Welcome to the “Haus der Berge,” the exciting national park center in Berchtesgaden. Spanning 17,000 m², it offers a three-part experience combining an information center, an education center, and outdoor grounds. A diverse range of activities awaits individual visitors, families, groups, school classes, and all other guests with a thirst for adventure and a spirit of discovery!
Our center offers a wide range of experiences: interactive information about the national park, a theater in the foyer showing a film about the Berchtesgaden Alps, rotating exhibitions on two levels, the special exhibition “People & Mountains” with audio stations, and a themed library. Around the building, you can explore the Panorama Trail to discover flora and fauna from the four habitats—water, forest, alpine pasture, and rock—and enjoy magnificent views of the Watzmann, Hochkalter, and Jenner. Outdoor benches invite you to linger.
The “Haus der Berge” experience begins in the spacious foyer. The exhibition offers an overview of national parks around the world and sets the stage for your visit to the National Park Center. It explains the Berchtesgaden National Park, its role in national and international networks, and provides information about the Berchtesgadener Land Biosphere Region.
In addition, interactive stations provide useful information about your stay in Germany’s only high-mountain national park.
In the free cinema in the foyer, you can watch films on various nature-related topics. Our highlight is a spectacular film about the interplay between people and nature within the national park.
The cinema seats up to 80 people and accommodates five wheelchair users. The cinema can be booked by groups for private screenings or events.
The upper floor features a conference room and a library. Here you’ll find a wide variety of literature on nature, hiking, national parks, and local customs.
The library and event room can be booked for events. Just contact us!
The space can accommodate up to 120 guests, and the rooms can be divided.
With its energy-efficient architecture and innovative interior design, the Education Center offers optimal conditions for modern education for sustainable development. Numerous programs—tailored to each target group—await you and your group. This allows you to delve deeper into the exhibition’s content, prepare for or follow up on your excursion in the national park, or look forward to an educational experience in the workshops or on the outdoor grounds.
The guiding principle behind the design of the programs at the Education Center is free, self-directed learning. In contrast to everyday school life, participants should have the opportunity to pursue or explore their individual interests in greater depth. They are encouraged to embark on an exciting journey of discovery and give free rein to their curiosity. At the same time, imagination and creativity should be expressed to the fullest extent possible!
In our cozy foyer, you’ll have the opportunity to settle in at your own pace. As you gaze at the 4x4-meter wooden relief, the diversity of the Berchtesgaden mountain world—with its four main habitats—becomes immediately apparent. Our guiding animals—the fire salamander, Pinzgau cow, hazel dormouse, and Alpine chough—will then lead you into the various rooms …
Hidden behind a cabinet door is a water wall with a modular system and plenty of materials for experiments related to water. Because in the water lab, you’re free to explore, experiment, and conduct research! In addition to binoculars for examining aquatic animals, various setups in the flow tank allow you to study how water behaves under different bottom conditions.
Just as the dormouse skillfully builds its nest, visitors to the Forest Workshop have the opportunity to let their imagination and creativity run wild. Here, they can craft, build, and tinker with wood, clay, paper, wool, and many other natural materials.
Thyme butter, herb quark, blueberry jam, and mountain herb tea—the Wiesenküche invites you to cook with a wide variety of herbs and try your hand at making dairy products. And if you’re curious about alpine farming, be sure to visit the Almkaser in the outdoor area!
With a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains, this is where communication, interactive learning, and networking take place: exciting lectures, great films, and a variety of modern media bring the national park’s flora and fauna—as well as global environmental issues and foreign cultures—to life for curious visitors. Using a laptop, GPS device, digital camera, or smartphone, visitors can get actively involved and process and present their impressions of the national park!
The outdoor area is divided into a panoramic trail accessible to all visitors and an area reserved for registered participants of events held by the educational center. On the panoramic trail, visitors can enjoy spectacular views of the Jenner, Watzmann, and Hochkalter mountains and relax on the lawn chairs. Children can build dams in the stream using gravel from the Wimbach Valley, climb, slide, and explore the treehouse. The historic alpine cheese dairy, as well as the themed areas—Water, Meadow, and Forest—are part of the Education Center and can only be visited as part of scheduled events. The Mountain Arena serves a dual purpose: it is available to both groups and individual visitors.
You can explore the accessible Panorama Trail, with its magnificent views of the national park, as well as the children’s adventure area, free of charge, even if you don’t visit the exhibition. You can access the publicly accessible area of the outdoor grounds through the foyer. Dogs are permitted here on a short leash.
The Nature Discovery Area is available to registered groups as part of environmental education programs, and with its four themed stations, it is an ideal learning and experiential space for a variety of target groups.
The water play area is located right next to the education center. A small, still body of water surrounded by water-loving plants provides an ideal habitat for tadpoles in the spring. For those who want to explore the mechanical aspects of water, a swing pump and a water trough offer numerous opportunities to try things out and experiment.
A creatively designed barefoot trail provides a space to explore the often-neglected sense of touch. The national park’s most important tree species are located in the immediate vicinity and invite visitors to observe them closely throughout the different seasons. Visitors can explore firsthand, using binoculars and magnifying glasses, just how much life is contained in deadwood and how wood is transformed into life-giving soil with the help of numerous living organisms.
A spacious, oversized spider web serves as a giant hammock, inviting visitors to linger and explore the meadow from above—without leaving the usual footprints in the grass. Various meadow plants and animals can be observed in detail and identified.
Nestled in its new surroundings is the historic “Lahnerkaser,” an alpine hut dating back to 1848 that originally stood at the foot of the Watzmann in the national park. Since it had not been in use there for many years, it was dismantled and carefully rebuilt at the Haus der Berge. The goal was to preserve as much of the historic structure as possible. The interior of the hut was also left unchanged; local craftsmen faithfully recreated an open hearth, and the small cellar room was also reconstructed.
As part of alpine pasture programs for groups and school classes, participants not only get to know the romantic side of alpine pasture life but can also experience firsthand how simple—and often arduous—life on the alpine pasture was in earlier times.
The sunny herb and vegetable garden provides a habitat not only for native plants. In addition to essential culinary herbs, various Mediterranean species as well as rare varieties of fruits and vegetables thrive there. Thanks to the garden’s organic cultivation methods, the plants are ideal for further processing in the Wiesenküche. As part of group programs, participants get to know the different plants with all their senses and learn interesting facts about their uses and medicinal properties.
The “Haus der Berge” serves as the “gateway” to the Berchtesgaden National Park. Whether you’re planning a visit to the protected area or reflecting on one, you’ll find important information and tips here. The “Haus der Berge” is not a substitute for visiting the national park, but rather an excellent starting point or conclusion for all hikes within this unique natural gem—which, by the way, is Germany’s only Alpine national park!
