Farms in Kleinwalsertal - Walser culture

Farms in the Kleinwalsertal

The farms in Kleinwalsertal are not the only places where you can experience the Walser culture. But they are good starting points. When you go on vacation on the farm, contact with locals is included. What better way to get to know the way of life in a region than the local people. They show you how they live. Maybe you have the opportunity to take part in life on the farm? Children enjoy getting closer to animals. Who knows, maybe one or the other farmer will initiate you into the specialties of the region? Inquiries are worthwhile. A vacation on a farm in Kleinwalsertal is definitely an opportunity to experience the Walser culture up close with the local people. However, there is hardly any real Kleinwalsertal farm that offers farm holidays. Instead you will find a holiday apartment on the farm in Kleinwalsertal.

 

Walser culture - not only on farms in Kleinwalsertal

How interesting the Walser culture in Vorarlberg in Austria you can not only experience it on farms. In Mittelberg we were on the trail of the Walser culture. Anyone reading our blog knows that we are very interested in the way of life and the history of the people whose homeland we visit on our travels. It was no different in Kleinwalsertal. There we discovered that the Kleinwalsertal tourism authority publishes its own cultural guide, in which one can read the original and the original Kleinwalsertal Can be found.

It costs a few euros, an expense that we think is worth it. In it we learn a lot of interesting facts about the Walser culture, their costumes, the farms in the Kleinwalsertal, their way of life and much more. In order to experience and see some of it for ourselves, we have to travel to Kleinwalsertal even more often, because you cannot see the real Walser costumes in everyday life. To do this, we have to come to Kleinwalsertal on one of the festive days of the year. The same is true if we want to hear their music. It's easier if we want to hear the typical Walser dialect. It is the same with Walser specialties: Walser Chääs Chnöpfle we even cooked ourselves. We have some of the culinary specialties of Walser cuisine in the Restaurants of the Kleinwalsertal tried. But there is more to discover. This time we decide to take a tour through Mittelberg, where we follow in the footsteps of the Walser culture.

 

 

Experience Walser culture on the cultural path around Mittelberg

The Walser culture guide lists a whole series of places that bring us closer to the Walser culture. We begin our tour of the Parish Church of St. Jodok in the middle of the center of Mittelberg. A stone on the outside wall of the choir of the church with the year 1302 is interpreted as an indication that there was already a Christian building at that time. The cemetery and a new chapel were created 1390. Before that Mittelberg belonged to the parish fish in the Allgäu, which meant a church course of about 20 kilometers. The belief had to be strong to take on this long march every Sunday. 1693 gave the church its current appearance: it was extended, received a sacristy and a gallery. An avalanche had crashed into the valley and invaded the nave. Therefore, one walled the main entrance and opened two side entrances.

However, we enter the church through the 1897 reopened main entrance. This is due to the construction of a small one Lourdes chapelthat stands directly in front of it. She runs on the side facing the mountain pointed and is said to break the violence of avalanches.

 

 

Three atonement crosses testify to tradition

At the entrance to the church we discover one of three ancient atonement crossesthat exist in and around Mittelberg. They tell grisly stories of murder and manslaughter, because they were ordered by parishioners in the period between the 14. and 16. Built by murderers in the 16th century, they had to cut the crosses themselves out of the stone and set them up on the scene of their misdeeds. The cross in front of the church is reminiscent of a man who murdered his three brothers after drinking in Bödmen. He had a lot to do, because at each crime scene was one of these crosses. One of them has disappeared. The other two are still there. At the request of the congregation, he was sentenced to death, but at the cost of repenting the placement of these stones and arranging a pilgrimage to Rome.

 

 

Walser stables like on a Kleinwalsertal farm

If you follow the main road through Mittelberg in the direction of Baad, you will see shortly after the village on the right side of the hill two typical Walserstallsone of which dates back to the year 1430. One of the beams used in its construction dates back to the year 1410. Such a Walserstall consisted of two floors. In the lower, the bricked part of the building, the cattle was housed, which found a warm shelter in it. Above it was a hay-room where the peasants stored the hay they carried down their backs from the mountain pastures. This room was surrounded by air-permeable wooden walls, through which fresh air flowed. It is interesting that these stables were built avalanche safe. For this purpose, a dam of stone and earth was built on the mountain side, which guided the snow masses around the building. The two Walserställe of Mittelberg have weathered the centuries so well since 1430 and 1560.

