Mountain route
Wendelsteinbahn
Brannenburg → Wendelstein · Germany
Wendelsteinbahn in pictures
Photographs by their authors, hosted on Wikimedia Commons · tap through for the licence
- Distance
- 8 km
- Fastest time
- 55 min
- Average speed
- 9 km/h
- Top speed
- 25 km/h
- Operator
- Wendelsteinbahn
- Train
- Rack railcar
- Countries
- Germany
- In service since
- 1912
- Runs
- hourly in season
- Highest point
- 1,723 m
Figures are published values, not live data · corrections log
Bavaria’s oldest high-mountain railway of 1912 racks up from Brannenburg through tunnels and 25% grades toward the Wendelstein’s summit cave, observatory and panorama over the Inn valley.
Bavaria’s oldest high-mountain railway opened in 1912, engineered by Otto von Steinbeis on the Abt rack system. From Brannenburg in the Inn valley the little railcars claw up gradients of 25 percent through spiralling tunnels to the upper terminus near the Wendelstein’s peak, where a summit cave, a tiny 1890 church and a solar observatory await. A cable car climbs the other side from Bayrischzell.
How this line was checked
- Line drawn from OpenStreetMap relation 1331902 — the same nodes OpenStreetMap holds for this railway, thinned to within under 25 m of them
- Checked against OpenStreetMap: the whole line lies on real track, a median 3 m from it
- The operator publishes this line's timetable: Wendelsteinbahn — a place to look it up, not a check of our drawing
- Wikipedia has an article for this line
- See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it
Along the way
- Brannenburg valley station
- Spiral tunnels on the Abt rack
- Wendelstein summit church
- Solar observatory & cave
- Panorama over the Inn valley and Alps
How long is the Wendelsteinbahn?
The Wendelsteinbahn runs 8 km from Brannenburg to Wendelstein.
How long does the Wendelsteinbahn take?
The fastest scheduled journey is 55 min for the 8 km. That is an average of 9 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 25 km/h.
Who runs the Wendelsteinbahn?
Wendelsteinbahn, with rack railcar.
How old is the Wendelsteinbahn?
The line has been in service since 1912. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.
How high does the Wendelsteinbahn climb?
1,723 m above sea level at its highest point.
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