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Influencer fans make a pilgrimage to the "highly dangerous" photo hotspot in Bavaria - now it is to be blocked

2021-05-23T09:57:18.442Z


The waterfall at Königssee is a popular photo opportunity with tourists - also due to Instagram and influencers. The national park warns of the danger - and wants to pull the rip cord.


The waterfall at Königssee is a popular photo opportunity with tourists - also due to Instagram and influencers.

The national park warns of the danger - and wants to pull the rip cord.

Schönau am Königsee - Posts in the social media have made the previously untouched place known: The Königsbachfall with its natural pools then attracted more and more people from all over the world.

The Berchtesgaden National Park now wants to pull the emergency brake and close the area - not without controversy.

Schönau am Königssee: Debate about the entry ban in the national park

Crystal clear water, mountain panorama, the Königssee glistening underneath. Apparently alone in the idyll, someone poses for the photo: The natural pools at Königsbachfall in the Berchtesgadener Land National Park are a popular motif on social media - especially on Instagram. But it's not lonely here for a long time. Although there is no official route to the pools, rangers counted a good 400 tourists on nice days. What remains are trampled vegetation and rubbish. The park now wants a ban on entry. The decision at the Berchtesgadener Land district office should be made in the near future.

The closure is controversial, however, the municipality of Schönau am Königssee has spoken out against it.

Nature conservation associations argue differently.

On the other hand, some locals who have known the Gumpen - quickly dubbed “Natural Infinity Pool” on the internet - as a place of retreat away from the hustle and bustle, would like them to be here.

“We don't say anything - we're biased,” says a Schönauer who is looking for peace there.

Königsbachfall as an Instagram hotspot: tourists from all over the world come by

Tourists from the USA, Asia, Russia, India and many European countries made their way to the pools, guided by instructions on the Internet, reports Ranger Manager Ole Behling.

A young woman from Paderborn stated that she started in the car at three o'clock in the morning to hike to the waterfall - and drive home again.

But many a visitor is disillusioned after a long journey, because the pictures on the net do not necessarily correspond to reality.

“Is that the pool?” The hikers from Ingolstadt * look disappointed.

A beech tree, probably felled by strangers as a backlash, blocks the upper pool and blocks the view of the Königssee.

In the lower pool, on the other hand, a lot of water is currently bubbling from the snowmelt - the floods could pull bathers over the edge of the pool into the depths.

Königsbachfall "extremely dangerous": Two men died in the water

"In addition to the nature conservation effect, it is also extremely dangerous," says National Park spokeswoman Carolin Scheiter.

Signs warn: “Danger from drowning!” In 2019, the water that was thrown up was fatal to two 21-year-old men from Saxony in a lower pool.

They died in what is known as white water, which contains so much oxygen that one is drowned in it.

Last summer, the national park tried to put people's consciences back on Instagram.

He asked an influencer, who had over 1.2 million followers on Instagram and who posted a photo while bathing in one of the water basins, to delete the post in order to avoid even more imitators.

It didn't help - the influx stayed.

Selfie tourists at the Königsbachfall - Debate about the entry ban in the national park

In Schönau, access to the entire area of ​​around 30 hectares is to be prohibited. "The planned, at best temporary closure at Königsbach waterfall is all about the area of ​​newly created trails and vegetation damage due to social media and influencers," says National Park Manager Roland Baier about the planned closure. It will not set a precedent, "it is a signal for an irresponsible treatment of natural beauties on social media".



The State Association for Bird Protection (LBV), asked for an opinion, pleads for a multi-year closure so that the vegetation can recover.

The German Alpine Association (DAV) rejects this.

People rely on personal responsibility, says Daniel Hrassky from the Berchtesgaden section.

Instead, he suggests an official hiking trail to make wild beaten paths superfluous, but to make it possible to visit the pools.

A closure directly on the Königsbach and a bathing ban are conceivable.

Spending the night and making a fire are forbidden anyway.

Ban on entering the Berchtesgaden National Park?

"Not the right way to lock"

The municipal council of Schönau am Königssee sees it similarly. "It is not the right way to block," says the second mayor Richard Lenz (Free Voters). “We have free entry right.” Rather, guests should be sensitized - “with sensible signage”. “When something is forbidden, it only becomes more interesting. The pictures are already going around the world. "



The natural pools also appear on English-language pages - sometimes still as an “insider tip”.

To document the rush, the rangers install meters in the ground in summer.

Plastic bottles, packaging and even half-full beer crates have been discovered, says Behling.

Since many people bathe in the pool, items of clothing are often left lying around: jackets, scarves, and underpants.

Drones keep buzzing over the protected area - forbidden: The devices frighten game, chamois and red deer, for example, which can fall while fleeing.

Selfie tourists at the Königsbachfall: Sometimes even the mountain rescue service has to go out

Sometimes even the mountain rescue service * has to go out. "Mostly it is uninjured who got lost, or slightly injured who have grazed," said Markus Leitner, Red Cross spokesman in Berchtesgadener Land. Some are hypothermic - because of bathing in cold water or unsuitable clothing. The effort involved in the operations is usually manageable. “You already know where to look for people.”



Should the closure come, that would be a novelty in the Berchtesgaden National Park. However, in many countries, restricted access to national parks and even the issue of permits are common practice, for example in the USA, says the chairman of the Federal Nature Conservation Association in Bavaria, Richard Mergner. In other parks in Germany you are not allowed to go everywhere either. "The protection of nature has to take precedence over selfie interests."

(kam / dpa) * Merkur.de / bayern is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA

List of rubric lists: © Sabine Dobel / dpa +++ dpa-Bildfunk +++

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-05-23

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