Bad Reichenhall / Germany
Alpine Town of the Year 2001
Facts & Figures
Inhabitants
Protected landscape areas
Area in km²
Bad Reichenhall is a large district town and the capital of the Berchtesgadener Land in the administrative region of Upper Bavaria. Today the town looks back on a four-thousand-year-old settlement history, which is largely linked closely to the extraction of salt from brine. Since the middle of the 19th century the town has been known far beyond the borders of Germany as a health and holiday resort, with numerous brine springs and baths. Bad Reichenhall is therefore strongly dependent on tourism and the spa industry.
Conscious of its responsibility to preserve this capital, Bad Reichenhall has taken a variety of steps to preserve its natural resources long before any Agenda 21 or Alpine Convention was formulated. In addition to a responsibility towards the population and future generations, the main motivation for this was the spa industry which had been established in Bad Reichenhall by the middle of the 19th century.
For many years the town has been striving to promote sustainable tourism and is a member of the Alpine Pearls tourism cooperation.
The jury said…
During the course of the Year, the Alpine Town of the Year has particularly undertaken to reflect critically on the situation and function of the town in the Alpine region, to ensure the active participation of the population, to enhance relations with the surrounding region, to realise concrete examples of sustainable development in the spirit of the Alpine Convention and to cooperate with other towns in and outside the Alpine region.