 

 

The Mohrenwirtschaft - the oldest house in Mittelberg

We do not want to miss out on our Walser culture tour around Mittelberg the oldest house of the place, This is the Mohrenwirtschaft (the house Drechsel) from the 15. It was probably one of the first inns in Mittelberg. The oldest part of the building dates from the year 1452. According to a law from the year 1569 each place was only allowed to own an inn near the parish church. During the fair, whose visit was mandatory, no one was allowed to stay there. In addition, this had the advantage that shady shapes could be found easier.

 

 

An old Kleinwalsertal farm

Below Mittelberg in the neighboring town of Bödmen is a typical Walserhaus from the year 1552. Originally it consisted of only one room, but it was expanded just a few years after its completion. Typical of these farms in Kleinwalsertal is the orientation across the valley and the stone-covered shingle roof, which has already been replaced by a modern metal roof on this house. The entrance lets the sun into the house. How such a Walserhaus is furnished, we looked at our first visit to the Kleinwalsertal in the museum in Riezlern. The house was expanded four times. Among other things, a horse stable was added, which dates from the time when the Walser Säumerdienste performed. This means that their horses transported valuable goods such as wine, silk, jewelery, tools and dairy products on alpine passes across Tyrol to Italy.

 

 

Typical for a Kleinwalsertal farm - the Heinzen

On a Walser house in Mittelberg we discovered strange wooden poles hanging under the eaves on the facade. You see these again and again when driving through Kleinwalsertal. These are typical farms in Kleinwalsertal. Our Facebook page helped us with our research here. I had posted a photo online there and asked if anyone had any idea what these poles were for. To me they looked like scythe handles, except that the metal blades were missing. However, it quickly became clear that I was wrong. They are Heinzen, which you often see on the walls of traditional houses or Walser stables. These are poles that are set up in the mountain meadows in summer and the hay is piled up over them so that it dries. The grass is laid in small bunches over the three crossbars, and the hay is of particularly good quality thanks to this type of air drying.

There are other traces of the Walser culture to discover in and around Mittelberg. There are also Walser culture trails in Hirschegg and Riezlern, which are described in the Kleinwalsertal Tourismus culture guide. Get it at the tourism office in the Walserhaus in Hirschegg. We recommend you to explore these cultural trails to the farms in the Kleinwalsertal. There are many interesting things to discover.

 

 

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Travel Arrangements

Parking at the airport

Here you can reserve your parking space at the airport.

Arrival by plane, car, bus and train

Compare and book flights here*. (Advertisement) The nearest airport is MunichYou can also travel by train. The train goes to Oberstdorf. From there, bus #1 takes you to Kleinwalsertal.

Car Rentals:

Cheap car hire - book quickly and easily!

Rent Motorhomes:

Book motorhomes in Europe here!  Or would you rather stay in one instead? roof tent on the car? Also the overnight stay in  camping tents is possible. For example, you can find a campsite at Alpencamping Haller, Köpfleweg 10a, 6991 Riezlern, Austria. With our Motorhome packing list Plus, you'll never forget anything again.

Accommodations in the region:

Accommodation for online booking is also available in Kleinwalsertal* via Booking.com.

If you book through one of these offers, we receive a commission, which we use to run this blog.

 

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Do you know this?

• Mountain railways in the Kleinwalsertal
• Restaurants in the Kleinwalsertal
• Road trip through the Kleinwalsertal
• Kleinwalsertal Eating and drinking
• Blooming mountain meadows in the Kleinwalsertal
• Art and culture travel
• How did the farmers once live in Franconia
• Holidays on the farm at the Chiemsee

 

Source Kleinwalsertal holiday apartment farm: research on site. We would like to thank Kleinwalsertal Tourismus for inviting us to this trip. However, our opinions remain our own.

Text Kleinwalsertal holiday apartment farm: © Copyright Monika Fuchs and TravelWorldOnline
Photos Kleinwalsertal holiday apartment farm: © Copyright Monika Fuchs and TravelWorldOnline