Detour #341: An Alpine Adventure on the Rossfeldpanoramastrasse, Germany-Austria
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Germany’s highest panoramic road has views and bends to die for.
The best roads don’t just take you from A to B. In fact, the ones with no real destination at all are often the most enjoyable.
That’s certainly the case with the Rossfeldpanoramastrasse that criss-crosses the border between Germany and Austria. It’s not a road that’s vital for moving people and goods, it wasn’t built with the military in mind. It was designed from the outset just for drivers.
The idea was first floated in 1927, purely to promote motor tourism in the alpine valleys between Lake Constance and Königsee. Construction would begin in 1937, which would involve building no less than 14 bridges and putting up extensive retaining walls and drainage. World War II saw an abrupt halt to the proceedings, however, and it wasn’t until 1955 that the road was finally open to traffic.
Although the original plan was for it to be part of a longer Alpenstrasse route all the way to Oberau, 100 miles west, it stands alone as a just under nine-mile drive that you take just for the joy of it.
To be truly pedantic the Rossfeldpanoramastrasse does actually have a destination: Obersalzberg. However, if you were just trying to get there from Unterau you’d simply head south for about eight minutes on the B319 instead of taking what amounts to a massive, but very worthwhile, detour on the B999.
Rolling through mountain pastures, pretty chalets dotted hither and thither the road introduces itself gently with curves few and far between. It’s only when you get to the toll booth, pay your nine Euros and enter the forest that the fun really starts. Running almost parallel with the Austrian border as it climbs ever higher the Rossfeld starts throwing in switchbacks and steeper gradients. All the while the mountain views become more and more spectacular and you’ll definitely want to stop at one of the laybys for some alpine air and photographs.
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Throughout its length the road remains wide and with clear sight lines – it very clearly was conceived with the driver in mind. For a brief moment you’ll find yourself over the border in Austria before sweeping back into Germany without even having to offer up your passport.
You’ll reach the road’s peak at 1,570m before beginning to descend again through tightening hairpins, before hitting the tree line again and being buried in towering forest.
If it all looks quite familiar that’s because the Rossfeldpanoramastrasse has featured in The Sound of Music and as the road to Brunwald Castle where Indy sets his father free in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
As the road is open year round you can join the 100,000 other driving crusaders who tick the Rossfeldpanoramastrasse off their bucket list annually.
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ROADBOOK
CLASS: Mountain PasS
NAME: Rossfeldpanoramastrasse
ROUTE: Unterau to Obersalzberg
COUNTRY: Germany / Austria
Distance: 12 Miles
Germany’s highest panoramic road has views and bends to die for.