Schönau am Königssee is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the district of

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 ...

in the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

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 ...

. It is located at the northern end of the

Königssee The Königssee () is a natural lake in the southeast Berchtesgadener Land district of the German state of Bavaria, near the Austrian border. Most of the lake is within the Berchtesgaden National Park. Description Situated within the Bercht ...

lake.

Geography

Schönau is surrounded by 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 ...

; it is the southeasternmost German municipality, bordering on the

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 ...

n state 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 ...

at the

Hoher Göll The Hoher Göll () is a mountain in the Berchtesgaden Alps. It is the highest peak of the Göll massif, which straddles the border between the German state of Bavaria and the Austrian state of Salzburg. Geography On the Bavarian west side of t ...

massif and the

Steinernes Meer The Steinernes Meer (literally "Rocky Sea") is a high karst plateau in the Northern Limestone Alps. As one of the nine sub-ranges of the Berchtesgaden Alps the Steinernes Meer belongs partly to Bavaria and partly to Land Salzburg, Salzburg. Loc ...

range. The present-day commune was formed in 1978 by the merger of the former Schönau and Königssee municipalities. Since 1984 the municipal area also comprises the formerly unincorporated Königssee lake, the famous St. Bartholomew's Church and the surrounding mountains from the east face of the

Watzmann The Watzmann () is a mountain in the Berchtesgaden Alps south of the village of Berchtesgaden. It is the third highest in Germany, and the highest located entirely on German territory. Three main peaks array on a N-S axis along a ridge on the ...

peak up to the Austrian border in the south, including the eastern part of

Berchtesgaden National Park Berchtesgaden National Park is in the south of Germany, on its border with Austria, in the municipalities of Ramsau bei Berchtesgaden and Schönau am Königsee, Berchtesgadener Land in Bavaria. The national park was established in 1978 to protect ...

. From the lake, the

Königsseer Ache The Königsseer Ache is a river of Bavaria, in south-east Germany. At its confluence with the Ramsauer Ache in Berchtesgaden, the Berchtesgadener Ache is formed. It passes through the lake Königssee. See also *List of rivers of Bavaria A li ...

creek runs down to

Berchtesgaden Berchtesgaden () is a municipality in the district Berchtesgadener Land, Bavaria, in southeastern Germany, near the border with Austria, south of Salzburg and southeast of Munich. It lies in the Berchtesgaden Alps. South of the town, the Be ...

. Due to its picturesque setting Schönau largely depends on

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

. It is home to a bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track that is the oldest permanent track in the world, having been constructed in 1968. Passenger services along the lake from Schönau are operated by the

Bayerische Seenschifffahrt The , or Bavarian Lakes Shipping Company, is a company that operates shipping services on several lakes in the German state of Bavaria. Services operate on the Königssee, the Starnberger See, the Ammersee and the Tegernsee. The company was ...

company using

electric boat An electric boat is a powered watercraft driven by electric motors, which are powered by either on-board battery packs, solar panels or generators. While a significant majority of water vessels are powered by diesel engines, with sail power ...

History

Schönau was first mentioned in a 1456 deed, then one of the eight historic localities (''Gnotschaften'') of the

Berchtesgaden Provostry Berchtesgaden Provostry or the Prince-Provostry of Berchtesgaden () was an immediate (') principality of the Holy Roman Empire, held by a canonry (a collegiate foundation of Canons Regular) led by a Prince-Provost. Geography The territory co ...

. After the

secularisation In sociology, secularization () is a multilayered concept that generally denotes "a transition from a religious to a more worldly level." There are many types of secularization and most do not lead to atheism or irreligion, nor are they automatica ...

of the Prince-Provostry, Schönau finally fell to 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 1810.

Notable people

Anton Adner Anton Adner (1705? – 15 March 1822), also known as the Bavarian Methusalem, was a Bavarian artisan of carpentry, wood, who reportedly is of the oldest people to have lived in that region of Germany. Life Anton Adner was born in 1705, either in ...

(1705?-1822), peddler and supercentenarian *

Magda Schneider Magdalena Maria Schneider (17 May 1909 – 30 July 1996) was a German actress and singer. She was the mother of the actress Romy Schneider. Biography Magdalena Maria Schneider was born in Augsburg, Bavaria, the daughter of a plumber. She atte ...

(1909–1996), actress, lived and died in Schönau; her daughter

Romy Schneider Rosemarie Magdalena Albach (23 September 1938 – 29 May 1982), known professionally as Romy Schneider (), was a German and French actress. She is regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses of all time and became a cult figure due to ...

(1938–1982) was raised here *

Georg Leber Georg Leber (7 October 1920 – 21 August 2012) was a German Trades Union leader and a politician in the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Biography Leber was born in Obertiefenbach (Beselich), Hesse. After serving as radio operator i ...

(1920–2012), politician, lived and died in Schönau *

Hilde Gerg Mathilde Gerg (born 19 October 1975) is a German former alpine skier. She was an Olympic and World champion. Career She was Olympic Champion in the slalom at the 1998 Winter Olympics, an astounding win as most of her career she was known as pred ...

(born 1975), alpine skier, lives in Schönau *

Felix Loch Felix Loch (; born 24 July 1989) is a German luger and Olympic champion. He has been competing since 1995 and on the German national team since 2006. He has won fourteen medals at the FIL World Luge Championships, including twelve golds (Men's s ...

(born 1989), 2010 & 2014 Olympic luge gold medalist, lives in Schönau * Rupert Staudinger (born 1997), competed for the UK luge team in the 2018 Olympics, grew up in Schönau

References

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