Zugspitze

The Zugspitze is the highest mountain in Germany, rising an impressive 2962 meters. Hundreds of thousands of visitors reach the cross on its summit every year, whether after a comfortable ride with the funicular or by tackling the steep ascent on foot. Hans Engels has undertaken the strenuous, but spectacularly beautiful climb and has chosen the alpine primordial landscape to be the protagonist of his incredible photographs. The photographer's view takes in both the idyllic simplicity of the landscape as well as great plays of nature. Engels' sublime photographs capture craggy rock formations or deep gorges cut through by springs. Nevertheless, traces of civilization in his photographs, like the mine in the Hoellental valley and the research station next to the ice fields on the glaciers, are often juxtaposed in fascinating contrast to an ostensibly untouched natural setting.