The Königssee bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track is a venue in Germany for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton, located in Schönau am Königssee, Bavaria, near Königssee (German for "King's Lake") and the border with Austria. Completed in 1968, it is the first permanent, artificially refrigerated bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track in the world. In July 2021, the track was severely damaged by the floods that affected the European continent, and is currently under reconstruction.
In 1967, Königssee hosted the European luge championships on a naturally refrigerated track.[1] Later that year, it was decided to construct a permanent, reinforced concrete structure that was artificially refrigerated. The track, initially for luge, was completed in 1968.[2] The first international competition took place the following year with the FIL World Luge Championships.[3]
On 3–4 December 1977, the track hosted the first Luge World Cup event won by Paul Hildgartner (Italy - men's singles), Andrea Fendt (West Germany - women's singles), and Italy's Peter Gschnitzer and Karl Brunner (men's doubles).[4]
Bobsleigh was added to the track in the 1970s in time for the track to host their sports' championship event in 1979, the first time any track would host both bobsleigh and luge in the same year in a non-Winter Olympic year (the track in Igls, Austria, was the first to do this at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck).[5] [6] [7]
Skeleton competitions began in the late 1970s, hosting the world championships in 1990.[8] The track was part of Salzburg, Austria's unsuccessful bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics in 2007.[9] In October 2008, it was announced that the track would undergo a renovation project from 2010 to 2016.[10] Costing € 21.7 million to do, the track is being done in part of Munich's bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics. Renovation includes extending the finish line and a new building near turn 16 and is scheduled to be complete by 2012. The starting area of the track will be started in 2014 and will finish in 2016.[11] On 28 February 2009, it was announced the track would host the 2011 FIBT World Championships after the original winner, Cortina d'Ampezzo, withdrew to issues with the city and the track.[12] The 29th and last Luge World Cup at the track prior to renovation took place on 2–3 January 2010. Bobsleigh and Skeleton had their last World Cup prior to renovation the following weekend.[13]
Track renovation was done during the rest of 2010. At the end of March 2010, the Turbodrom Kreisel turn caught fire following some welding work and was badly damaged. Renovation of the refrigeration plant was carried out in December 2010 with ammonia being pumped in on the 18th. Olympic champion Felix Loch made the first run on the luge part of the track on the 23rd in time for the World Cup event on 5–6 January 2011. The renovation was also done for the 2011 FIBT World Championships that took place in late February.[14]
In 2021, the track was severely damaged by the flooding across Europe. According to BSD (German Bobsleigh and Luge Association) President Thomas Schwab, it would take until October 2022 before the track will return to competition status. There was no ammonia refrigeration leak though to the piping being shut off to the end of the season.[15]
On April 22, 2024, work began on the reconstruction of the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track with the dismantling of the men's luge start as well as the damaged track segments down to curve 5. The construction phase of the bedload dosing barrier, ammonia and long-distance lines will start in October 2024 and repair work on the Bobstart building in early 2025.[16]
| Luge - men's singles | 1.3622NaN2 | 16 | 10.35% | |
| Skeleton | 1.272NaN2 | 12 | 9.20% | |
| Bobsleigh | 1.272NaN2 | 13 | 9.30% | |
| Luge - women's singles | 1.2422NaN2 | 12 | 9.20% | |
| Luge - men's doubles | 1.2422NaN2 | 12 | 9.20% |
| 2, 3 | Eiskapelle | German for "Ice chapel" | |
| 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 | Schlangengrube/ S-Kombination | German for "Snake pit"/ S-combination in (Four turns in quick succession without a straight (labyrinth)) | |
| 13. | Turbodrom | 320-degree Kreisel (circular) curve. | |
| 16. | Josef Fendt Kurve | Originally Echowand and later Seekurve (Lake curve), renamed in November 2020 for Fendt, who served as International Luge Federation president from February 1994 to November 2020. Fendt won World Championships on this track both in 1970 and 1974. | |
| 17, 18 | Zielhaus | German for "Finish house". |
Turns 1, 4, 10, 11, 12, 14 and 15 have no names listed in the track diagram.[19]
| Bobsleigh - two-man[21] | Start | Beat Hefti & Thomas Lamparter | 10 Jan 2009 | 4.80 | ||
| Bobsleigh - two-man[22] | Track | André Lange & Kevin Kuske | 9 Jan 2010 | 49.00 | ||
| Bobsleigh - two-woman[23] | Start | Kaillie Humphries & Heather Moyse | 9 Jan 2010 | 5.25 | ||
| Bobsleigh - two-woman[24] | Track | Cathleen Martini & Romy Logsch | 9 Jan 2010 | 50.37 | ||
| Bobsleigh - four-man | Start | Oskars Melbārdis, Helvijs Lūsis, Arvis Vilkaste, & Jānis Strenga | 15 Jan 2012 | 4.77 | ||
| Bobsleigh - four-man | Track | André Lange, Kevin Kuske, René Hoppe, & Alexander Metzger | 3 Feb 2008 | 48.38 | ||
| Luge - men's singles[25] | Start | (tie) - David Möller & Jan Eichhorn | 6 Jan 2008 | 3.229 | ||
| Luge - men's singles | Track | Albert Demtschenko | 3 Jan 2010 | 47.049 | ||
| Luge - women's singles[26] | Start | Silke Kraushaar | 8 Jan 2005 | 2.962 | ||
| Luge - women's singles | Track | Tatjana Hüfner | 5 Jan 2008 | 47.262 | ||
| Luge - men's doubles[27] | Start | Tobias Wendl & Tobias Arlt | 2 Jan 2010 | 2.847 | ||
| Luge - men's doubles | Track | Patric Leitner & Alexander Resch | 5 Jan 2008 | 46.921 | ||
| Skeleton - men | Start | Aleksandr Tretyakov | 2 Feb 2008 | 4.56 | ||
| Skeleton - men[28] | Track | Frank Rommel | 9 Jan 2009 | 47.44 | ||
| Skeleton - women | Start | Lindsay Alcock | 28 Feb 2004 | 4.96 | ||
| Skeleton - women[29] | Track | Mellisa Hollingsworth | 8 Jan 2010 | 48.78 |
1979, 1986, 1990 (men's skeleton), 2004 (all bobsleigh and skeleton events), 2011, 2017
1967 (As a natural track.), 1972, 1973, 1977, 1988, 1994, 2017
1969, 1970, 1974, 1979, 1999, 2016, 2021