Berchtesgaden National Park

Abstract

The only German national park in the Alps, Berchtesgaden National Park (NP) was founded in 1978. With its 210 km2 of protected area, the park is home to great biological diversity and hosts many rare or even endangered species. Nestling in the Berchtesgaden basin, the park covers a great variety of geology and hydrology in three deep valleys surrounded by mountain massifs predominantly shaped by two rock formations - Triassic Dachstein and Ramsau dolomite. The great diversity of the area within a relatively small spatial scale allows for numerous research opportunities but also creates problems when it comes to absorbing the great numbers of tourists and locals seeking recreation in the park without compromising the primary goal of the NP, conservation. On this issue, the park not only seeks to educate the public about nature but also cooperates closely with other NPs in order to establish ecological cross-border corridors between protected areas to facilitate natural movement patterns for various biocoenoses. © Berchtesgaden National Park (NP).