The Fellhorn Lift (german: Fellhornbahn) is a two-section

gondola lift A gondola lift is a means of cable transport and type of aerial lift which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel wire rope that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate sup ...

in the German Alps that runs from Birgsautal in

Oberstdorf Oberstdorf ( Low Alemannic: ''Oberschdorf'') is a municipality and skiing and hiking town in Germany, located in the Allgäu region of the Bavarian Alps. It is the southernmost settlement in Germany and one of its highest towns. At the&nbs ...

to the peak of the

Fellhorn The Fellhorn () is a mountain in the " Allgäu Alps" near Oberstdorf, Germany, on the border with Austria. It is known for its fields of alpenroses ( Rhododendron ferrugineum). According to Austrian sources the mountain is . Access In 1972, a g ...

– 1,967 metres above sea level (NN). The ''Fellhornbahn I'', a cable car built by ''Habegger'', entered service in 1972. It had a length of 1,869 metres and climbed through a height of 863 metres. The two track cables of each cable car route had a dimater of 50 mm, the haulage cable was 28 mm thick. Drive for the two cable cars, with their capacity of 100 passengers, was provided by an engine at the

bottom station The valley station is the lower terminal of an aerial lift, cable car, gondola lift, chairlift, rack railway or ski lift. The valley station is the counterpart of a top station. Cable cars may be boarded at both stations. The valley station is al ...

delivering 552 kW. The first section had three pylons; there were 54, 51 and 24 metres high. Since the construction of the parallel ''Fellhornbahn II'' (see below), ''Fellhornbahn I'' has been used mainly in summer. The upper section, the ''Gipfelbahn'', built in 1973, has a length of 845.18 metres, has two pylons and climbs through 190 metres. It is driven by a 283 kW engine at the middle station. The two track cables of the second section have a diameter of 39 mm; the haulage cable is 20 mm thick. The ''Gipfelbahn'' only has one car with a capacity of 60 passengers. With a maximum speed of 8 m/s (28.8 km/h) it is able to transport 450 people per hour over this short stretch. Since 2005, the ''Kleinwalsertaler Bergbahn'' (KBB), Riezlern, has been the only owner of the Fellhorn Lift. The main shareholders of the KBB are the ''Allgäuer Überlandwerk'', Kempten, and the ''Raiffeisen Holding Kleinwalsertal''. In winter 2006/2007, a new

, the ''Fellhornbahn II'', was built parallel to the first section by Leitner with 8-seater cabins or gondolas. It is 2,813 metres long and rises through 855 metres. At a height of about 1,300 metres it has a middle station at which passengers may board and alight and where the garage for the gondolas is based. Although the gondolas are in fact coupled and decoupled here, there is only one section because the cable runs continuously from the valley station to the top station. It is powered from the top station and hydraulically tensioned in the bottom station. It has a top speed of 6 m/s (21.6 km/h) and transport capacity of 2,400 passengers per hour. It is Germany's longest single-cable gondola lift. The Faistenoy–Höfle double chairlift and the Höfle draglift have therefore been dismantled.

External links

*
Website of the Fellhornbahn und Kleinwalsertaler Bergbahn

at Remontées mécaniques (French)

at Remontées mécaniques (French) {{Coord, 47.352351, N, 10.262872, E, type:landmark_region:DE-BY, display=title Cable cars in Germany Allgäu Alps 1972 establishments in Germany