Bavaria pledges €53.5 million to rebuild the Königssee ice track

In the night of 17–18 July 2021, heavy rain during the floods that hit western and central Europe triggered a mudslide at Schönau am Königssee, in the Berchtesgaden Alps of Bavaria. The slide badly damaged the bobsleigh, luge and skeleton track, which had opened in 1968 and is regarded as the world's oldest artificial ice track.

The venue was a fixture of international sliding sport, regularly hosting World Cup rounds and world championships. Its loss left athletes and federations without one of their most important training and competition sites.

After the damage was assessed, the Bavarian state government committed to financing the reconstruction. The cost was put at roughly €53.5 million, with reports also pointing to support from the German federal government, though the exact split was not clear from the sources reviewed. The decision cleared the way for planning and building work to begin, and it settled the question of whether the historic track would be rebuilt at all.