The Hornbach chain (german: Hornbachkette) is a string of mountains, about 15 kilometres long, in the

Allgäu Alps The Allgäu Alps (german: Allgäuer Alpen) are a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps, located in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in Germany and Tyrol and Vorarlberg in Austria. The range lies directly east of Lake Constance. Character ...

in the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n state of

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 ...

Geography

The Hornbach chain branches at the

Öfnerspitze The Öfnerspitze is a 2,576 m (2,575 m in Austrian maps) high, rocky mountain in the Allgäu Alps. Location and area The Öfnerspitze lies southeast of the Krottenspitze and is joined to it by a flat saddle. Ascent There are no ma ...

from the main line of the Allgäu Alps and runs in a gentle arc from north to east. In the far west, it branches at the Hornbachspitze and a side ridge runs southwards in which the most important peak of the whole chain, the

Großer Krottenkopf The Großer Krottenkopf is the highest mountain in the Allgäu Alps of Austria. It is Bundesamt für Eich- und Vermessungswesen Austria: Austrian Map online (Austrian 1:50,000 map series)''. and is part of a side branch of the Hornbach chain, w ...

(2,656 m) is located. The mountain is also the highest in the whole of the Allgäu Alps. In the west the range is bounded along this side branch by a line that reaches from Holzgau in the south, runs along the Höhenbachtal and Rossgumpental valleys to the Öfnerkar in the north. The boundaries of the main ridge of the Hornbach chain are formed in the north by the Hornbachtal valley with its settlement of

Hinterhornbach Hinterhornbach is a municipality in the district of Reutte in the Austrian state of Tyrol. Geography Hinterhornbach lies in the Hornbach valley, a side valley of the Lech Lech may refer to: People * Lech (name), a name of Polish origin * Lech, ...

, in the south by the

Lechtal The Lechtal is an alpine valley in Austria, the greater part of which belongs to the state of Tyrol and the smaller part to Vorarlberg. The Lech river flows through the valley. Location The valley is bounded geographically by the Lechtal Alps ...

from

Holzgau Holzgau is a municipality in the district of Reutte in the Austrian state of 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 hist ...

Vorderhornbach Vorderhornbach is a municipality in the district of Reutte in the Austrian state of Tyrol. Geography Vorderhornbach lies in the Lech Lech may refer to: People * Lech (name), a name of Polish origin * Lech, the legendary founder of Poland * Lec ...

, where it unites with the Hornbachtal. At the junction of the two valleys lies the easternmost mountain of the group, the Klimmspitze. On the main ridge of the Hornbach chain, the highest peaks are the

Marchspitze The Marchspitze () is a prominent summit, made of main dolomite, in the Hornbach chain of the Allgäu Alps. It is located 1.5 kilometres east of the much better known Großer Krottenkopf and is entirely on Austrian soil. Ascent It is a ...

(2,609 m), the

Bretterspitze The Bretterspitze is a 2,608-metre-high summit in the Austrian state of Tyrol. It is part of the Hornbach chain in the Allgäu Alps. Its neighbouring peaks in the Hornbach chain are the Gliegerkarspitze to the west and the Urbeleskarspitze to the ...

(2,608 m) and the

Urbeleskarspitze The Urbeleskarspitze is a 2,632-metre-high mountain peak in the Allgäu Alps. It lies within Austria in the state of Tyrol and is the fifth-highest summit in the Allgäu Alps and the second-highest peak in the Hornbach chain. Its neighbours in the ...

(2,632 m), which are all in the ten most important summits of the Allgäu Alps.

List of peaks

The most important peaks on the main ridge of the Hornbach chain, from west to east, are: The side branch of the Hornbachspitze - in the extreme west of the chain - branches southwards and includes the following peaks:

Literature and maps

* Dieter Seibert: ''

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 ...

Allgäuer Alpen und Ammergauer Alpen''.

Bergverlag Rudolf Rother Bergverlag Rother is a German publisher with its headquarters in Oberhaching, Upper Bavaria. Since 1950 the company, that formerly went under the name of ''Bergverlag Rudolf Rother'', has published the Alpine Club Guides in cooperation with the Ge ...

, Munich, 2004. * Alpenvereinskarte 2/1 Allgäuer-Lechtaler Alpen – West (2004 edition) * Alpenvereinskarte 2/2 Allgäuer-Lechtaler Alpen – Ost (2006 edition)

External links

{{Coord, 47, 19, 58, N, 10, 27, 44, E, type:mountain_region:AT-7, display=title, name=Bretterspitze Mountain ranges of Europe Mountain ranges of Tyrol (state) Allgäu Alps