After six years of planning and construction a new state-of-the-art cable car made its inaugural journey today on the Zugspitze, Germany’s highest mountain.

The new cable car replaces the old Eibsee cable car* that has been taking up to half a million passengers a year up the mountain for over half a century. Now passengers will be whisked in unparalleled comfort, up to the extraordinary restaurant & viewing platform on the summit some 3,000 metres above sea level, where they can enjoy 360° panoramic views of over 400 alpine peaks in four different countries.

Now, two fully glazed high-capacity cabins will transport up to 580 passengers per hour to the peak, banishing queues to history. Along the journey, they will traverse the world’s highest steelwork pylon for aerial tramways at 127 metres, the world’s greatest overall height difference of 1,945 metres over one section as well as the world’s longest unsupported span, measuring 3,213 metres. Three records, which passengers can experience as they savour full panoramic views of picturesque Lake Eibsee, Waxensteine and the Alpspitze – even in bad weather thanks to integrated window heaters!

The scale and complexity of the Bayerische Zugspitzbahn Bergbahn AG project can be seen in this video, which sadly hasn’t been dubbed into English…

Before the 1st cable car, full of local dignatories, politicians and VIPs, you’ll be pleased know it was offically blessed by Munich’s archbishop.

* There are actually three cable cars to the summit. The mountain sits on the Bavarian border with Austria, so there is one cable car on the Austrian side, running to its own top station. Then on the German side there is the short cable-car that connects the old cog railway station on the glacier below the summit to the summit, and the new Eibsee direct cable car.

Feature photo: Bayerische Zugspitzbahn Bergbahn AG/Max Prechtl.