Ortler is, at 3,905 m (12,812 ft) above sea level, the highest mountain in the Eastern Alps outside the Bernina Range. It is the main peak of the Ortler Range. It is the highest point of the Southern Limestone Alps, of South Tyrol in Italy, of Tyrol overall, and, until 1919, of the Austrian-Hungarian empire. In German the mountain is commonly referred to as "König Ortler", like in the unofficial hymn of South Tyrol, the Bozner Bergsteigerlied.
The Ortler seen from the North ridge showing the normal route of ascent
Austrian mountaineers at Ortler peak in 1891
Payer house on the North ridge
Highest trench in history near the Ortler's peak, 1917
The Eastern Alps are usually defined as the area east of a line from Lake Constance and the Alpine Rhine valley, up to the Splügen Pass at the Alpine divide, and down the Liro River to Lake Como in the south. The peaks and mountain passes are lower than the Western Alps, while the range itself is broader and less arched.
Piz Bernina (centre-left) with the Biancograt to the left, Piz Scerscen (centre-right) and Piz Roseg (right), seen from Piz Corvatsch
Delimitation of Western and Eastern Alps
The Upper Engadin valley near St Moritz.
Zuers at the Flexenpass in Vorarlberg.