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The term Bergführer (mountain guide) has its roots in Austrian and German civilian mountaineering and Alpine traditions. Because official, professional mountain guiding institutions were tied to strict examinations by civilian Alpine associations (such as the Deutscher und Österreichischer Alpenverein) as early as the late 19th century, elite units belonging to the Wehrmacht and later the SS were created during the National Socialist era by drawing upon this civilian professional knowledge base. With the collapse of the Greater Germanic Reich, this special organization ceased to exist, yet the profession of mountain guiding itself returned to its civilian roots.