The gilded cross on Germany’s highest peak has too many stickers. Now it’s being restored

BERLIN AP Visitors to Germany s highest peak will have to do without the landmark gilded cross at its summit for the next sparse weeks A helicopter on Tuesday lifted the cross from the -meter -foot peak of the Zugspitze a mountain shared between Germany and Austria in the Bavarian Alps for restoration Why Because visitors keen to leave their mark have plastered it with stickers over the years The cross which is meters feet tall and weighs kilograms pounds is being taken to the workshop of craftswoman Andrea W rzinger in nearby Eschenlohe German news agency dpa stated W rzinger plans to thoroughly remove the thick layer of stickers sand the iron underneath and then add new gold leaf where needed With gold prices high she explained that we want to try to gild it only where there is no longer gold The current cross was made by her father Franz W rzinger in replacing the original from which was damaged beyond repair She noted that when it was first re-gilded after about years there were three stickers on it in there were about and now there are hundreds It s easy to reach the top of the Zugspitze which gets around visitors each year by mountain railway and cable car But the actual peak with its cross is a short climb away from the summit station where visitors gather to enjoy spectacular views Selfies around the cross are sought-after and the area can get crowded and slippery on busy days Not all visitors come with suitable shoes Specific resort to risky acrobatics to put stickers on an uncovered part of the cross In July a replica cross was inaugurated inside the summit station in hopes that people will take their selfies and slap their stickers there instead of risking the climb to the peak W rzinger and the Bayerische Zugspitzbahn the operator of the railway and cable cars that lead to the summit from the German side hope the work will be finished and the cross back in place in time for the beginning of the ski season on Nov Source