How it all began
The history of the Wallbergbahn
How it all began
The history of the Wallbergbahn
The Wallbergbahn has transported more than 15 million passengers since it opened in 1951. Take a look back at the history of the Wallbergbahn here:
"It is a fantastically beautiful, safe float that surprises with unique views of the Tegernsee valley, the wreath of surrounding mountains and the ever-revealing peaks of the high mountain world. Conversation falls silent, mouths shut, eyes and hearts open."
With these enthusiastic words, the local poet Quirin Hagn described an institution in the Tegernsee valley in 1954.
The history of the Wallbergbahn
Over 100 years ago... First plans in the 20s
The history of the railway up the Wallberg does not just begin with its construction in 1950 and 1951. As early as the 1920s, a group led by inn owner Max Bachmair tried to find investors for the construction of a passenger cable car. However, despite the promise of a return of almost eight per cent, it was not possible to raise the capital required for the construction. The project failed.
Foundation of Wallbergbahn AG on 10 June 1950
So it was left to a group of far-sighted men led by engineer Kurt Becker, local treasurer Sebastian Daimer and lawyer Dr Karl Schnell to take up the plans to build a railway up the Wallberg again and found a Wallbergbahn Aktiengesellschaft on 10 June 1950 under the leadership of Bayerische Hypotheken- und Wechselbank, which began building the railway just a few days later.
Construction of the railway ... in just nine months
When the railway was built, it followed the route that had already been planned twenty years earlier. This led over a length of 2,130 metres on the western side of the Brunnentalgraben to the 1,624 metre high plateau between the Wallbergkircherl and the actual summit ascent.
The construction company
The construction work was carried out by a consortium consisting of the Munich companies Held & Francke and Josef Riepl, with the maximum possible involvement of local construction and craft businesses. For the railway itself, the decision was made in favour of a two-cable circulating gondola lift from the Cologne-based company J. Pohlig AG with 42 small cabins for four people each.
A special day ... for the Tegernsee Valley
Although the winter of 1950 started early and brought heavy snowfall, the construction of the railway with the mountain and valley stations was completed on schedule after just nine months. The Wallbergbahn was officially opened on 20 April 1951.
The Wallbergbahn was not only a tourist attraction for the Tegernsee valley and an important economic factor for the municipality of Rottach-Egern. The railway up the "Walwer" blends into the magnificent landscape as if it had always been part of it.
Hospitality... on the Wallberg
Just a few weeks after the cable car was inaugurated, an inn was built next to the mountain station, which could accommodate 200 people both inside and on the terrace.
The hotel built next to the inn in 1953 had eleven rooms with 23 beds and offered rest and relaxation to numerous celebrities from the film and music scene as well as from sport and politics.
Finally, from the beginning of the 1960s, the Alpenwildpark café at the valley station was also part of the Wallbergbahn's offering.
Winter sports region of superlatives
Once known and loved for its fast toboggan run, the Wallberg - and with it the railway - gained great importance as a winter sports area in the 1950s.
The standard downhill run created in 1934/35, which led quickly and variedly down the Erlen and Glasl slopes to the dreaded Kanonenrohr, was supplemented by a second downhill run in the winter of 1951/52.
The "Golden Shield of the Wallberg" donated by Wallbergbahn AG attracted attention far beyond the Tegernsee valley. The race, organised by the Rottach-Egern Ski Club between 1951 and 1959, was even held as an official downhill race of the Fédération Internationale de Ski (FIS). The course record is still held today by Toni Sailer (also known as the "Blitz von Kitz") with a best time of 2:22.7 minutes from 1954.
The Wallberg today! ...full throttle into the future!
In April 1982, the Munich building contractor Josef Schörghuber acquired the shares of Bayerische Hypotheken- und Wechselbank in Wallbergbahn AG. In the years and decades that followed, the cable car was renovated and technically modernised. In 1995, for example, the 44 old cabins were replaced by 50 new ones. In 1998, Wallbergbahn GmbH set another important course for the future with the construction of the panorama restaurant at the mountain station of the railway.
In December 2001, the company finally returned to the roots of winter sports on the Wallberg with the opening of the 6.5 km long natural toboggan run. The former standard descent via the Glaslhang has since been designated as a ski route and is extremely popular with individualists and deep snow fans.
