To the northwest the Steinernes Meer borders on the Hochkalter stock and the Watzmann, to the northeast lie the Hagen Mountains and to the southeast the Hochkönig. It has an area of around 160km², making it the largest massif in the Berchtesgaden Alps. Of that, 55 square kilometres lies above 2,000 metres. To the south the mountains drop steeply into the Saalfelden Basin. Immediately at the foot of its northern slopes is the lake of Königssee.
Landscape scenery
Dachstein limestone and karst features characterise the scenery. Some 800 karst caves have been identified in the Steinernes Meer to date. Also typical is the distinctive plateau character of the Steinernes Meer above a height of 2,000 metres, which is well illustrated by two statistics. First, fifty - i.e. almost all - summits have a height of 2,000 to 2,600 m; only about ten are lower. Second, the average prominence and isolation of the summits is low; only a few mountains rise significantly over the plateau. The name of the range means "rocky sea" and derives from the rocky and bare character of the plateau, its grey expanse recalling a fossilised sea. The Bavarian half of the Steinernes Meer belongs to the Berchtesgaden National Park; the Austrian side to the Limestone Alps Nature Reserve (Naturschutzgebiet Kalkhochalpen).
Southern ridge of the Steinernes Meer over the Zeller See, western section
Southern ridge of the Steinernes Meer above Saalfelden, eastern section, in the alpenglow
Peaks
The most distinctive and best-known peak in the Steinernes Meer is the Schönfeldspitze (2,653m) on the southern edge on the Pinzgau side, whose summit pyramid is also visible from Berchtesgaden and which is the emblem of the Berchtesgadener Land. The far less well known Selbhorn (2,655m) is slightly higher than the Schönfeldspitze and is the highest peak in the range. Other high and well-known summits include the Brandhorn (2,610m), which forms the tripoint of the Berchtesgadener Land with the Pinzgau and Pongau regions; the Großer Hundstod (2,593m), the Funtenseetauern (2,578m) and the Breithorn (2,504m).
If a prominence of 30 metres is taken as the criterion in counting the number of peaks, there are at least 63 in the Steinernes Meer. 47 summits have a prominence of at least 50 metres, 22 have a prominence of over 100 metres, but only five over 200 metres.
Only about 20 peaks are accessible over a marked hiking path or climb. This indicates that tourists concentrate largely on a few destinations. Large parts of the plateau are places of absolute solitude; many peaks are only rarely if ever climbed.
The most important elevations in the Steinernes Meer, in order of height (incomplete list):
The most important summits in the Steinernes Meer, in order of orographic prominence:
Großer Hundstod, 475 m
Selbhorn, 408 m
Schönfeldspitze, 384 m
Breithorn, 327 m
Funtenseetauern, 212 m
The most important summits in the Steinernes Meer, in order of orographic isolation:
Selbhorn, 5.1km
Großer Hundstod, 4.5km
Funtenseetauern, 3.95km
Breithorn, 2.45km
Brandhorn, 2,4km
External links
"Das Steinerne Meer"(PDF). Verschiedene Sektionen des OeAV und DAV, Naturfreunde München in Zusammenarbeit mit der Bundesgeschäftsstelle des DAV. April 2008. Retrieved 2010-03-28.
http://www.bergfotos.de – comprehensive information on the Steinernes Meer like e. g. summit lists by height, prominence and isolation
The Kitzbühel Alps are a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps surrounding the town of Kitzbühel in Tyrol, Austria. Geologically they are part of the western slate zone.
The Hochkönig is a mountain group containing the highest mountain in the Berchtesgaden Alps, Salzburgerland, Austria. The Berchtesgaden Alps form part of the Northern Limestone Alps.
The Großer Priel is, at 2,515 metres above the Adriatic (8,251 ft), the highest mountain of the Totes Gebirge range, located in the Traunviertel region of Upper Austria. It ranks among the ultra prominent peaks of the Alps. Part of the Northern Limestone Alps, its steep Dachstein cliffs form the northeastern rim of a large karst plateau and are visible from afar across the Alpine Foreland.
Funtensee is a karst lake on the Steinernes Meer plateau in Berchtesgaden National Park, Bavaria, Germany. It is located in the larger of two sinkholes. The area is known for record low temperatures, up to 30 °C (54 °F) lower than the surrounding area. Its primary inflows are the Steingraben, Stuhlgraben and Rennergraben streams.
The Berchtesgaden Alps 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 southeastern Bavaria, Germany, while the adjacent area in the north, east and south is part of the Austrian state of Salzburg.
The Leogang Mountains are a mountain range in Austria in the state of Salzburg and form part of the Northern Limestone Alps within the Eastern Alps. They are located between the Lofer valley, Saalfelden and Leogang and, together with the Lofer Mountains to the northwest form two mountain massifs that are separated by the saddle of the Römersattel, but which the Alpine categorisation of the Eastern Alps defines as a single sub-group. The Leogang Mountains are separated from the Kitzbühel Alps to the south and the Steinernes Meer to the east by deeply incised valleys. Typical of the Steinberge are high plateaux with steep sides and sharply undulating high cirques.
The Großer Hundstod is, at 2,593 metres, one of the main peaks in the Steinernes Meer in the Berchtesgaden Alps, and lies on the border between Bavaria and the Austrian state of Salzburg.
The Teufelshörner are a pair of mountains on the German-Austrian border in the Berchtesgaden Alps. The two peaks, which form a mountain ridge, are the Großes Teufelshorn and the Kleines Teufelshorn.
Persailhorn is a summit in the Steinernes Meer of the Berchtesgaden Alps in the Austrian state of Salzburg.
Breithorn is a summit in the Steinernes Meer of the Berchtesgaden Alps in the Austrian state of Salzburg.
Mitterhorn is a summit in the Steinernes Meer of the Berchtesgaden Alps in the Austrian state of Salzburg.
Selbhorn is with an elevation of 2,655 m (AA) the highest mountain in the Steinernes Meer, a sub-range of the Berchtesgaden Alps. It is located in the Austrian state Salzburg, close to the German border.
Schönfeldspitze is, with an elevation of 2,653 m (AA), the second highest mountain in the Steinernes Meer, a sub-range of the Berchtesgaden Alps. It is located in the Austrian state of Salzburg, close to the German border.
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 drop 1,700 metres (5,580 ft) in height to the basin of the Berchtesgadener Königssee.
The Lattengebirge, also sometimes called the Latten Mountains, are a mountain range up to 1,738 m above sea level (NN) in the county of Berchtesgadener Land in the German state of Bavaria. They form a subgroup of the Berchtesgaden Alps and forms the northern end of its parent range.
The Bratschenköpfe, consisting of the Großer Bratschenkopf and Kleiner Bratschenkopf, are two peaks in the Hochkönig massif in the Berchtesgaden Alps. The lie in the district of St. Johann im Pongau in the Austrian state of Salzburg.
The Brandhorn is a mountain, 2,610 m (AA), in the Berchtesgaden Alps in the Austrian state of Salzburg. It lies in the southeast of the Steinernes Meer, at the crossing to the Hochkönig. After the Selbhorn (2,655 m) and Schönfeldspitze (2,653 m) the Brandhorn is the third highest peak in the Steinernes Meer.
The Wildalmkirchl is a rocky peak, 2,578 m (AA), on the southern edge of the Steinernes Meer. It lies within the Austrian state of Salzburg, northeast of the village of Maria Alm and northwest of the Hochkönig massif.
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