Huge glaciers and rustic huts: Video from 1965 reveals how the Zugspitze has changed

Created: 10/31/2022 9:24 am

By: Catherine Brumbauer

A retro video accompanies two hikers on their ascent to the Zugspitze in 1965. The film reveals the change that Germany's highest mountain has undergone from then to now.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen - The two hikers climb laboriously over a huge scree field, then they reach the Höllentalferner.

In 1965 the glacier was covered with a thick layer of snow and was not as threatened with melting as it is today.

With one big step, the two men have to overcome a wide chasm in order to climb the via ferrata towards the summit of the Zugspitze.

The summit of the Zugspitze: in 2022, tourists crowded onto the visitor terrace (left), in 1965 it consisted largely of the summit cross and the Munich House.

© Sven Hoppe/dpa, Screenshot BR

While the hikers here today put the handle - or the crampons - in their hands and the summiteers sometimes stand in line here and have to wait for the ascent on peak days, the two mountaineers were still completely alone in the 1960s.

Not quite: a camera team from

accompanied them at the time.

The resulting film "The Zugspitze" can be seen as a retro video in the ARD media library.

Climbing the Zugspitze in 1960: Germany's highest mountain has changed so much

The eight-minute clip accompanies two men on their ascent from Garmisch-Partenkirchen through the Höllental to Germany's highest mountain.

The tour first takes you through the Höllentalklamm and then on a wide, well-developed path to the Höllentalangerhütte, where you spend the night.

And whoever is at the Höllentalangerhütte in 2015 or later will be surprised by the pictures: the Höllentalangerhütte looks very different.

The "old" DAV hut was demolished in 2013.

A modern new building made of wood with 110 beds was built, which opened in September 2015.

The old house could accommodate up to 80 people.

The modern Höllentalangerhütte opened in 2015.

© imageBROKER/imago

And the old Höllentalangerhütte as it looked in a BR retro video in 1965.

© Screenshot ARD Mediathek

The summit of the Zugspitze in 1965: a film shows how unusually quiet it was there back then

Today the Zugspitze is much more developed and developed by (hiking) tourism.

Whether that is good for the Alps is another matter.

When the climbers in the film finally reach the summit cross, they are still enjoying the view of the lower mountains undisturbed by other people.

Then they climb over to the Munich house.

Hüttenwirt Anselm Barth, whose grandson runs the hut today, greets his guests personally.

If there had been as much going on then as it is now, it would be unthinkable.

In 1965, however, the gastronomy on the summit of the Zugspitze was far less developed.

In 1965 there is still nothing to see of the restaurant and hotel Sonnalpin on the Zugspitzplatt and a large viewing terrace.

That was only built in the 1980s.

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Zugspitze: Hotel becomes a research station in the 1990s

At that time, the Schneeferner-Haus, today's weather and climate research station, served as a hotel.

The hotel was closed in 1992 - 30 years ago.

The house was then rebuilt and since 1999 scientists and students from the Technical University of Munich have been working up there at an altitude of 2965 meters.

They are also concerned about how much the glaciers are retreating.

The Höllentalferner glacier melted significantly in 2022 alone compared to 2021.

© Angelika Warmuth/dpa

For comparison: the Höllentalferner in 1965. © Screenshot ARD Mediathek

Climate change has caused the permanent ice on the Zugspitze to melt considerably.

The southern Schneeferner glacier even lost its glacier status in summer.

The Höllentalferner also carried far less snow in this hot, dry, dry summer than last year.

And at the Northern Schneeferner, experts predict that it will be gone in ten to 15 years.

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The Zugspitze is changing: there is one thing that people have no influence on

But one thing will probably never change: the fast pace of the weather in the high Alps.

"What's going on now, suddenly the nice weather seems to be over," remarks the film's commentator as the two climbers climb the via ferrata on their way to the summit.

It can contract within minutes in the mountains.

Hikers had to, have to and will have to keep this in mind in the future.

Especially when climbing Germany's highest mountain.

You can find more current news from the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen at Merkur.de/Garmisch-Partenkirchen.