The Ester MountainsBourne, Grant and Körner-Bourne, Sabine (2007). ''Walking in the Bavarian Alps'', 2nd ed., Cicerone, Milnthorpe, p.8 and 115-168. . (german: Estergebirge) are a small mountain range in

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 ...

. They are classified either as part of

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 ...

or the larger chain of

Northern Limestone Alps The Northern Limestone Alps (german: Nördliche Kalkalpen), also called the Northern Calcareous Alps, are the ranges of the Eastern Alps north of the Central Eastern Alps located in Austria and the adjacent Bavarian lands of southeastern Germany. ...

. The range stretches for about 15 kilometres. From the west it is bordered by the valley of the river

Loisach The Loisach is a river that flows through Tyrol, Austria and Bavaria, Germany. Its name might be Celtic in origin, from Proto-Celtic ''*lawo'' and ''*iskā'', both of which mean "water". The Loisach goes through the great swamp . The Loisach is a ...

and from the east by

Walchensee Walchensee or Lake Walchen is one of the deepest and largest alpine lakes in Germany, with a maximum depth of and an area of . The lake is south of Munich in the middle of the Bavarian Alps. The entire lake, including the island of Sassau, ...

lake and the valley of the river

Isar The Isar is a river in Tyrol, Austria, and Bavaria, Germany, which is not navigable for watercraft above raft size. Its source is in the Karwendel range of the Alps in Tyrol; it enters Germany near Mittenwald and flows through Bad Tölz, Munic ...

. With its highest peak being

Krottenkopf The Krottenkopf (), , is a peak in the Ester Mountains and the highest mountain in the Bavarian Prealps. It lies within the Bavarian district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (district), Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Location and climbing options It lies in ...

(2,086 m), the highest part of the range just exceeds 2,000 m. The range is of composed of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

. The treeline is around 1,700 m.

Etymology

Probably from preceltic ''ester'' (cf. basque ''Ezterenzubi'', occitan ''Esterel'').

Peaks

Most important summits

The most important summits in the Ester range are the

(2,086 m), the Bischof (2,033 m), the Hohe Kisten (1,922 m), the

Hoher Fricken The Hoher Fricken ("High Fricken") is a mountain high, in the Ester Mountains in the Bavarian Prealps and lies between the Wank and the over 2000 m high Bischof. Below and to the north is the Niederer Fricken ("Low Fricken", ) and the Fri ...

(1,940 m) and the Simetsberg (1,836 m). The climbs both from the

valley as well as from

Krün Krün is a municipality in the Upper Bavarian district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It belongs with Garmisch-Partenkirchen as district capital and cultural center as well as other municipalities to the region Werdenfelser Land. A few kilometers sout ...

Wallgau Wallgau is a municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria, Germany. Population Growth :''*Statistics according to the Bavarian government, as of 2007.'' Demographics :''*Statistics according to the Bavarian gov ...

in the southeast are relatively long. As a result the Ester Mountains are relatively quiet with the exception of the

Wank Wank may refer to: * WANK (computer worm), a computer worm that attacked DEC VAX/VMS systems through DECnet in 1989 * WXTY, a radio station (99.9 FM) licensed to serve Lafayette, Florida, United States, which held the call sign WANK from 2010 to 2 ...

mountain (1,780 m) which is accessible by cable car (the Wankbahn). Most tourists and mountaineers are attracted to the nearby higher ranges

Wetterstein The Wetterstein mountains (german: Wettersteingebirge), colloquially called Wetterstein, is a mountain group in the Northern Limestone Alps within the Eastern Alps. It is a comparatively compact range located between Garmisch-Partenkirc ...

Karwendel The Karwendel is the largest mountain range of the Northern Limestone Alps. The major part belongs to the Austrian federal state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol, while the adjacent area in the north is part of Bavaria, Germany. Four mountain chain, chain ...

and to the highest peak of Germany, the

Zugspitze The Zugspitze (), at above Normalhöhennull, sea level, is the highest peak of the Wetterstein Mountains as well as the highest mountain in Germany. It lies south of the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and the Austria–Germany border runs over ...

Other summits

* Risskopf * Platteneck * Klaffen * Wallgauer Eck

Activities

The Ester Mountains offer various trekking and mountaineering possibilities both in summer and winter.

References