Seilbahn Zugspitze
Aerial tramway
The Seilbahn Zugspitze is an aerial tramway running from the Eibsee Lake to the top of Zugspitze in Bavaria, Germany. It currently holds the world record for the longest freespan in a cable car at 3,213 metres (10,541 ft) as well as the tallest lattice steel aerial tramway support tower in the world at 127 metres (417 ft). Construction of the system began in 2015 and it opened on 22 December 2017.
This cable car replaced the original Eibsee Cable Car which closed on 2 April 2017 leaving no service for eight and a half months (access to Zugspitze was still possible via the rack railway and the Gletscherbahn Cable Car).
History
The original Eibsee Cable Car, which opened in 1963, was a cable car which connected the lower station (973 metres or 3,192 feet above sea level) near lake Eibsee with the top station at 2,950 metres (9,678 ft) above sea level next to the summit of Zugspitze, Germany's highest mountain on the border to Austria.
The cable car from Lake Eibsee was built to provide a faster access to the Zugspitze from its German side, as the rack railway from Garmisch-Partenkirchen does not go directly to the summit and takes much longer. Both the original Eibsee Cable Car and its replacement Seilbahn Zugspitze belong to Bayerische Zugspitzbahn Bergbahn AG, the company operating the rack railway and most cable cars, gondola lifts and chairlifts in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen area. It is thus possible to make round trips using both the rack railway and the cable car. On the Austrian side, there is the Tyrolean Zugspitze Cable Car which starts at Ehrwald and meets the Seilbahn Zugspitze at the top.
Technical
The technical details of the Eibsee Cable Car and the replacement Seilbahn Zugspitze are summarised in the following table.
The public source identifies “Seilbahn Zugspitze” as aerial tramway. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Seilbahn, Zugspitze and Aerial.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Seilbahn Zugspitze”, the useful work is to connect “aerial tramway” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q46621606. Authority coordinates are 47.457, 10.992. None of the 2 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2015, 2017 and 1963.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Seilbahn Zugspitze”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Seilbahn Zugspitze primary sources, Seilbahn Zugspitze archive and Seilbahn research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Seilbahn Zugspitze”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Seilbahn Zugspitze” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.