Crystal clear lakes awaits you at the Königssee

Berchtesgaden mountain range, Koenigssee

The Königssee is in Southern Bavaria in the Berchtesgadener Land. This lake has crystal-clear water and spectacular views to the mountains.

A couple years back we drove through the Berchtesgadener Land, and before we arrived at the Königssee, we saw a “Zimmer frei” sign of an open vacancy at an B&B of those villages.

The mighty rocks of the Berchtesgaden Alps fall almost perpendicular to the shore of the Königssee, which measures 192 meters deep at its lowest point

We traveled on the obligatory boat tour, which belongs to the “Königsseeschifffahrt”.We discovered the impressive natural scenery around the most famous mountain lake of Bavaria with boats that are equipped with quiet electric motors,

Koenigsee, Bavaria boat ride

We decided to take the boat – and at one point the our guide let us hear the echo by blowing a trumpet.

Prince Regent Luitpold, who was worried that the deer might be running away on his favorite hunting grounds, had no objection to the loud gunfire that echoed seven times from wall to wall across the lake until the 1930s. Meanwhile, the sound of hunting rifles were replaced with the flugelhorn, which was thrown back from the opposite rock face. It always sounds different says Florian Hallinger, who works for “Königsseeschifffahrt”, on the boat, as well as his father and grandfather.

Koenigsee boat ride, Berchtesgaden
Boat ride on the Königsee

A special treat for Mr. Hallinger is when he can blow the flugelhorn on evening specials. “That’s pure romance,” says the Berchtesgadener, who always blows as long as possible, without endangering the schedule. In the nature reserve on the Koenigssee, you may be lucky enough to spot a golden eagle, deer or marmots.

Jenner Mountain view to the Königssee (near Eagles Nest)

We arrived at the peninsula of St. Bartholomä to visit the Baroque pilgrimage church with its characteristic of the red onion dome.

St. Bartholomä

It takes half an hour to reach the peninsula of St. Bartholomä with the Baroque pilgrimage church and its characteristic red onion dome. Behind I saw the awe-inspiring Watzmann mountain east wall. Saint Bartholomä is one of the world’s most photographed motifs.

I was drawn to the royal hunting lodge, where today a typical Bavarian restaurant and beer garden invited me to linger. There the trout, and charred Renken fish is transformed into noble delicacies in the 400-year-old smokehouse. I found out that you can also penetrate with the National Park Rangers in the rare flora and fauna of the peninsula.

In another 20 minutes the boat ride reached the station Salet, the other end of the eight kilometer long Königssee Breathtaking here is the Obersee, which was once separated by glacier debris from the Königssee.

Obersee

Tip: Very popular boat trip, so get there early to avoid the crowd to buy tickets. Boats leave every 20 minutes and very well organized before embarkation. Serene scenery and echo bonus on boat trip en route to St. Bartholomä. It’s a tourist trap where people tend to get off for a potty break and have a long lunch. To avoid the masses, go onto Salet station and take a short walk up to very pretty Obersee.

Also there’s a sign posted on the route that farmers selling raw milk and who also make sandwiches to order. It is recommended to see St Bartholomä first before going onto Salet station, and then you’ll avoid the huge queues at St Bartholomä on the way back as you’ll already be on the boat.

Waterfall at Obersee, Roetbach
A 30-minute walk to the Röthbach waterfall from the southern end. It is the highest of its kind in Germany, over 400 meters of masses of water tumbling down

To go on a detailed virtual tour in English and get all the extra detailed background information you need, head over to Undiscovered Berchtesgaden guide to Lake Königssee

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