The border between the modern states of Austria and Germany () has a length of , or respectively. It is the longest international border of

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and the tied longest border of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

with another country (the other one being the border with the Czech Republic, with the same length of ).

Course

Within its western part, the border runs roughly from east to west, but from a point south of

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

to its eastern end, located at the

tripoint A triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geography, geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or Administrative division, subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints ...

of Germany, Austria and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, it runs in a mainly northeastward direction. The western end is located at the border tripoint of Germany, Austria and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

within the '' Obersee'' part of

Lake Constance Lake Constance (, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein (). These ...

(), although the exact course of the international borders within Lake Constance have never been defined. The border is long, but a straight line between the endpoints is long. Jungholz and Kleinwalsertal are two Austrian

pene-exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...

s; they can only be reached by road through German territory. Besides Lake Constance, the border does not pass through any significant lake, but it follows the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

, Inn and Salzach rivers along the eastern part and the Leiblach in its western part. Otherwise, the border follows the western part of the Northern Limestone Alps ( Allgäu Alps,

Ammergau Alps The Ammergau Alps ( or ''Ammergebirge'') are a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps in the states of Bavaria (Germany) and Tyrol (state), Tyrol (Austria). They cover an area of about 30 x 30 km and begin at the outer edge of the A ...

, Wetterstein,

Karwendel The Karwendel is the largest mountain range of the Northern Limestone Alps. It is located on the Austria–Germany border. The major part belongs to the Austrian federal state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol, while the adjacent area in the north is part ...

, Bavarian Prealps, Kaiser Mountains,

Chiemgau Alps The Chiemgau Alps () are a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps and belong to the Eastern Alps. They are crossed by the Austria–Germany border: their major part is situated in Bavaria, Germany, and only a small section is within the ...

Berchtesgaden Alps The Berchtesgaden Alps (, ) are a mountain range of the Northern Limestone Alps, named after the market town of Berchtesgaden located in the centre. It is crossed by the Austria–Germany border: the central part belongs to the Berchtesgadener Lan ...

), although a few valleys cross the border, too (e.g., the Inn Valley near Kufstein). The Austrian states of

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( ; ; , , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the second-highest popu ...

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

, and

Upper Austria Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg (state), Salzbur ...

run along the international border, as does the German state of

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

Tripoints

The eastern

between the countries of Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic is located at , near the villages of Schwarzenberg am Böhmerwald and Bayerischer Plöckenstein. The western tripoint is located between Germany, Austria and Switzerland, at approximately , in the eastern part of Upper Lake Constance.

International bodies of water

Lakes

* Eibelesee *

(also borders with Switzerland) * Rannasee * Taubensee * Wöhrsee

Rivers and creeks

* Aschauer * Augustinergraben * Bächteletobel * Baumgartenbach * Bayrachbach * Berchtesgadener Ache * Berndlgraben * Bolgenach * Breitach * Bächgraben * Bärnbach * Bürgerbach *

(Donau) * Dandlbach * Doserbach * Dürrach * Eibelebach * Eibkendlbach * Enzenbach * Eyenbach * Fermersbach * Finsterbach * Fischbach (Linder) * Fischbach (Weiße Traun) * Fugenbach * Gatterlbach * Großache *Hagenbach * Hirschbichlklausgraben * Holderbach * Hörnlebach * Hühnersbach * Inn *

Isar The Isar () is a river in Austria and in Bavaria, Germany. Its source is in the Karwendel mountain range of the Alps. The Isar river enters Germany near Mittenwald and flows through Krün, Wallgau, Bad Tölz, Munich, and Landshut before reaching ...

