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The Reintal ("Rein Valley") is the name given to the upper and lower valleys of the River
Partnach The Partnach is an mountain river in Bavaria, Germany. It rises at a height of on the Zugspitze Massif. The Partnach is fed by meltwaters from the Schneeferner glacier some higher up. The glacier's meltwaters seep into the karsty bedrock and ...
between the ''
Zugspitzplatt 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 ...
'' plateau and the Partnachklamm gorge. A hiking route to Germany's highest mountain, the
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 ...
runs through the valley. The valley was formed during the
Würm Ice Age Wurm or Würm may refer to: Places * Wurm (Rur), a river in North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany * Würm (Amper), a river in Bavaria, southeastern Germany ** Würm glaciation, an Alpine ice age, named after the Bavarian river * Würm (Nagold ...
by the Reintal Glacier and then deepened by the Partnach in the post-ice age period after the retreat of the glacier to the periphery of the
Schneefernerkopf The Schneefernerkopf is a peak in the Zugspitze massif in the Alps. It lies at the western end of the Wetterstein chain in the Alps on the border between the German state of Bavaria and the Austrian state of Tyrol. It is the dominant mountain in ...
mountain. The upper Reintal, which was shaped by the glacier and today forms a U-shaped
glacial valley U-shaped valleys, also called trough valleys or glacial troughs, are formed by the process of glaciation. They are characteristic of mountain glaciation in particular. They have a characteristic U shape in cross-section, with steep, straight s ...
, ends between the ''Hohe Gaifkopf'' in the west and the Schachen in the east. The lower Reintal lies in the area of the former glacial lake of the Loisach Glacier, into which the Reintal Glacier flowed from the southwest. It is a
V-shaped valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over a ve ...
and has been predominantly shaped by the Partnach river. Together with the Höllental valley to the north, the Reintal divides the
Wetterstein Mountains The Wetterstein mountains (), colloquially called Wetterstein, is a mountain group in the Northern Limestone Alps within the Eastern Alps, crossing the Austria–Germany border. It is a comparatively compact range located between Garmi ...
into several ridges. The northern periphery is formed by the
arête An arête ( ; ) is a narrow ridge of rock that separates two valleys. It is typically formed when two glaciers erode parallel U-shaped valleys. Arêtes can also form when two glacial cirques erode headwards towards one another, although frequ ...
s of the Höllentalspitzen (2,743 m) and the ''Hohe Gaifkopf'' (1,864 m). The highest points on the southern flank of the valley lie on the Hochwanner (2,744 m), the Hinterreintalschrofen (2,670 m) and the Dreitorspitze (2,682 m). The valley floor lies at elevations between 1400 m above NN at the source of the Partnach river, 1,002 m at the entrance to the gorge of the ''Hinteren Klamm'' and 797 m at the start of the Partnachklamm gorge, in the upper Reintal therefore about 1300 to 850 m above the surrounding mountain peaks. In the upper Reintal the rubble from
rockslide A rockslide is a type of landslide caused by rock failure in which part of the bedding plane of failure passes through compacted rock and material collapses ''en masse'' and not in individual blocks. Note that a rockslide is similar to an ava ...
s from the southern faces of the Hochwanner and Hinterreintalschrofen also play a rôle in the shaping of the valley. These have spilled into the old glacial valley, forced back the course of the Partnach to the north and, in places, impounding it. Around 1800 rockslides created two small lakes, the ''Vordere Blaue Gumpe'' and ''Hintere Blaue Gumpe''. On 23 August 2005 the former was completely filled with sediment as a result of heavy rain (200mm in 24h) whereupon high pressure broke the natural dam. The resulting deluge of flood water caused considerable damage further down the valley.Leki.de: ''Wegesanierungsarbeiten im Wettersteingebirge: Sicher wandern zur Reintalanger Hut'' CAT.INIST: ''The life-span of a small high mountain lake, the Vordere Blaue Gumpe in the Bavarian Alps'

/ref> A moderately steep climbing path to the
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 ...
runs through the Reintal, the section as far as the Knorr Hut forming part of the Red Trail of the
Via Alpina The Via Alpina is a network of five long-distance hiking trails across the Alps, alpine regions of Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Italy, France, and Monaco. The longest of trails is the red trail, whose termini are in Trie ...
. The mountain huts in the valley, the Bock Hut and Reintalanger Hut, are used by hikers and climbers as bases for numerous tours. Due to its great distance from any settlements and because no roads runs up the valley the Reintal is very unspoilt and still very natural, despite being easily accessible on foot. Together with the Wimbachtal in 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 a ...
it may be considered as one of the most impressive, large, near-natural valley landscapes in the
Bavarian Alps The Bavarian Alps (, ) is a collective name for several mountain ranges of the Northern Limestone Alps within the German state of Bavaria. Geography The term in its wider sense refers to that part of the Eastern Alps that lies on Bavarian state ...
. The upper Reintal is protected as a
nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...
.


Other photos

File:Wettersteinhauptkamm_mit_Reintal_von_S_HQ.jpg, The Blassenkamm and Reintal from the west (from Gatterl) File:Reintal_vom_Gatterl_HQ.jpg, The Reintal from the west (from Gatterl) File:Blaue Gumpe vor dem Bergsturz.jpg, The Vordere Blaue Gumpe before its destruction File:Blaue Gumpe nach dem Bergsturz.jpg, The Vordere Blaue Gumpe after its destruction


References


Sources

* David Morche: ''Untersuchungen zum fluvialen Sedimenttransport in Einzugsgebieten der nördlichen Kalkalpen (Reintal/Wettersteingebirge und Lahnenwiesgraben/Ammergauer Alpen)'

{{Authority control Valleys of Bavaria Garmisch-Partenkirchen (district) Wetterstein