is the Schindlkopfhöhle , east of the Schindlkopf. It is accessible from the Ingolstadt house. Daylight shines in the ice rink; it is the floor of a large sinkhole , the ceiling of the hall has collapsed.
reception
- The writer Clemens Eich was inspired by the Steinerne Meer for his novel of the same name in 1995, which is set in a fictional location in the Bad Reichenhall area . The Stone Sea itself is not an integral part of the plot, however.
- Theodor Weißenborn published a volume of stories in 1986, which is also entitled Das Steinerne Meer .
- The novel Kitahara disease by Christoph Ransmayr , published in 1995, is set in the area of the Stone Sea.
Web links
- The Stone Sea. (PDF; 1.9 MB) Different sections of the OeAV and DAV , Naturfreunde München in cooperation with the federal office of the DAV, April 2008, accessed on September 7, 2012 .
- www.bergfotos.de - comprehensive information on the Stone Sea such as B. Summit lists according to height, prominence and dominance
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Bayrischer hand, the Southern Wimbachkette the Hochkalter mountain range expected
- ↑ Alpine Club Card
- ^ Association of Austrian Speleologists: The longest caves in Austria. Status October 2016 (pdf).