Bad Reichenhall (

Central Bavarian Central Bavarian form a subgroup of Bavarian dialects in large parts of Austria and the German state of Bavaria along the Danube river, on the northern side of the Eastern Alps. They are spoken in the ' Old Bavarian' regions of Upper Bavaria ( ...

: ''Reichahoi'') is a

spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath in 1668. He ...

, and administrative center of the

Berchtesgadener Land Berchtesgadener Land ( Central Bavarian: ''Berchtsgoana Land'') is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the district of Traunstein and by the state of Austria. History Middle ages and early modern era The southern ...

district in

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 ...

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 ...

. It is located near

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

in a basin encircled by the

Chiemgau Alps The Chiemgau Alps (german: Chiemgauer Alpen) are a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps and therefore belong to the Eastern Alps. Their major part is situated in Bavaria, Germany and only a small section crosses the Austrian border into t ...

(including Mount Staufen (1,771 m) and Mount Zwiesel (1,781 m)). Together with other alpine towns Bad Reichenhall engages in the

Alpine Town of the Year The Alpine Town of the Year award is given to towns which have made exceptional efforts for the realization of the Alpine Convention and for sustainable development. The ''Alpine Towns of the Year'' are members of the international association o ...

Association for the implementation of the Alpine Convention to achieve sustainable development in the alpine arc. Bad Reichenhall was awarded

in 2001. Bad Reichenhall is a traditional center of

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...

production, obtained by evaporating water saturated with salt from brine ponds.

History

* The earliest known inhabitants of this area are the tribes of the Glockenbecher-Culture (a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

Culture, from about 2000 B.C.) * In the age of the La Tene culture (about 450 B.C.) organised salt production commenced utilising the local brine pools. In the same period a Celtic place of worship is placed at the "Langacker". * From 15 B.C to 480 A.D, the city is part of a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

province,

Noricum Noricum () is the Latin name for the Celtic kingdom or federation of tribes that included most of modern Austria and part of Slovenia. In the first century AD, it became a province of the Roman Empire. Its borders were the Danube to the north, ...

. * 1136 A.D bought the founding of a monastery St. Zeno. * In 1617-1619, a wooden pipeline for brine exportation to

Traunstein Traunstein (Central Bavarian: ''Traunstoa'') is a town in the south-eastern part of Bavaria, Germany, and is the administrative center of a much larger district of the same name. The town serves as a local government, retail, health services, ...

was built, with a length of 31 km, and more than 200 m in altitude difference. * In 1834, two thirds of the city's buildings were destroyed by a major fire. * The early 19th century saw the beginning of tourism, with Reichenhall becoming a famous health resort. * From 1890, Reichenhall is now called "Bad Reichenhall". * On 25 April 1945, the area was bombed by allied forces, 200 people were killed. The town centre with many hospitals and the train station was nearly totally destroyed, the barracks didn't suffer any damage. After World War II the area was under American military governance (1945–1948). * After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the Americans established a

Displaced Persons Forced displacement (also forced migration) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows: displaced "as a result of persecution, conflict, g ...

camp in the town, where

Holocaust survivors Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universally accep ...

lived for several years before immigrating to other countries. * In 1947, Ben Gurion visited the

DP camp DP may refer to: In arts and entertainment Film, television, and theatre * '' Danny Phantom'', an animated television series * David Production, a Japanese animation studio * Director of photography, a job in filmmaking * Digital Playground, an ...

, and saw the artworks created by

Samuel Bak Samuel Bak ( he, שמואל בק; born 12 August 1933) is a Lithuanian-American painter and writer who survived the Holocaust and immigrated to Israel in 1948. Since 1993, he has lived in the United States. Biography Samuel Bak was born in Wilno ( ...

, one of the Holocaust survivors living at the camp. * On 1 November 1999, 16-year-old

Martin Peyerl Martin Peyerl (11 August 1983 – 1 November 1999) was a German student who, on 1 November 1999 (the day of All Saints), fired from his bedroom window, killing four people and wounding seven others before committing suicide. Biography Born to ...

shot at people in the streets from his bedroom window, killing three and wounding several others, among them actor

Günter Lamprecht Günter Hans Lamprecht (21 January 1930 – 4 October 2022) was a German film and stage actor, best-known internationally for his leading role in the Fassbinder miniseries ''Berlin Alexanderplatz'' (1980) and as a ship captain in the epic war fil ...

. He finally committed suicide after fatally shooting his sister and the family cat. * In 2001 Bad Reichenhall was named

and a few years later became a member of Alpine Pearls. Website

' from alpine-pearls.com

Ice rink disaster

Fifteen people, twelve of them children, died in the collapse of the Bad Reichenhall Ice Rink on 2 January 2006. Thirty-four people were injured in the accident.

