From the Spitzsteinhaus lodge, Via Alpina follows the forest road towards the southwest past the Goglalm meadow to Erlerberg (nicer to take the hiking trail over the Goglalm, which later meets the road to Erlerberg again). Keep to the right, passing several wayside shrines. The road later turns left again towards the southwest, soon diminishing into a footpath and heading across meadows and woodland to Obersteigental and Untersteigental. From Obersteigental, continue along a road that leads down to the Erl Passionsspielhaus theatre. Erl is above all known for the Passion plays. But the annual Tyrol festival is also held in Erl in July, during which the focus is mainly on classical music. In Erl, follow the road to the left towards the south, following the sign to the Blaue Quelle spring. In the Mühlgraben neighbourhood, cross the River Inn at the old customs house and thus the German-Austrian border. Cross the motorway in a westward direction and follow its course for a short distance (Inntal cycle route). Then cross the Auerbach stream and immediately after the bridge, turn off to the right and follow the Auerbach stream for a short distance, before turning to the left along the railway tracks to reach the train station and village centre of Oberaudorf.
From Oberaudorf, cross the River Inn at the customs house and follow the trail up to the Blaue Quelle spring - Mühlgraben - Steigental - Anzing and the Steinbeißried car park. Fro here, keep to the right along the trail to the Goglalm meadow and the Spitzsteinhaus lodge.
(Michael Kleider, Christina Schwann, OeAV)

The Spitzsteinhaus lodge is situated on Austrian territory, but is run by the German Alpine Club. It is a member of the “so schmecken die Berge” (this is how the mountains taste) project, through which high quality products from mountain farming are sold to alpine club huts at fair prices. This strengthens the regional economy and shortens distribution channels. At the same time, the mountain farmer takes care of the preservation and maintenance of the alpine cultural landscape, while the inn hosts can offer high quality dishes. The onward trail reaches Erl, which lies at the foot of the Kranzhorn on the right bank of the Inn river. A discovery was made during the church renovations in 1980 which proves that the area was already populated in Roman times. The name Erl thus derives from “praedium Aurelianum” (Aurelian estate). Due to its border location, many wars have unfortunately marked the history of the town. In the years 1703 and 1809, the entire locality was burned to the ground. The Passion Plays tradition (play depicting the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ) began in Erl in 1613 and dates back to a solemn pledge in the time of the plague. Erl is thus the oldest German-language Passion Play location. The Passion Play theatre, newly built in 1951 (the first burned down in 1933) can accommodate 1,500 spectators and after the church is the second symbol of the town. In addition to the Passion plays, which take place once every six years (the next are from May-October 2008), the theatre is also used as a concert hall. For example, it is host to the annual Tyrolean festival plays of Erl (next date in July 2005). The mighty Inngletscher glacier from the Ice Age has hollowed out the wide Inntal valley, a so-called trough valley, and thus marked the topography of the landscape. The Inntal can look back over a very eventful history; even in Roman times, an important trade route led through the Inntal valley, linkning Augsburg with the Brenner region. Today, numerous castles and ruins still bear witness to the significance of this trade route over the centuries. As the water masses of the Inn river used to meander freely in the valley, the Inn was feared due to its floods and people avoided settling close to its banks. It was only in the 19th century that the Inn was straightened out and forced into a fixed riverbed. Oberaudorf is framed by the Kaisergebirge, Brünnstein, Wildbarren and Spitzstein mountains, and with its 4,600 inhabitants is the main town of the upper Bavarian Inntal valley. The now major climatic health and winter sports resort was discovered in 1850 as a summer holiday resort and in 1857 achieved the ideal preconditions for the expansion of tourism thanks to the railway connection (Rosenheim – Kufstein line). Painters from Munich used to seek out romantic alpine subjects here. Folklorists in the 19th century also came to the Inntal valley and the adjoining mountain area, as it was the dwelling place of an until then little known race that was suitable for their research: farmers’ wives, hunters, poachers, woodcutters and alpine farmers.
(Michael Kleider)