Balderschwang in the Allgäu

Three hours away. Far from any sign of civilization. Accessible only via a rugged trail from Hittisau. The beginnings of a village. Balderschwang.

The Balderschwang High Valley remained wilderness well into the 13th century. It was only when farmers from Hittisau began searching for a place to graze their summer pasture livestock that they started clearing the valley, cutting down the vast forests, and rafting the timber down the Ach River toward Bregenz. As a result, the valley became lighter, brighter, and more fertile, allowing shepherds to use it for their young livestock during the summer.

The cleared areas were divided into grazing and pasture rights and used collectively in proportion to the number of head of cattle owned by each rights holder. The alp, which was presumably first cleared by a man named Balthasar Balder, gave the entire valley its name: Balders Wang.

The history of Balderschwang is, at first, identical to that of the lower Bregenzerwald. The Counts of Montfort of Feldkirch were the local rulers. It is said that the first wooden chapel for the shepherds who spent the summer on the alp was built as early as 1569. It was not until the 17th century that it became common for outsiders to purchase grazing rights and thereby acquire shares in the alpine pastures. The Weingarten Monastery was the first to take advantage of this and acquired the Riedberg Alp—or the so-called Schwabenhof—in 1679. The Weingarten steward began converting the monastery’s grazing lands into meadows, thereby creating the possibility of storing hay supplies. This made it possible to spend the winter on the monastery alp for the first time in 1684.

It was only from that time on that the valley began to be cultivated. The first settlers arrived—including those who remained in the wilderness year-round—and thus laid the foundation for an independent community: Balderschwang.