Berchtesgaden National Park is Germany's only national park in the Alps. Located in the south-eastern corner of Bavaria, the landscape is characterized by high peaks, deep valleys and fjord-like lakes. The national park covers a total area of 20.808 ha. It is characterized by a high diversity of habitats: 54% forest, 22% rock, 21% open land and 3% water. The highest peak is Mt. Watzmann (2713 m above sea level), whose east face is the highest face in the entire Eastern Alps. The lowest point of the national park at 603 m asl is the 522 hectares large lake Königssee.
The south-eastern part of today's national park was placed under nature protection as early as 1910 as the "Plant Protection District Berchtesgaden Alps". Today's national park was established in 1978. The national park administration is based in the town of Berchtesgaden and is part of the Bavarian Ministry for the Environment and Consumer Protection. As an IUCN Category II protected area the national park consists of a core zone of 75%, i.e. on this area no human land use takes place. The management zone (25%) consists of semi-natural ecosystems and cultural landscapes that were created through historical land use, and are still subject to a variety of different uses today (tourism, high mountain pastures, wildlife management).
Cooperation TUM - STMUV
The cooperation between TUM and StMUV
Research and Monitoring
The national park as a place for studying ecosystem dynamics
Teaching in the National Park
The national park as a place of learning about ecosystem dynamics