The Zugspitze. [File photo]

The Zugspitze, with an altitude of 2962 meters, is the highest mountain in Germany. It is located at the Austrian border in the town of Grainau in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria.

The Zugspitze belongs to the Wettersteinrange in the northern Kalkalpen. It gets its name from the many avalanche passages (Lawinenzüge in German) on its steep north slopes.

The Zugspitze is the main peak of the Zugspitze Mountain, with two glaciers which can barely be seen in Germany. At about 350 meters down the peak, there is a plateau on the river valley, which is the highest ski slope as well as the only glacier ski slope. At the Zugspitze's summit is the Münchner Haus, an Alpenvereinshütte, a facility built by the Deutscher Alpenverein. For more than a hundred years now, the summit has also had a weather station, which nowadays also gathers data for the Global Atmosphere Watch.

The first recorded ascent to the summit was accomplished by a team of land surveyors on 27 August 1820. The team was led by Lieutenant Josef Naus, who was accompanied by two men named Maier and G. Deutschl. However, local people had conquered the peak over 50 years earlier, according to a 1770 map discovered by the Alpenverein.

There is a cog railway leading from the tourist resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen to the peak. There are also two cable cars that go to the peak from the base: one ascends from the German side of the mountain at the lake Eibsee (Eibsee Aerial Tramway), and the other ascends from Austria near Ehrwald (Tyrolean Aerial Tramway).

The 1936 Olympics Winter Games was held there.

Editor: Guo Changdong