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Zugspitze: New summit cross now makes selfies possible risk-free!
On July 3, 2025, a new “summit cross light” will be installed on the Zugspitze to increase safety for tourists.
Zugspitze: New summit cross now makes selfies possible risk-free!
On the Zugspitze, Germany's highest mountain, there will soon be a significant change for the many visitors who set out in chic casual outfits, but often without appropriate mountain equipment. From July 3rd, the new “Gipfelkreuz light” will be installed there, which stands at around 2,950 meters above sea level in the summit station of the Zugspitzbahn. It will be a practical solution for the many tourists who often take the steep, sometimes dangerous route to the original summit cross in flip-flops or sneakers, as urlaubspiraten.de reports.
The new three-meter-high cross is made from hardware store materials about twelve meters below the real cross and designed by the Upper Bavarian artist Bernhard Rieger. The old cross, which is considered a replica of a historical example from 1851, was dismantled in 1993 and can now be admired in the Werdenfels Museum in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Until then, it was often the case that the mountain rescue service had to intervene because the climb in unsuitable shoes was simply too risky for inexperienced tourists South Germans shows.
Safety comes first
The new cross allows mountain visitors to take pictures without any risk, even in bad weather and without the necessary climbing equipment. “In Bavaria there is no obligation to wear helmets or mountain boots,” says one person in charge, giving tourists the choice of clothing, although there are jokes about careless mountain lovers in sandals or flip-flops. Such scenarios are not uncommon on the Zugspitze, and Germans and “Preißn” from Bavaria in particular often target each other with jokes, as the South German explains.
With the installation of the new cross, the summit station will become a weather-independent photo location. An additional information board is planned to inform visitors about the eventful history of the original cross. The original cross has been kept in a museum since 2009 and proves that tradition and innovation go hand in hand, while the new cross reflects the current need for security while providing a fantastic place for souvenir photos.