Notable people from Bad Reichenhall

Anni Friesinger-Postma Anna ("Anni") Christine Friesinger-Postma (born 11 January 1977) is a German former speed skater. Her father Georg Friesinger, of Germany, and mother Janina ("Jana") Korowicka, of Poland, were both skaters; Jana was on the Polish team at the 197 ...

(born 1977), German speed skater (born in Bad Reichenhall, lived in Inzell ~10 km away and now lives in Salzburg) *

Lore Frisch Lore Frisch (1925, Schwindegg – 1962, Potsdam) was a German actress. Selected filmography * '' The Blue and White Lion'' (1952) * ''Young Heart Full of Love ''Young Heart Full of Love'' (german: Junges Herz voll Liebe) is a 1953 West Ger ...

, well known German actress in the 1940s and 1950s. Moved from

to Bad Reichenhall in the mid-1930s and got her start in acting in Bad Reichenhall before becoming famous in Munich and Berlin. *

Barbara Gruber Barbara Gruber (born 15 December 1977) is a German ski mountaineer and mountain biker. Gruber was born in Bad Reichenhall. Like her parents and siblings, she passed the framer training. She started with sports after the birth of her son Johanne ...

, ski mountaineer *

Regina Häusl Regina Häusl (born 17 December 1973 in Bad Reichenhall) is a German former alpine skier who competed in the 1992 Winter Olympics, 1998 Winter Olympics, and 2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter G ...

, alpine skier (born in Bad Reichenhall, started for the Ski-Klub Bad Reichenhall, lives in Schneizlreuth since her birth) *

Andreas Hinterstoisser Andreas Hinterstoisser (3 October 1914 – 21 July 1936) was a German mountain climber active in the 1930s. He died during an attempt to climb the Eiger north face with his partner Toni Kurz. A section of the north face was later named the "Hinter ...

(1914–1936), German mountaineer * Andreas Hofer (composer), composer (1629–1684) *

Michael Neumayer Michael Neumayer (born 15 January 1979) is a German former ski jumper who competed from 2000 to 2015. He won a silver medal in the team normal hill at the 2005 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Oberstdorf and finished 32nd in the individual n ...

, (* 1979), ski jumper * Georg Nickaes, (* 1971), ski mountaineer *

Günther Rall Günther Rall (10 March 1918 – 4 October 2009) was a highly decorated German military aviator, officer and General, whose military career spanned nearly forty years. Rall was the third most successful fighter pilot in aviation history, ...

(1918–2009), World War II Luftwaffe ace, postwar Luftwaffe general *

Karl Ullrich Karl Ullrich (1 December 1910 – 8 May 1996) was the last commander of the SS Division Wiking in the Waffen-SS during World War II. After the war he authored an account of the SS Division Totenkopf. Early life Born December 1 1910 in Saargem� ...

(1910–1996), SS Oberführer * Johannes Frießner (1892–1971), World War II German Army general * Walter Grabmann (1905–1992), German World War II

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

General *

Hans Söllner Johann Michael Söllner (born 24 December 1955), better known as Hans Söllner, is a German singer-songwriter, who sings in Bavarian-German. Throughout German-speaking countries, especially in Bavaria and Austria, he is famous for publicly cr ...

, (* 1955), singer-songwriter *

Peter Schreyer Peter Schreyer (born 1953) is a German automobile designer widely known for his design contributions to the Audi TT. He has been the chief design officer at Kia Motors since 2006 and, on 28 December 2012, he was named one of three presidents of ...

, (* 1953), car designer *

Franz Oberwinkler Franz Oberwinkler (22 May 1939 in Bad Reichenhall, Upper Bavaria – 15 March 2018 in Tübingen) was a German mycologist, specialising in the fungal morphology, ecology and phylogeny of basidiomycetes. Oberwinkler earned his PhD in 1965 at the ...

, (1939–2018), mycologist, expert on

Heterobasidiomycetes Heterobasidiomycetes, including jelly fungi, smuts and rusts, are basidiomycetes with septate basidia. This contrasts them to homobasidiomycetes (alternatively called holobasidiomycetes), including most mushrooms and other Agaricomycetes, whic ...

* Walter F. Tichy, (* 1952), computer scientist, initial developer of the RCS

revision control In software engineering, version control (also known as revision control, source control, or source code management) is a class of systems responsible for managing changes to computer programs, documents, large web sites, or other collections o ...

system

Gallery

Lattengebirge.jpg, View from above REI Alte Saline 01.jpg, Alte Saline (old saltworks) REI Ruine Karlstein 06.jpg, Karlstein castle ruins REI NonnerK 03.jpg, St. George's church REI Pulverturm 01.jpg, Powder tower REI Pankrazkirche 07.jpg, St. Pancras church at night

History

Ice rink disaster

Notable people from Bad Reichenhall

Gallery

References

External links