Piding
Piding is an approved climatic spa in Bavaria near to the border of Austria close to Bad Reichenhall and Freilassing. Geography. Geographical position. Piding is located in the middle of the "Landkreis" Berchtesgadener Land. The municipal area corresponds to a natural expanse: It is bounded by the mountains Hochstaufen (1771 m) and Fuderheuberg (1.350 m) in the South, by the river Saalach in the East and by the hill Högl in the North-West. In the North-East the Saalach shapes the borderline to Salzburg (Austria). Districts and Neighbours. The districts are Piding, Kleinhögl, Bichlbruck, Urwies, Mauthausen, Staufenbrücke and  Pidingerau. Immediate neighbours are the town Bad Reichenhall and the municipalities Ainring and Anger. History. Archaeological troves shows, that the region was already populated in the New Stone Age (about 2800 BC). During the construction of the (former) ski-lift at the Fuderheuberg in 1970 copper bars from the Bronze Age were found. Religions. The Catholic parish "Maria Geburt" (birth of Mary) is responsible for this churches: Development of population. 1790: 635 inhabitants; 1910: 864; 1946: 1,540; 1985: 3,996; 2000: 5,093; 2002: 5,257. Coat of arms. The municipal coat of arms from 1962 refers to the former relations to arch -monastery and chapter Salzburg (black lion's head) and to the Höglwörth Abbey (cross-over silver keys). Politics. Municipal council. Elections in 2014 Mayor. First (governing) mayor is Hannes Holzner (CSU), second mayor Walter Pfannerstill (FWG) and third mayor Dr. Bernhard Zimmer (Grüne). Economy and infrastructure. Traffic. Next to Piding is the last exit of the motorway A 8 (Munich-Salzburg) in front of the border to Austria. The federal road B 20 (Berchtesgaden-Oberpfalz) is tangent to Piding. Piding has its own railway station on the Freilassing-Berchtesgaden railway line.