The Enchanted Forest, Hintersee, Ramsau

Locals and the many thousand yearly visitors have always known that Ramsau is one of the nicest spots in Bavaria. The Enchanted Forest has been nominated as Bavarias’ “most beautiful Geotope” by the Bavarian Environmental Ministry.The way through the Enchanted Forest to Hintersee is controlled and maintained daily by the local council. Due to the beautiful landscapes and the various scenic walking routes approximately 360,000 guests visit Ramsau every year.The Bavarian Environmental Ministry places a lot of effort into the safeguard of its natural monuments. The more people, residents and visitors alike, know about the geological history of Ramsau the more we can save the “Geotope” that is Ramsau.

The development of the Enchanted Forest in RamsauApproximately 3,500 years ago 15 million cubic meters of rocks and stone plummeted over 1,000 meters into the valley between the mountains Schärtenspitze and Steinberg. The falling rocks, up to 40 meters in size, ended up damming rivers forming what is now the Enchanted Forest.The cause of the rockslide:After the melting of the ice at the last Ice Age the weathered and brittle Dachsteiner Limestone broke off and fell into the valley. The mountain debris blocked the Klausbach in the Klausbachtal damming the water and creating the Hintersee. Originally the Hintersee was much larger and covered the whole 4 km long pasture. Due to the sediment build up the Hintersee shrank in size. In the early 19 hundreds, to delay a complete dry up of the area, the Klausbachtal was diverted to flow into the Lake.