The Berchtesgaden Salt Mine, one of Germany's most important tourist attractions, is celebrating a milestone birthday in 2017.In 1517, Gregor Rainer, Imperial prelate and provost of the Augustinian canons' monastery of Berchtesgaden, founded the Petersberg tunnel

of the Berchtesgaden salt works.Thus began the unique chronicle of 500 years of uninterrupted salt mining in the depths of the Bavarian Alps.As early as mid-2015, those responsible decided to develop a comprehensive overall concept with an image, campaigns, events and various advertising measures together with the Munich advertising agency marcon.In this way, the logo is intended to make a lasting mark on the 500 years.In combination with the slogan “immersion & experience”, it is already clear at this point that visitors can look forward to eventful hours above and below ground throughout 2017.

For the first time, a large-scale photo shoot was held in the area of active salt mining, documenting the work of the miners in high-quality images, which thus also provide impressive insights into the depths of the Alps on the huge and 50-metre-long wallpaper in the waiting area of the show mine.A creative hand was also applied in the redesign of the exterior façade of the visitor area, which is intended to create a desire to visit the mine underground as soon as you approach the mine site.

Advertising materials created especially for the anniversary, such as brochures, flags, posters or even advertisements, are intended to draw attention to the 500th anniversary and the associated salt mining with its long history.The flags are hanging all over Berchtesgadener Land and large posters will also be seen in Munich.The entire advertising presence is characterised by a high degree of authenticity, which “is made possible by the real image world with its miners from the mining area”, clarifies Botzleiner-Reber.High-quality promotional items such as pins, mini salt shakers and stickers leave their mark at a wide variety of events.In addition, there are various ways of cooperation with institutions such as the Association of Active Entrepreneurs in Berchtesgaden, the Berchtesgadener Land Tourismus GmbH or also the Bayern Tourismus Marketing GmbH, which contribute to placing the anniversary on a broad public basis.