The Leutasch Gorge (german: Leutaschklamm or ''Leutascher Geisterklamm'') is a

gorge A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...

near

Mittenwald Mittenwald is a German municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria. Geography Mittenwald is located approximately 16 kilometres to the south-east of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It is situated in the Valley of the River Isar, b ...

and Unterleutasch in the Bavarian-Tyrolean border area through which the Leutascher Ache river flows. It is very steep-sided and was not opened to tourists until 2006. To do this a 1.4 million euro, EU-supported, Austro-German project was undertaken to build steel walkways and bridges over a distance of 970 metres. With a total length of 1,650 metres it is the longest accessible gorge in the Eastern

Limestone Alps The Limestone Alps (german: Kalkalpen) are a mountain ranges system of the Alps in Central Europe. They are of economic importance, including as a watershed source of drinking water. They have many accessible dripstone and ice caves. Geography T ...

. The gorge was opened on 24 May 2006.

Marketing

As a tourist project the gorge was marketed as the so-called ''Geisterklamm'' ("Spirit Gorge"), in conjunction with the ''Koboldpfad'' ("Kobold Path") as a family-friendly leisure paradise. There are 40 boards with information on

myth Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

and

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

in the surround area, as well as a spirit with winking eyes and coloured, sound-oriented games. The walkways are horizontal wherever possible and are built so that they can be negotiated without climbing equipment. Any anxiety caused by due height difference of more than 50 metres in places between the walkway the floor of the gorge is supposed to be counteracted by the solid design of the walkway. In addition there is a short path to a waterfall in the gorge. The Leutasch Gorge is basically open all year round except when there are heavy snowfalls when it is closed. The walk through the gorge is free; only the path to the waterfall has a charge. File:Leutaschklamm 1900.jpg, The Leutasch Gorge around 1900 File:Leutaschklamm 2 1900.jpg, The Leutasch Gorge around 1900 File:Leutaschklamm03a.jpg, Panorama Bridge over the Leutasch Gorge File:Leutasch Geisterklamm 01.jpg, near the entrance to the Leutasch File:Leutaschklamm (Marius Hoch) 10.JPG File:Leutaschklamm02.jpg File:Leutaschklamm (Marius Hoch) 21.JPG File:2016-08-Leutasch-Wasserfall.jpg, Waterfall at the end of the gorge

Accidents

On 7 July 2007 more than several hundred kilogrammes of rock above the walk suddenly crashed onto the steel walkway and partly destroyed it. No-one was injured, but the gorge was closed for two weeks for repair.

Ederkanzel

The ''Ederkanzel'' restaurant (1184 m) on a mountain ridge west of and above the Leutasch Gorge is a geographical and political curiosity. Whilst the dining room and toilets are in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, the terrace of the restaurant lies on

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 soil. The official

boundary stone A boundary marker, border marker, boundary stone, or border stone is a robust physical marker that identifies the start of a land boundary or the change in a boundary, especially a change in direction of a boundary. There are several other t ...

, which marks the border between the two countries is by the door to the terrace on the outer wall of the building. The drinks and food served on the terrace are, however, sold under German

tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

regulations by agreement between the two finance departments responsible in

Garmisch-Partenkirchen Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; Bavarian: ''Garmasch-Partakurch''), nicknamed Ga-Pa, is an Alpine ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ''GAP''), in the O ...

and

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

Other nearby gorges

Other notable gorges within the county of

are the Partnach Gorge near 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 ...

and the Höllental Gorge near

Grainau Grainau is a municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in southern Bavaria, Germany. It is located at the foot of the Zugspitze mountain, the tallest mountain in Germany in the sub-mountain range of the Wetterstein Alps which is a b ...

- Hammersbach.

External links

Leutaschklamm new
description of "Geisterklamm"

{{Coord, 47.428245, N, 11.246424, E, type:landmark_region:DE-BY/AT-7 Canyons and gorges of Austria Canyons and gorges of Germany Landforms of Bavaria Landforms of Tyrol (state) Northern Limestone Alps Wetterstein Garmisch-Partenkirchen (district)