September 16, 2026, 9:08 am | Read time: 3 minutes
In the Bavarian salt town of Bad Reichenhall, a very special gondola has been operating on the local mountain, Predigtstuhl, for nearly 100 years. Still preserved in its original form, the Predigtstuhlbahn has been transporting guests since 1928. Today, it is the only cable car in the world that is a protected monument due to this status. TRAVELBOOK tells the story of the “Grande Dame of the Alps.”
According to the official site of the Predigtstuhlbahn, its history begins in 1928. Actually, it started a few years earlier. After World War I, the once-proud spa town of Bad Reichenhall suffered from a decline in visitors. Alois Seethaler from Hotel Axelmannstein and spa director Josef Niedermeier consulted various experts in 1926 and 1927 on how to address this issue. One of them was engineer Alois Zuegg, the inventor of modern cable car technology, a revolutionary breakthrough at the time. He is known to have said about his later cable car creation: “Considering the demanding spa clientele of Bad Reichenhall, it must not lack elegance and comfort.”
Landmark of the City
The inventor subsequently teamed up with manufacturer Adolf Bleichert, the then-world leader in cable car construction. They enlisted Wilhelm Kars, director of the company Hochtief, as the architect for the Predigtstuhlbahn project. At the same time, he was also building the Ammer Bridge Echelsbach, then the world’s longest-spanning Melan arch bridge. With the “Bleichert-Zuegg System,” they perfected cable car construction, culminating in the creation of the proverbial masterpiece in Bad Reichenhall.
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In July 1928, the Predigtstuhlbahn began operations amid great enthusiasm and worldwide press attention. Newspapers at the time praised the cable car’s speed, silence, and safety. Soon, Bad Reichenhall, thanks to the new landmark, once again became a meeting place for the international bohemian crowd. The gondola was such a success that Adolf Bleichert built two more cable cars based on the same principle, which, like the Predigtstuhlbahn, are still in operation today. And not just anywhere, but in and around Barcelona. One is the cable car to the Benedictine monastery Montserrat, and the other is the harbor cable car in the tourist-favorite city.
Still in Use Unchanged Today
Over time, the Predigtstuhlbahn proved to be the technical marvel it was designed to be during its construction. In fact, it is still preserved in its original form today, making it the oldest cable car of its kind in the world. Since 2006, it has been a protected monument, the only active gondola to hold this designation. Even its original carrying cable from 1928 is still in use. With a power of 150 horsepower, it transports guests to the summit of Bad Reichenhall’s local mountain at a speed of 18 km/h. It covers a distance of 2,380 meters, overcoming an elevation difference of 1,140 meters and a maximum gradient of 75 percent.
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During maintenance of the Predigtstuhlbahn in 2023, the running gear and cabins were renewed, faithfully reproduced in Austria and Italy. Today, about 60,000 guests use the world’s oldest cable car still in its original state each year. The reason there aren’t more might be the rather steep price for using the “Grande Dame of the Alps.” Adults currently pay 57 euros for a round trip, while children up to 16 years old still pay 39 euros.