History of the Protected Area
A Short Outline of Berchtesgaden National Park’s History
Berchtesgaden National Park can be proud of its long history as a protected area.
An 8,600 ha zone in the southeastern part of today’s National Park area was designated as a ‘Plant Protection District of the Berchtesgaden Alps’ as early as 1910. Here the principle aim was to limit the alpine plant trade.
An extension of the protected area to a total of 20,400 ha took place in March 1921 under the name of ‘Königssee Nature Preserve’. As a reaction to the plan to build a cable on Mount Watzmann, the German Nature Protection Circle took the initiative to call for the establishment of a National Park in 1953. This idea was brought up again during the European Nature Protection Year of 1970 and resulted in the Bavarian Parliament’s decision on July 13th, 1972 to plan the creation of a Bavarian Alpine Park in the Königssee Nature Preserve.
On August 1st, 1978, the plan was finalized:
The ‘Decree for the Foundation of the Berchtesgaden Alpine and National Park’ became effective. Since 1991, the National Park, extending over an area of 20,808 ha, as well as its transition or development zone, has been recognized by UNESCO as a biosphere reserve.