Riding the cable car to Zugspitze – above Germany and Austria

The Zugspitze is the highest peak in Germany at 2,962 m (9,718 ft) above sea level. It lies south of the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, and the Austria–Germany border is on its western summit. South of the mountain is the Zugspitzplatt, a high karst plateau with numerous caves. On the flanks of the Zugspitze are the two largest glaciers in Germany: the Northern Schneeferner and Höllentalferner.

Three cable cars run to the top of the Zugspitze. The Tyrolean Zugspitze Cable Car, was built in 1926 and terminated below the summit at 2,805 m. before the terminus was moved to the actual summit at 2,951 m. in 1991. A rack railway, the Bavarian Zugspitze Railway, runs inside the northern flank of the mountain and ends on the Zugspitzplatt, from where a second cable car runs a short way down to the Schneefernerhaus, formerly a hotel, but since 1999 an environmental research station; a weather station opened there in 1900. The rack railway and the Eibsee Cable Car, the third cableway, transport an average of 500,000 people to the summit each year. In winter, nine ski lifts cover the ski area on the Zugspitzplatt.

In 1995, a 450 square meter exhibition area was opened at the summit, in which artists present their work for six months, before the exhibition is changed. In 1995, the border between Germany and Austria at the summit was opened. This is now a popular visitor attraction with a cafe on the Austrian side that offers a great view of the surrounding mountains.