Everyone has to decide for themselves whether the Zugspitze is really the highest, lovers of the alpine spectacle and mountain purists will come to different conclusions. The Zugspitze is definitely the highest in the country, or simply the highest mountain. It’s a good thing that they don’t distill schnapps and brew beer up there, because that would be hard to top. But the Karwendelbahn in Mittenwald, which, in view of the Zugspitzbahn, can only be described as “Germany’s second highest mountain railway!” may advertise, at least claim another superlative for themselves. The 2,500 liters of beer that were to be served in their mountain station at 2,244 meters during the “inauguration week” before Christmas were “brewed in Germany’s highest brewery”. From the point of view of the district office in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, which is more than 1500 meters below, this is the summit.
The disputes between the main owners of the Karwendelbahn on the one hand and the municipality of Mittenwald as a minority shareholder plus the Garmisch district authority on the other hand are about as rich in peaks as the entire Karwendel. Among other things, a distillery was installed up there in 2021, which should make the mountain station the highest schnapps distillery in Germany. This is regardless of whether there is a building permit for it or not. In terms of building law, the authorities regard this distillery as a kind of moonlighting. It had also been clear for a long time that its copper shine should also be followed by that of a brewing kettle. The district office was not even asked about anything, but formally stopped the construction many months ago. It was opened anyway. And the representatives of the district authorities were again not invited, but had to stay outside or below.
Because the construction inspectors are banned from entering the Karwendelbahn. They could gain access to the mountain station, but not to the gondolas that would carry them up. And it’s a long way to walk. By the time a mountaineering construction inspector could even get up to speed on what was happening, his working day would be almost over, and then he would have to walk down again. So far nobody has done that. Meanwhile, upstairs they toast with home-brewed beers.