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Up the Untersberg mountain near Salzburg, Austria

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The Untersberg rises at the rim of the Northern Limestone Alps, a mountain range clearly visible from many places within Salzburg and for which its castle offers wonderful panoramas. Around two thirds of the range are in Germany whilst the northernmost third is in Austria. Neighbouring peaks are the Hoher Göll in the southeast and Mt. Watzmann to the south. The mountain lends its name to an 1829 opera, Der Untersberg, by Johann Nepomuk von Poißl (1783–1865).

To get up the Untersberg one takes the cable car and that is easily accesible from Salzburg. There is a regular bus service running either two, three or four times per hour (depending on the time of day) from Salzburg, the number 25 to Grödig. The Salzburg Visitors Card includes the cable car up the mountain and if anyone is thinking of doing this then the card will almost pay for itself. Indeed as the bus route also takes in the palace of Hellbrunn with its trick fountains and Salzburg Zoo - all three locations could be fitted into a great day out - although this will not leave much time to spare!

The cable car route was opened in April 1961 and took two years to build., The route is particularly exciting as at times it is as though the car is about to hit the sheer cliff face only to be pulled up and over the rocks. St. Leonhard lies at 456 m the Geiereck spur is at an altitude of 1,776 m and one covers 2.5km as the crow flies - or rather in this case, as the Alpine chough flies!

At the top there are walking trails although the area is covered in snow for much of the year. Good, waterproof footwear is a must and gloves and hat will be needed. A tough plastic bag will come in handy for sliding down some of the trails when covered in ice!

The Untersberg massif is mainly made up of limestone and includes numerous caves - and there are still those that have not been explored! The Schellenberg ice cave at 1,570 m has been a tourist attraction since 1925. The Riesending cave is the largest cave in Germany.

An interesting feature is the marble mine and this place gives its name to the English word 'marbles' from the round balls of the same name that were once exported from here to London and from then onto other parts of the British Empire. The last marbles went from Untersberg to London in 1921.

The Untersberg is one of two locations where the twelfth century monarch Emperor Frederick Barbarossa is said to sleep (the other being in Thuringia). Apparently when he leaves the mountain, there will be no further Holy Roman Empire and the last great battle of humankind will be fought on the Walserfeld, a pasture at Wals, west of Salzburg. The Holy Roman Emprie effectively ended in 1803 so he missed the date.
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