The Saalach Valley (german: Saalachtal) is the name of the middle and upper reaches of the

Saalach The Saalach is a river in Austria and Germany, and a left tributary of the Salzach. Course The river begins, as the stream, in the Austrian state of Tyrol in the Kitzbühel Alps at the lake below the high Gamshag. From there it flows initi ...

, a mountain river in the Austrian state of

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

( Pinzgau and

Flachgau The Bezirk Salzburg-Umgebung (German, "surrounding area of Salzburg") is an administrative district (''Bezirk'') in the federal state of Salzburg, Austria, and congruent with the Flachgau region (), except for the Statutarstadt of Salzburg, whic ...

regions) and the southern part of the German state of

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 ...

(in Berchtesgadener Land).

Course and countryside

The main valley is about 70 km long and begins north of the Zeller See. It forms the broad vale of the Saalfelden Basin, the heart of the ''Saalachpinzgau'' region. Initially it separates the Kitzbühel Alps in the west, from where the Saalach originates, from the Salzburg Slate Alps in the east; later, it divides the

Loferer Steinberge The Lofer Mountains or Loferer MountainsHeuss, Theodor (1955). ''Preludes to life: early memoirs'', University of Michigan, p. 143. (german: Loferer Steinberge, lit. "Lofer Rock Mountains") are a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps in th ...

and the Chiemgau Alps in the west from the

Berchtesgaden Alps The Berchtesgaden Alps (german: Berchtesgadener Alpen) are a mountain range of the Northern Limestone Alps, named after the market town of Berchtesgaden located in the centre. The central part belongs to the Berchtesgadener Land district of southe ...

in the east. Near

Reichenhall Bad Reichenhall (Central Bavarian: ''Reichahoi'') is a spa town, and administrative center of the Berchtesgadener Land district in Upper Bavaria, Germany. It is located near Salzburg in a basin encircled by the Chiemgau Alps (including Mount Staufe ...

and

Großgmain Großgmain is a municipality in the district of Salzburg-Umgebung in the state of Salzburg in Austria. Geography Großgmain lies in the Salzburg ''Flachgau'' region in the northern foothills of the Untersberg massif, directly on the border with B ...

the valley broadens again and ends between Freilassing and

, the Saalach flowing for its last few kilometres through the plain of the ''Salzburg-Freilassing Basin''. The roughly 30 km long upper reaches of the Saalach is not called the ''Saalachtal'', but bears the name '' Glemmtal'', the area of its source streams being called ''

Hinterglemm Saalbach-Hinterglemm is a municipality in the district of Zell am See (Pinzgau region), in the Austrian state of Salzburg. It is well known for its skiing and other winter sports. A four piste network consisting of Saalbach, Hinterglemm, Fieberbru ...

.''

Geology

The Saalach Valley was formed by the Salzach-Saalach Glacier. When it retreated the glacier left behind thick sheets of morainic debris about 10,000 years ago that extend from the Zeller See in the north to just in front of Saalfelden, roughly by the '' Kühbichl'' (875 m). In the post-glacial period, the Saalach flowed into the Zeller See and then into the Salzach river to the south. The drift deposits from the Glemmtal, that were laid down between the Zeller See and

Maishofen Maishofen is a municipality in the district of Zell am See (Pinzgau region), in the state of Salzburg in Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying ...

as gravel, blocked the southerly course of the Saalach and force it to flow northwards along its present riverbed. This has been evinced by excavations between Atzing and Unterreit.

Tributaries and transport

The '' Pinzgau Road'' (B 311) runs through the Saalach Valley from Zell am See to just after

Lofer Lofer is a market town in the district of Zell am See in the Austrian state of Salzburg. Geography Lofer is located in the historic Pinzgau region, in the valley of the Saalach river between the Chiemgau Alps and Reiter Alpe in the north and eas ...

followed by a short section of the '' Lofer Road'' (B 178) as far as the Austro-German border. In Bavaria the line of the valley is followed by the '' Bundesstraße 21'' and, from

Piding Piding is an approved climatic spa in Bavaria near to the border of Austria close to Bad Reichenhall and Freilassing. Geography Geographical position Piding is located in the middle of the ''Landkreis'' Berchtesgadener Land. The municipal area ...

, the '' Bundesstraße 20''. This route is known as the

Little German Corner The ''Deutsches Eck'' ("German Corner") is the name given to the shortest and most convenient road and railway link between the Austrian metropolitan region of Salzburg and the Tyrolean Unterland with the state capital Innsbruck. Due to the moun ...

(''Kleines Deutsches Eck'').

Sources

* ''Das Saalachtalbahn-Projekt. Juni 1912''. K. K. Hof- u. Staatsdruckerei, Wien 1912. Permalink ''Österreichischer Bibliothekenverbund''

References

External links

Notes

{{coord, 47, 32, N, 12, 44, E, dim:70000_region:AT-5/DE-BY_type:landmark_source:dewiki, display=title Valleys of Bavaria Valleys of Salzburg (state) Northern Limestone Alps Berchtesgaden Alps Berchtesgadener Land Chiemgau Alps Kitzbühel Alps Loferer and Leoganger Steinberge Salzburg Slate Alps