Starzlachklamm


Useful Information

Location: Wanderparkplatz Starzlachklamm, 87527 Sonthofen.
A7 Kreuz Kempten, towards Lindau, exit 3 Waltenhofen, B19 to Sonthofen, exit Sonthofen, B308 towards Bad Hindelang. In Sonthofen, turn left onto Berghofer Straße, to the suburb of Winkel.
(47.531715, 10.309503)
Open: MAY to OCT daily 9-17.
[2022]
Fee: Adults EUR 3.50, Children (6-15) EUR 2.
Groups (10+): Adults EUR 2.50.
Parking: 3h EUR 2, day, EUR 3.
[2022]
Classification: GorgeGorge
Light: n/a
Dimension:  
Guided tours: self guided
Photography: allowed
Accessibility: no
Bibliography: Dieter Buck (2006): Der Sturzbach, der über Felsen springt: Die Starzlachklamm, in: Dieter Buck, Fundort Natur Allgäu. Ausflüge zu Natursehenswürdigkeiten, Verlag ars vivendi, Cadolzburg 2006, 2. Auflage, S. 81–83, ISBN 3-89716-205-9. Deutsch - German
Address: Tourismusverein Sonthofen e. V., Goethestraße 8a, 87527 Sonthofen. E-mail:
Klammwirt, 87527 Sonthofen, Tel: +49-8321-88988. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1932 Developed by Sonthofen Baumeister (master builder) F. X. Ammann.
1972 Landscape protection area Protection of the Grünten area, the Great Forest, the German Alpine Road and the Wertach Valley designated.
1983 Renovation of the gorge and new construction of the Klammhütte (gorge hut).
2018 Klammhütte extensively renovated.
2020 Railings destroyed after storm damage in winter renewed and aluminium sheets fitted to all metal walkways.

Description

The Starzlachklamm (Starzlach gorge) was cut by the Starzlach river, which rises at 1070 m asl between Grünten and Wertacher Hörnle. It is also fed by numerous rivulets. Like many gorges in the Alps, this one was not formed by today's stream but by the melting waters of the last ice age. The large amounts of water and the steep gradient led to a very fast and narrow incision and thus to the formation of the narrow gorge. This also explains the name of the stream, an "Aach" like all the others in the area, but "Starzl" comes from topple. So it is the Aach jumping over rocks.

The rock of the gorge is so-called Nummulitenkalk, named after the fossils that occur in large numbers, the Nummulites. Nummus is Latin for coin, they are coin-shaped fossils with calcite shells. Nummulites are a family of circular or elliptically shaped single-celled organisms from the group Foraminifera, in the order Rotaliida. In other words, they are not shellfish, as is the case with similar-looking fossils, but extremely large single-celled organisms. These also produced a multi-chambered shell of biconvex discs, similar to an ammonite that was fossilised. They lived in the Middle Oligocene, about 30 million years ago, in an arm of the sea that is already considered to be the beginning or precursor of the Alpine folding. The rocks were then uplifted in the last 10 million years during the orogeny of the Alps. A somewhat rarer fossil from this period is the crab (Xanthopsis sonthofenensis) which even has its type locale here and was named after Sonthofen. The gorge is part of the Allgäu Geopark and a designated geotope with the geotope number 780R005.

The tour starts in Sonthofen-Winkel at the Starzlachklamm car park. It takes 20 minutes to walk up to the Klammhütte, a café that also serves snacks. This is also the ticket office for the gorge, which is not freely accessible. However, the entrance fees are moderate and used to maintain the gorge paths. The gorge is run by the non-profit Sonthofen Tourism Association.