Schönau am Königssee
Schönau am Königssee is a municipality in the district of Berchtesgadener Land in the German state of Bavaria. It is located at the northern end of the Königssee lake. Geography. Schönau is surrounded by the Berchtesgaden Alps; it is the southeasternmost German municipality, bordering on the Austrian state of Salzburg at the Hoher Göll massif and the Steinernes Meer range. The present-day commune was formed in 1978 by the merger of the former Schönau and Königssee municipalities. Since 1984 the municipal area also comprises the formerly unincorporated Königssee lake, the famous St. Bartholomew's Church and  the surrounding mountains from the east face of the Watzmann peak up to the Austrian border in the south, including the eastern part of Berchtesgaden National Park. From the lake, the Königsseer Ache creek runs down to Berchtesgaden. Due to its picturesque setting Schönau largely depends on tourism. It is home to a bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track that is the oldest permanent track in the world, having been constructed in 1968. Passenger services along the lake from Schönau are operated by the Bayerische Seenschifffahrt company using electric boats. History. Schönau was first mentioned in a 1456 deed, then one  of the eight historic localities ("Gnotschaften") of the Berchtesgaden Provostry. After the secularisation of the Prince-Provostry, Schönau finally fell to the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1810. May 25, 1945, Herman Goering’s solid gold statutes from his private loot were found by the U.S. Army in a mountainside cave near Schonau am Konigssee.