ENGarmisch-Partenkirchen hospital, officially Klinikum Garmisch-Partenkirchen, is the hospital of the alpine resort town at the foot of the Zugspitze in Upper Bavaria. It is a general district hospital with a round-the-clock emergency department and a strong focus on joint replacement and injuries.
It is sought by skiers and hikers after accidents, by relatives of admitted patients and by patients abroad referred for an orthopaedic operation. It is easy to confuse with its neighbours. BG Klinikum Murnau in nearby Murnau is a separate trauma hospital with another owner; other hospitals are in our directory of hospitals in Germany. The German Centre for Paediatric and Adolescent Rheumatology (Deutsches Zentrum für Kinder- und Jugendrheumatologie) in the town itself is also an independent specialist hospital, and a separate article covers juvenile arthritis treatment in Germany.
About the Hospital: Size, Status and Focus
It is a large district hospital that also trains doctors. By its own figures, its 490 beds serve 20,000 inpatients a year, and another 65,000 people a year are treated as outpatients. The sole owner is the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Landkreis), and the hospital itself is run as a limited company (GmbH). It is an academic teaching hospital of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU): medical students and young doctors train here.
Orthopaedics and trauma surgery come first here because a mountain region with ski slopes, trails and climbing routes brings many injuries. The hospital calls the care of injured athletes a local tradition and works with sports clubs and federations, including the German Ski Association. Its trauma department is certified as a regional trauma centre (regionales Traumazentrum) under the rules of the German Trauma Society (DGU) and as a geriatric trauma centre (Alterstraumazentrum). The endogap Klinik für Gelenkersatz specialises in hip and knee replacement and is certified under the EndoCert system as an EndoProthetikZentrum der Maximalversorgung, the higher of two certification levels. Our overview covers orthopaedics and trauma surgery in Germany.
Departments and Areas of Care
Besides orthopaedics and trauma surgery, the hospital offers adults internal medicine for digestive, heart, lung, cancer and blood diseases, as well as care for older patients. Surgeons operate on the abdomen, chest and blood vessels, urologists on the kidneys and urinary tract. Babies are delivered here, and paediatricians treat children and teenagers, including sick and premature newborns. Department names are given as on the hospital website.
- Allgemein-, Viszeral-, Thorax- & Onkologische Chirurgie — general, abdominal, chest and cancer surgery
- Anästhesie & Intensivmedizin — anaesthesia and intensive care
- endogap Klinik für Gelenkersatz — hip and knee replacement
- Gastroenterologie, Hepatologie, Stoffwechsel & Nephrologie — digestive, liver, metabolic and kidney diseases
- Gefäßchirurgie & Gefäßmedizin — vascular surgery and medicine
- Geriatrie & Alterstraumatologie — care of older people, including injuries
- Gynäkologie & Geburtshilfe — gynaecology and obstetrics
- Kardiologie, Pulmologie & Rhythmologie — heart, lung and heart rhythm disorders
- Kinder- & Jugendmedizin — paediatrics, from newborns to teenagers
- Onkologie, Hämatologie & Palliativmedizin — cancer, blood diseases, palliative care
- Pathologie — tissue examination for diagnosis
- Physiotherapie & Sportmedizin — physiotherapy and sports medicine
- Radiologie & Nuklearmedizin — imaging and nuclear medicine
- Unfallchirurgie, Sportorthopädie, Kindertraumatologie & Handchirurgie — injuries, sports injuries, children’s trauma, hand surgery
- Urologie, Urochirurgie & Urologische Onkologie — urology, including tumour surgery
- Zentrale Notaufnahme — round-the-clock emergency department
- Gastroenterologie, Kardiologie & Onkologie am Standort Murnau — internal medicine in Murnau
- Augenheilkunde and Hals-Nasen-Ohrenheilkunde — eye and ENT care by doctors in private practice (Belegabteilungen)
Accidents in the Mountains: Emergency Care for Visitors
In an emergency, call 112, the free round-the-clock emergency number; on ski slopes and mountain trails, the mountain rescue (Bergwacht) is alerted through the same number. The call goes to the rescue control centre in Weilheim, which sends rescuers, a doctor or a helicopter and decides where the patient goes: sometimes Klinikum Garmisch-Partenkirchen, which has a helipad, sometimes the trauma hospital in Murnau or one of the hospitals in Munich.
Relatives abroad should have the patient’s passport, the insurance documents and the name of the ward ready, as both the hospital and the insurer will ask for them. Who pays, including whether travel insurance covers the treatment, is clarified with the insurer. What to do when a hospital is needed quickly is explained in our article on urgent hospital admission.
Location and Stay
Garmisch-Partenkirchen lies in the Werdenfels region close to the Austrian border; the nearest major international airport is Munich, and direct regional trains run from Munich to the town (lines RB 6 and RE 61). Innsbruck airport, across the border in Austria, is even closer. Relatives will find many hotels and holiday flats in the resort. In the hospital, elective services (Wahlleistung) can be booked for an extra charge: a single or double room, treatment by the head of department and a wider choice of meals, also for self-payers without insurance.
Frequently asked questions
Is Garmisch-Partenkirchen hospital a university hospital?
No. It is an academic teaching hospital of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU), where medical students do part of their clinical training and young doctors train as specialists. The hospital itself is independent and not part of the university: its sole owner is the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
Where are injured skiers and hikers taken near Garmisch-Partenkirchen?
The rescue service chooses the hospital, not the patient. After a 112 call, the control centre sends the mountain rescue, an ambulance or a helicopter and decides where to take the injured person: the Garmisch-Partenkirchen hospital, the trauma hospital in Murnau or another hospital. Relatives should find out early which hospital and ward the patient is in.
Are Garmisch-Partenkirchen hospital and BG Klinikum Murnau the same hospital?
No, they are separate hospitals with different owners. BG Klinikum Murnau belongs to the BG Kliniken, the hospital group of Germany’s statutory accident insurance, and specialises in severe injuries and rehabilitation. Confusingly, Klinikum Garmisch-Partenkirchen also runs an internal medicine site, Klinikum Murnau, on the trauma hospital’s grounds.
How AlenMed Arranges Treatment at Klinikum Garmisch-Partenkirchen
For a planned operation, AlenMed translates the medical documents and scans into German and sends them to the relevant department, which decides whether it can take the case and issues an estimate (Kostenvoranschlag). Our page on arranging treatment in Germany describes the whole process.
If the hospital accepts the patient, payment goes directly to it, and after the deposit it issues a visa invitation; an interpreter attends consultations, and the patient is met on arrival. Klinikum Garmisch-Partenkirchen is not one of AlenMed’s partner hospitals. The company office is in Munich, partner hospitals are spread across Germany, and if another hospital suits the case better, we say so.
This material is for reference only and is not an offer. The treatment plan is decided by the doctor at a face-to-face consultation.