Ice Caves
There is snow on the Watzmann all year round. Ice fields are forming, including the Watzmann glacier. The large ice cave or ice chapel is extremely popular with tourists, among other things because of its easy accessibility from the St. Bartholomä station on the Königssee.
The beauty of the cave can also be enjoyed in summer. The Schellenberger Ice Cave also creates an unforgettable impression: It is the largest ice cave in Germany and is located at an altitude of 1570 meters. 60,000 cubic meters of ice with a thickness of up to 30 meters charm and surprise even the imagination.
The Schellenberger Ice cave
If you the experience of walking in the mountains and warm clothing in your rucksack, you can go from the town Marktschellenberg about three or four hours toward the mountain shelters Toni Lenz and reach the Shellenberger ice cave.
The Schellenberger ice cave is the only and biggest in Germany open to the public. It is situated at an altitude of 1570m above sealevel. It offers a tour of spectacular domes and ice formations . Tour guides explain the development of caves in general and ice caves in particular. In the absence of electricity, the halls are illuminated with carbide lamps, taken by some visitors. All ice is moving, melting and refreezing, so that a "new cave" can be visited each year.
Guided tour 45 mins. Go into the cave on you own is not possible. The cave is open in summertime.
Contacts:
Untersberg cable car station (Talstation Untersbergbahn):
Address: Dr.Oedlweg 2 A-5083 Gartenau
Tel.: +43 (0)6246/72477-0
www: eishoehle.net
Ice Chapel
At the foot of Watzmann Mountain on the eastern wall is the Ice Chapel: perhaps the most accessible glacier cave in Germany of great beauty, the small glacier of San Bartolome on the famous Lake Königssee. The Eiskapelle may well be the lowest lying permanent snowfield in the Alps. Its lower end is only 930 meters high in the upper Eisbach valley and is about an hour's walk from St. Bartholomä on the Königssee.
The Eiskapelle is fed by mighty avalanches that slide down from the east face of the Watzmann in spring and accumulate in the angle of the rock face. Sometimes a gate-shaped vault forms in the ice at the point where the Eisbach emerges from the Eiskapelle. Before entering, there is an urgent warning sign that others have been killed by falling ice.
