Eibsee lake at the base of Zugspitze mountain, Bavaria, Germany

© Marc Hohenleitner/Huber/eStock Phot

Germany's highest point. The Zugspitze: Germany's highest point

Welcome to the snowy Bavarian Alps, where the Zugspitze mountain casts a cold shadow over the Eibsee, a small and serene Alpine lake. Situated on the border with Austria, Zugspitze is Germany's highest peak at almost 10,000ft above sea level, towering over the lakeside village of Grainau.

'Zug' means 'train' in modern German. Although the peak's name is much older than the locomotive (and probably refers to 'zugbahnen’ - deep tracks cut into the mountainside by avalanches), it's especially appropriate now: a steep cogwheel railway tunnels up from the nearby town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen to a plateau near the summit. Aerial trams also serve the mountaintop from both the German and Austrian sides and the cable car from Grainau boasts the world’s longest unsupported cableway span at 3,213 metres – about two miles.