Kaiser Mountains

The Kaiser Mountains (Kaisergebirge, meaning Emperor Mountains) are a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps and Eastern Alps. Its main ridges – are the Zahmer Kaiser and south of it the Wilder Kaiser. The mountains are situated in the Austrian province of Tyrol between the town of Kufstein and the town of St. Johann in Tirol. The Kaiser Mountains offer some of the loveliest scenery in all the Northern Limestone Alps. The Kaiser Mountains are divided into the Wilder Kaiser or Wild Kaiser chain of mountains, formed predominantly of bare limestone rock, and the Zahmer Kaiser ("Tame Kaiser"), whose southern side is mainly covered by mountain pine. These two mountain ridges are linked by the 1,580-metre-high Stripsenjoch pass, but are separated in the west by the valley of Kaisertal and in the east by the Kaiserbach valley. In total the Kaiser extends for about in an east-west direction and about from north to south, giving a total area of some . The Zahmer Kaiser only just breaks through the 2,000 metre barrier (in the Vordere Kesselschneid). The highest elevation in the Wilder Kaiser is the Ellmauer Halt in the borough of Kufstein at . There are around forty other summits, including many well-known climbing peaks such as the Karlspitzen, Totenkirchl, Fleischbank, Predigtstuhl, Goinger Halt, Ackerlspitze and Maukspitze. As early as the 1920s individual nature lovers, including the "Emperor Pope", Franz Nieberl, called for greater protection of the unique natural region of the Kaiser. The primary aim of this protection was to prevent over development of the Kaiser Mountains by cable cars and roads. In those days such ideas were unsuccessful. In 1961, following a referendum, it was decided to establish a nature reserve, which was officially opened on 19 April 1963. The reserve, which covered all the peaks of the Wilder and Zahmer Kaiser, has an area of and lies within the territories of the municipalities of Kufstein, St. Johann in Tirol, Ebbs, Ellmau, Going, Kirchdorf in Tirol, Scheffau and Walchsee.