The Blauberge ("Blue Mountains") or Blauberg are a mountain range in the

Bavarian Prealps The Bavarian Prealps (german: Bayerische Voralpen) are a mountain range within the Northern Limestone Alps in south Germany. They include the Bavarian Prealp region between the river Loisach to the west and the river Inn to the east; the range is a ...

on the border between the states of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

in Germany and

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

in Austria. Its highest summit is the ''Halserspitze'',

Federal Office for Metrology and Survey The Federal Office of Metrology and Surveying of Austria (german: Bundesamt für Eich- und Vermessungswesen, BEV) is the body responsible for official surveying, geo-information and weights and measures ( metrology) in Austria. It belongs to the ' ...

(BEV): Austrian map series 1:50.000
AMAP Online
accessed on 2 November 2010 or ''Halserspitz''Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie,

Landesamt für Vermessung und Geoinformation Bayern The Bavarian State Office for Digitizing, Broadband and Survey (german: Landesamt für Digitalisierung, Breitband und Vermessung Bayern) or LDBV, until 31 December 2013 Bavarian State Office for Survey and Geoinformation (german: Landesamt für Ve ...

: Digitale Topographische Karte 1:50 000
BayernViewer
, accessed on 2 November 2010 at 1,862 m.

Location and area

The Blauberge are part of

Upper Bavaria Upper Bavaria (german: Oberbayern, ; ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany. Geography Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and seat o ...

Mangfall Mountains The Mangfall Mountains (german: Mangfallgebirge), or sometimes Mangfall Alps, are the easternmost part of the Bavarian Prealps that, in turn, belong to the Northern Limestone Alps. The name comes from the river Mangfall, whose tributaries, the Ro ...

or more precisely the

Tegernsee Mountains The Tegernsee Mountains (german: Tegernseer Berge) form a mountain region between the River Isar in the west and the lake of Tegernsee (lake), Tegernsee as well as the Rottach, Weißen Valepp and Grundache south of the Tegernsee, in the east, and ...

and are located about 11 kilometres south of the

Tegernsee Tegernsee is a town in the Miesbach district of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the shore of Lake Tegernsee, which is 747 m (2,451 ft) above sea level. A spa town, it is surrounded by an alpine landscape of Upper Bavaria, and has an e ...

lake. The crest of the Blauberge, which runs for about 4 kilometres in a west–east direction, forms the border between Austria to the south and Germany to the north. To the south the

Brandenberg Alps The Brandenberg Alps (german: Brandenberger Alpen) are a sub-group of the Northern Limestone Alps, that run in front of the Eastern Alps for their whole length. They lie entirely in Austria between Achensee in Tyrol, the Inn Valley and the Bavari ...

extend as far as the valley of the River Inn. To the north lies the ''Wolfsschlucht'' ("Wolf's Gorge") and about four kilometres away the former spa of Wildbad Kreuth. To the west the neighbouring mountain is the 1,613 m high Schildenstein, which is also sometimes counted as one of the Blauberge.Blauberge - Halserspitze
auf Summitpost.org, accessed on 2 November 2010 The massif consists of six peaks that, from west to east, are the: * Predigtstuhl (1,562 m, ) * Wichtlplatte (1,765 m, ) * Blaubergschneid (1,787 m, ) * Blaubergkopf (1,787 m, ) * Karspitz (1,800 m, ) * Halserspitz (1,862 m, ) At 1,862 m the Halserspitz is not only the highest peak in the Blauberge, but also in the entire Tegernsee Mountains. The southern flank of the Blauberge is covered by

mountain pine ''Pinus mugo'', known as bog pine, creeping pine, dwarf mountain pine, mugo pine, mountain pine, scrub mountain pine, or Swiss mountain pine, is a species of conifer, native to high elevation habitats from southwestern to Central Europe and Sou ...

right up to the crest; the considerably steeper northern slopes have a more rocky character.

Bases and trails

An important base is the Guffert Hut (1,475 m) just southeast of the Halserspitze (1,475 m). The hut belongs to the

German Alpine Club The German Alpine Club (german: links=no, Deutscher Alpenverein, DAV for short) is the world's largest climbing association and the eighth-largest sporting association in Germany. It is a member of the German Olympic Sports Confederation and the ...

branch at

Kaufering Kaufering is a municipality in the district of Landsberg in Bavaria in Germany. It lies on the river Lech. During World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted ...

and is managed during the summer offering overnight stops. Not far away is the self-service hut, ''Bayerische Wildalm'', which belongs to the Munich branch of the German Alpine Club. There is a similar hut, the ''Blaubergalm'' (1,540 m), further west immediately below the ''Predigtstuhl''. A signed hiking trail runs along the crest of the Blauberge that enables the entire massif to be traversed. The start point for this popular, but long circular route is usually Wildbad Kreuth. The path climbs from there via ''Siebenhüttenalm'' and through the ''Wolfsschlucht'' to the saddle between Schildenstein and Predigtstuhl and is secured by cables in places. Other trails lead from the Guffert Hut or from Achenwald. The eastern end of the Blauberge may be reached from the Guffert Hut or from Wildbad Kreuth (via the ''Wenigberg Hut'' or the ''Bayrbachalm''). The whole circuit is estimated to take around eight hours.

References

Sources and Map

* Zimmermann, Wolfgang und Gerlinde (1980). ''

Alpenvereinsführer The ''Alpine Club Guides'' (german: Alpenvereinsführer, commonly shortened to ''AV Führer'' or ''AVF'') are the standard series of Alpine guides that cover all the important mountain groups in the Eastern Alps. They are produced jointly by the Ge ...

Bayerische Voralpen-Ost'', Bergverlag Rother, Munich, * Hohenester, Georg and Winter, Stefan (2009). ''Bayerns Berge'', Bergverlag Rother, Munich, {{ISBN, 978-3-7633-3041-6 *

Alpenvereinskarte Alpine Club maps (german: Alpenvereinskarten, often abbreviated to ''AV-Karten'' i.e. AV maps) are specially detailed maps for summer and winter mountain climbers (mountaineers, hikers and ski tourers). They are predominantly published at a scale o ...

1:25.000, Blatt BY 13, ''Mangfallgebirge West, Tegernsee, Hirschberg''

External links

Blauberge - Halserspitze
at Summitpost.org

Miesbach (district) Mountain ranges of the Alps Bavarian Prealps Mountain ranges of Tyrol (state)