Bayrischzell, Germany Summary

BAYRISCHZELL, the terminus of the branch railway, is a small health and winter-sports resort in the enclosed setting of the upper valley of the River Leitzach, and has an appropriate end-of-the-line feel. Towering above is the rocky peak of the Wendelstein (1838m), one of the best-loved mountains in the Bavarian Alps, particularly with rock climbers. For the less energetic, there are two possible means of ascent to the summit, on which stand an eighteenth-century chapel, a meteorological station and an observatory with one of the most modern telescopes in Germany. Much the quicker of the two is the cable car (DM17.50/€8.75 single, DM30/€15 return) from the incorporated village of Osterhofen, 3km northwest of Bayrischzell. A far more atmospheric approach is the rack railway (DM26/€13 single, DM42/€21 return) up the eastern side of the mountain from Brannenburg, a town on the Munich-Innsbruck rail line (note that the valley terminus of the rack railway is a thirty-minute walk from the mainline Bahnhof). This was laid out in 1912, though the current trains date from 1991 and have halved the old journey time to thirty minutes. It’s possible to ascend by cable car and descend via the rack railway, or vice versa; this costs DM42/€21, or DM44/€22 including use of the Wendelstein-Ringlinie, the circular bus service round the mountain.