Steinpass

Steinpass
	Pass road of the Steinpass on the mountain pass
Pass height	615 m above sea level NHN
expansion	Side street from Bundesstraße 21 and Loferer Straße (B 178); ; alternatively: ; B 21 - Wendelberg tunnel - B 178
Mountains	Chiemgau Alps
	profile
	map
Coordinates	47 ° 40 ′ 15 " N , 12 ° 45 ′ 25" E Coordinates: 47 ° 40 ′ 15 " N , 12 ° 45 ′ 25" E

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Steinpass with houses by Melleck ; View to the southwest

Former customs house on the B 178 near the Steinpass; with the northwest slope of the Achhorn in the background

The Steinpass is 615 m above sea level. NHN high mountain pass of the Alps . It is located in Germany just before the border with the Salzburg district of Zell am See ( Austria ) in the Bavarian district of Berchtesgadener Land . The Schneizlreuther hamlet of Melleck is on site .

Geographical location

The Steinpass is located near the southeastern edge of the Chiemgau Alps between the Pichlerberg ( 1097 m ) in the west, the Grimmberg mountain range with the Gamersberg ( 1035 m ) in the northwest, the Kranzkogel ( 1241 m ) in the north-northeast and the Wendelberg ( 959.2 m ) in the Northeast; The Sonntagshorn ( 1961 m ) rises 4.8 km to the west-northwest ; they all belong to Germany.

To the southeast the landscape leads over the southwest spur of the Wendelberg to the Saalach flowing from Austria to Germany ; Beyond the narrow valley, the Austrian Achhorn ( 1316 m above sea level ), which belongs to the Berchtesgaden Alps, rises in the south . The Steinbach flows south-west past the state border and flows into the Saalach almost 850 m south of the pass. To the north of the pass, the Motzenbach, fed by the small Pernauer Graben, runs towards the Saalach tributary Müßbach .

The hamlet of Melleck, a small south-western district of Schneizlreuth, is located on the mountain pass. In the valley are down along the Saalach Netherlands , a 2.3 km south-west of the pass situated village in the Austrian town of Unken ( 563 m above sea level. A. ), and the nucleus of the German Schneizlreuth ( 516 m ) of about 4 km north-east of the Passes lies.

Pass road

The pass road leading over the Steinpass is a side road with few bends on its northeast ramp and winding on its southwest ramp and crosses the Steinbach there on the German federal highway 21 and the Austrian Loferer Straße (B 178); the last two roads mentioned merge about 500 m south-southwest of the pass near the Saalach at the state border. The pass road connects Schneizlreuth and Unken over a length of around 6.5 km with up to 8% incline or decline.

Until the construction of the German Wendelberg tunnel (1985–1987), which runs 380 m southeast of the pass through the southwest spur of the Wendelberg, the pass road was part of the German B 21, which belongs to the busy little German corner , and beyond the border, one of them the Austrian B 178.

Nowadays, the "B 21" leaves its old route over the Steinpass a few hundred meters before the village of Melleck, which corresponds to today's pass road, and runs through the tunnel on a gentle, even gradient. Then the Loferer Straße (B 178) continues south from the state border through the Alps.

Protected areas

On the Steinpass, southeast of the pass road, parts of the Upper Saalachtal landscape protection area with Wendelberg and Kienberg, municipality of Schneizlreuth ( CDDA no. 395938; designated 1989; 7.9143 km² ) are located. Those of the Fauna-Flora-Habitat- Area Eastern Chiemgau Alps (FFH No. 8241-372; 129.2266 km²) and the bird sanctuary Eastern Chiemgau Alps (VSG No. 8241-401; 127, 75 km²).

history

The Steinpass has been named as the border between the Reichenhall nursing court in the Reichenhall Valley and the Archdiocese of Salzburg since 1218 . In 1228, King Heinrich VII enfeoffed the Salzburg Archbishop Eberhard II with the county of Pinzgau. The northern border of the Pinzgau represented the confluence of the Steinbach into the Saalach . In the 13th century the von Steinbach family guarded the border.

The main traffic route between Salzburg and Tyrol ran along the Saalach and the bridges were always endangered by floods. Therefore in 1614 it was proposed to reinforce the wooden bridges with iron and blast the road into the rock. During the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) Archbishop Paris Lodron had the fortifications there expanded in 1646. Only one coat of arms of this archbishop with the inscription Archiep Paris ex com Lodroni f MDCXXXXVI has survived from the once barrel-vaulted gateway . This gate had existed until 1929, today only three foundation pillars can be seen on the bank of the Steinbach. The formerly existing Pichler Schanze (earthworks with palisades ), which prevented bypassing the fortifications on the west side, was leveled in 1970. By the end of the 18th century, the gate fastenings were no longer able to cope with traffic, but they were not demolished because of the French Wars. In the following years (1800, 1805, 1809) there was also heavy fighting on the Steinpass. The Tyrolean and Salzburg defenders were able to achieve some successes under Josef Speckbacher , but were decisively defeated on October 17, 1809.

In the former customs office building on the Steinpass, the TEH association has been the new tenant since 2010, which deals with the topic of the healing knowledge of the Pinzgau women , which is part of the intangible UNESCO cultural heritage , and has set up a shop in the Steinpass customs office.