Beer bottles and graffiti on the mountain
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Bernhard Ostler discovers empty beer and wine bottles, cans and rubbish on the control cabinet at the Höllental entrance hut. The gorge warden also observes graffiti on rocks between the Reintalanger and Knorr huts.
Grainau – Even as a boy, Bernhard Ostler loved jumping around in the mountains with his grandpa. Things were different then, he remembers. Every now and then the two of them might have found a candy wrapper on the floor. But rather rarely. Litter is now part of every tour in the mountains. “The problem is not new,” says the 32-year-old. But what he saw recently “really shocked me.”
As so often, the Farchanter marched towards the Höllental entrance hut; as gorge warden for the Garmisch-Partenkirchen Alpine Club section, he stops by there regularly. Then he discovered the chaos on the control cabinet: empty beer and wine bottles, cans and other rubbish had been left behind by strangers. “It’s getting worse.”
Zugspitze trails particularly affected
The innkeepers constantly collect rubbish around the entrance hut. Paper, packaging, tissues – “you have that everywhere”. And permanent. You put everything away, “two hours later there’s something lying around again.” In Ostler’s eyes, the paths on Germany’s highest mountain are particularly affected. The Zugspitz phenomenon is evident once again: more people cause more problems.
One no longer enjoys solitude on the climbs from the German side over the Reintal or Höllental. But now the tours are experiencing a rush. On social media, mountaineers and unexploded mountain bombers boast about climbing the Zugspitze. The consequence of the popularity: significantly more mountain rescue missions – as reported several times – and also apparently a lot more rubbish than before. “This has become a real problem,” says Ostler. The volunteer speaker at the Höllentalklamm increasingly has the feeling that some people have lost their awareness of nature.
New phenomenon: graffiti on the mountain
Another sad sign of this: graffiti on the mountain. “That didn’t happen before.” Among other things, Ostler discovered graffiti on rocks between the Reintalanger and Knorr huts, on the garbage-filled control cabinet and on the door to the turbine in the Höllental, and also on a rock in the gorge, which Ostler’s DAV section removed. “That’s just a shame,” he says – and corrects himself. “No, it is absolutely unacceptable.”
However, he feels powerless. There is hardly anything that can be done about the reckless behavior. Other than pointing it out and raising awareness. If at least someone steps in as soon as someone carelessly disposes of their rubbish in nature, “then we have already gained a bit”.