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When it comes to the Alps, Austria and Switzerland have the largest shares in the Central European mountain range, but France, Italy, Monaco, Liechtenstein, Germany and Slovenia also have - sometimes large - shares. When it comes to Alpine experts who know this fascinating natural area in the heart of Central Europe like the back of their hand, Werner Bätzing, now professor emeritus from the Institute of Geography at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, is at the forefront. The homepage of his university website, with a welcome in German, English, Italian, French and Slovenian, shows that he is one of those who thinks outside the box. His classic, the “Alpine Book”, was first published in 1984 and has been available in its fifth edition since spring 2026.
The second author, Georg Bayerle (born 1967), has a doctorate in literature and has been working as a journalist for Bayerischer Rundfunk since 1999. His subject and his passion is the world of mountains. As a passionate mountain athlete who is on the move all year round, his reports and contributions, as well as his book "Alpen-Apell", which is now in its 2nd edition, are based on profound personal knowledge.
Bätzing divides his classic into five large chapters, which he has extensively revised and expanded since the fourth edition in 2015. The 502-page book is aimed at a "general public who is interested in the Alps and their special environment, culture and economy." (page 10). Accordingly, it is written in an easy-to-understand manner; numerous notes (from page 417) and an extensive bibliography form the scientific basis of the classic.
At the beginning (from page 13) the question is “What are the Alps?” Cultural and natural conditions and Alpine boundaries are defined here. A narrow demarcation would only include areas above 2,000 meters in altitude, a medium-sized demarcation would include the entire mountain body including valleys, and a wide Alpine demarcation would also unite - in natural terms - their foothills (page 23). From a political point of view, one speaks of a "perialpine space", from the EU's perspective this would be the "Alpine Space", a 450,000 square kilometer area where more than 80 million people live.
Part two, "The Alps in the Agricultural Age", begins in the sense of a historical perspective with the first farmers who approached the Alps via the Riviera and the Rhone Delta from around 6,500 BC (page 50) and ends with an analysis of the diverse environmental destruction in the agricultural age. Mining (gold, silver and salt) should be mentioned as an example. The associated consumption of wood led to large-scale clear-cutting with the well-known consequences such as increased erosion.
From page 133 onwards it is about the “collapse of the traditional Alpine world and the new forms of use of modernity”. We are talking about industrial society and the transport development of the Alps (page 141 ff) through to the characterization of the present. Industry, tourism, Alpine cities, but also the "Alps as a moated castle and battery of Europe" including environmental problems (page 235) and nature conservation - combined with a double-sided map of the protected areas in the Alpine region (page 248f) as a response to the new situation, are united here.
The second half of the book belongs to the chapters “Accounting for and evaluating the major changes” and from page 373 to the question of “The future for the Alps?” Bätzing describes the change on different levels. He speaks of economic change, with questions of devaluation but also revaluation, as well as ecological change. Cultural change is about the devaluation of everyday Alpine culture through museumization. He notes that "of all the traditional events in the Alps, only a small part has really old roots, while the largest part was reinvented in the 19th century or even later." (page 303).
The author draws up various scenarios for the future of the Alps. The following example is the trend scenario (page 375ff), according to which everything would continue as before until 2050; but that is unlikely. The scenario of a global economic crisis looks bleak (page 382f), where the remaining economy would concentrate on the cheaper locations in the big cities, which would result in a reduction in economic power in the Alpine regions combined with resettlement. He outlines a strong cultural identity as the desirable future of the Alps (page 387ff), with agriculture and forestry playing a key role.
In a final outlook (page 413f), Bätzing calls for an integrative approach in order to be able to deal with all problems appropriately. He considers it essential to look at the entire Alpine region from Vienna to Nice in a European and global context. As a basis for this, “my Alpine book should be a suggestion,” he concludes.
Bayerle wrote his Alpine appeal in a handy paperback format and - unlike Bätzing - often relies on striking headlines. He takes us through the medias res of the five chapters in quick succession. “Data, Facts Observations: How Nature Changes” is the introduction. “In a T-shirt to Mont Blanc” is what he calls the first subchapter. Naturally, it's about the extreme rise in temperatures in recent years, especially the hot summer of 2024, which broke all records. Using the example of Sölden, where the first World Cup race took place on October 26, 2024, he shows us the enormous effort that went into making the start of the Alpine Ski World Cup possible. No expense or effort was spared to lay a white strip of artificial snow over the bare rock at an altitude of 3,000 meters, where the Rettenbachferner once was.
Under "Higher, faster, further: How we react to change" you can find topics such as the planned construction of a pumped storage power plant in the Kaunertal. “The Battle for Water” is about drought. Here Bayerle shows us the Po south of the Alps, which will be reduced to a trickle by 2023. When it comes to water, not only farmers point out, tourism also reports its need, as it is important to have enough water available in retention basins for snow cannons. "New Sheet Metal Avalanche" shows us the dramatic volume of traffic, as well as dramatic facts: "Only a third as many trucks drove over all four major Swiss Alpine passes (San Bernardino, Gotthard, Simplon and Great Saint Bernard) as over the Brenner Pass." (page 50).
The book not only lists dramatic scenarios with catchy words, it also shows lighthouse projects that give rise to hope. There is, for example, Innervillgraten in East Tyrol: the 2005 winter season was advertised here with the slogan “Come to us, we have nothing”. The words had an effect, over the last 20 years the valley has established itself as a destination for ski tourers after the town successfully resisted the construction of lifts. Strengthened regional identities can also be found elsewhere. In Vorarlberg the Bregenzerwälder Käsestraße is mentioned, in Salzburg the “Bauernherbst” with regional cuisine should be mentioned.
From page 147, the last chapter, "The Alpine Appeal: How we can still save our mountains", there are rays of hope. To put it simply, the Alpine appeal is: “Everything with moderation and purpose.” A passage from the chapter “Depth of experience requires obstacles and time”. Bayerle, who travels a lot himself and knows what he's talking about, writes on page 150: "Reaching a summit on your own is a completely different experience than going up with the cable car. That doesn't mean that there shouldn't be any cable cars. But the number needs to be limited and not expanded." Continuing in the original tone: “This is not a plea against the tourism industry.” He calls for change: "It can draw more from the regional cycles and does not have to meet every comfort requirement."
Conclusion: "The Alps - History and Future of a European Cultural Landscape", the life's work of the Alpine expert Bätzig, is convincing as a well-founded classic and forms the basis for all questions dealing with the Alps. "The Alpine Appeal - why the mountains must not become a fun park" is a broad panopticon of current problems and challenges in the Alpine area, which shows once again that the Alps are in many dangers. (Thomas Hofmann, July 10, 2026).