The Teufelshörner ("Devil's Horns") are a pair of mountains on the German-Austrian border in 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 ...

. The two peaks, which form a mountain ridge, are the Großes Teufelshorn ("Great Devil's Horn", 2,363 m) and the Kleines Teufelshorn ("Little Devil's Horn", 2,283 m).

Situation

The Großes Teufelshorn () is the higher and more northerly summit of the two Teufelshörner and the highest peak in the

Hagen Mountains The Hagen Mountains () are a subrange of the Berchtesgaden Alps. They lie mainly in the Austrian state of Salzburg, the western quarter is in the Bavarian county of Berchtesgadener Land. The steep western flanks of the Hagen lie in Bavaria and ...

, a part of the

. The Kleines Teufelshorn () is the lower summit and lies southwest of the Großes Teufelshorn. The two Teufelshörner rise up between the basin of the Bavarian Röth and the Austrian , both are extremely remote. Due to its long approach, the Großes Teufelshorn is only rarely climbed. A

summit cross A summit cross is a Christian cross on the summit of a mountain or hill that marks the top. Often there will be a summit register (''Gipfelbuch'') at the cross, either in a container or other weatherproof case. The practice originated in the Ge ...

stands on its highest point stands and it offers a good all-round view which takes in, the

Hochkönig The Hochkönig is a mountain group containing the highest mountain (Hochkönig) in the Berchtesgaden Alps, Salzburgerland, Austria. The Berchtesgaden Alps form part of the Northern Limestone Alps. Location It lies to the west of the town of Bis ...

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 ...

and

Tennengebirge The Tennen Mountains () is a small, but rugged, mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps, which lies in front of the Eastern Alps for its entire length. It is a very heavily karstified high plateau, about 60 km² in area, with many cav ...

amongst others. The Teufelshörner are joined by a rocky knife-edge that marks the border between the 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 ...

and 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 ...

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 ...

. A climbing route runs along the challenging rocky ridge (

UIAA The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation, commonly known by its French name Union internationale des associations d'alpinisme (UIAA; ), was founded in August 1932 in Chamonix, France when 20 mountaineering associations met for ...

grade II), which is neither marked nor secured and should therefore only be attempted by experienced climbers.

Ascent

The normal route starts at the ''Salet'' restaurant, which is only accessible after a one-hour boat journey over the lake of

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 ...

. It then runs up to the Obersee at the head of the valley called ''Fischunkel'', where the impressive Röthbach Waterfall rushes downhill. It then runs along the partly secured ''Röthsteig'' climbing very steeply and zigzagging frequently up to the Wasseralm, a basic

Alpine Club hut Alpine club huts () or simply club huts (''Clubhütten'') form the majority of the over 1,300 mountain huts in the Alps and are maintained by branches, or sections, of the various Alpine clubs. Although the usual English translation of ''Hütte'' i ...

that has been managed in the summer months since 2005 and lies at a height of 1,423 m. Here it is usual to stop for the night, because the whole climb is too long and strenuous to attempt in a day. The route continues on an easy path through the Röth to a fork in the path at 1,650 m.

Ascent of the Großes Teufelshorn

To reach the top of the Großes Teufelshorn, the route turns left at the fork and climbs a steep, very narrow path. The final section involves several easy climbing passages, but

sure-footedness Sure-footedness is the ability, especially when hiking or mountain climbing, to navigate difficult or rough terrain safely. Such situations place demands on a person's coordination and reserves of strength as well as requiring sufficient appreciati ...

and a

head for heights To have a head for heights means that one has no acrophobia (irrational fear of heights), and is also not particularly prone to fear of falling or suffering from vertigo (the spinning sensation that can be triggered, for example, by looking down ...

are absolutely necessary.
Using the normal route summit of the Teufelshorn may be reached in 6 to 7 hours from the Obersee.

Ascent of the Kleines Teufelshorn

To climb the Kleines Teufelshorn the route continues straight on at the fork -

and a

being needed. The summit of the Kleines Teufelshorn can be reached in 5 to 6 hours from the lake of Obersee.

Literature

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Teufelshorner Mountains of Bavaria Mountains of Salzburg (federal state) Two-thousanders of Austria Berchtesgaden Alps Berchtesgadener Land Mountains of the Alps Two-thousanders of Germany