* Kälbergernbach *Kesselbach * Kieferbach * Kleiner Bach * Kräutergrabenbach * Köhlerbach * Laublisbach * Lappbach * Lech * Lecknerbach * Leiblach * Leutasch * Lenzengraben * Littenbach *Lofer * Loisach * Markgraben * Maxenbach * Mosertalbach *Mühlbach * Naidernach * Neualmbach * Neuhäuslgraben * Pittenbach * Polusbach * Reichenauer Graben *Reichenbach *Rickenbach *Riedbach * Rißbach * Roggentalbach * Rohrmoosbach *Rothach * Roßkarbach * Saalach * Salzach with several bridges, e.g. Oberndorf-Laufen *Sandbach * Schaffitzerbach * Schanztobel * Scheidbach *Schellenbach * Schlafblassenbach * Schlawitzabach * Schwarzenbach * Schönbach *Seebach * Steinbach * Stöcklbach * Tiefengraben * Totermannbach *Unkenbach * Valepp * Vils * Walchen * Weißach * Weißbach *Wertach * Zimmerholsbach * Äuelebach

International bridges

* Alte Innbrücke, Schärding - Neuhaus * Kräutelstein * Saalachbrücke Salzburg-Freilassing

International mountain ranges

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

Alpine foothills The Alpine foothills, or Prealps (; ; ; ), may refer generally to any foothills at the base of the Alps in Europe. They are the transition zone between the High Alps and the Swiss Plateau and the Bavarian Alpine Foreland in the north, as well as ...

International mountains

* Ammer Saddle * Dürrnberg * Fellhorn * Kranzhorn *

Untersberg The Untersberg is the northernmost massif of the Berchtesgaden Alps, a prominent spur straddling the border between Berchtesgaden, Germany and Salzburg, Austria. The highest peak of the Table (landform), table-top mountain is the Berchtesgadener ...

Zugspitze The Zugspitze ( , ; ), at above Normalhöhennull, sea level, is the highest peak of the Wetterstein Mountains and the highest mountain in Germany. It lies south of the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, and the Austria–Germany border ...

Settlements near the border

* Freilassing /

* Großgmain (Salzburg (state)) * Kufstein /

Oberaudorf Oberaudorf () is a municipality in the district of Rosenheim (district), Rosenheim in Bavaria, Germany. It lies on the river Inn (river), Inn. Oberaudorf is the birthplace of Maria Ratzinger (née Peintner), the mother of German Pope Benedict XVI ...

* Oberau (Berchtesgaden) * Waidring (Kitzbühel District) * Walserberg

International traffic

Road

* Inn Valley Autobahn * Schrofen Pass * Steinpass * Ursprung Pass

Rail

* Ausserfern Railway () * Mittenwald Railway () * Rosenheim–Kufstein railway ( RJ, , , , ) * Rosenheim–Salzburg railway ( EN, RJ, , ) * Vorarlberg Railway ( EC/ECE, , , , ) * Wels–Passau railway (

ICE Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 ° C, 32 ° F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally oc ...

, )

History

The border was confirmed in a treaty between the countries in 1972, after having been defined by a number of agreements, likewise with preceding conflicts, between the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

and the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria ( ; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingd ...

in the 19th century. In 1938 the countries merged through the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

. This was reverted in 1955 by the Austrian State Treaty, which re-established Austria as a sovereign state. The

Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) encompasses European countries that have officially abolished border controls at their common borders. As an element within the wider area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) policy of the European Union (EU), it ...

removed border controls at the border in 1997. Temporary border controls were reinstalled in 2015 in response to the

European migrant crisis The 2015 European migrant crisis was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and Human migration, migrants into Europe, mostly from the Middle East. An estimated 1.3 million people came to the continent to request Right of asyl ...

. These temporary border controls were scheduled to be removed on 12 May 2020, although they are liable to be extended in six-month periods.

References

External links

Vertrag zwischen der Republik Österreich und der Bundesrepublik Deutschland über die gemeinsame Staatsgrenze
in the ''Rechtsinformationssystem der Republik Österreich'' (German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Austria-Germany border 1972 in international relations European Union internal borders Borders of Austria Borders of Germany International borders