Cattle Fair in the Allgäu

Starting September 9, the 5th season begins in the Oberallgäu.
“Scheid isch …!”
How often do I hear this question from our guests when they ask, “Karl, do you guys have something like a cattle drive down from the alpine pastures …?”
Just hearing the word “ALM” makes my hair stand on end. NO! We don’t have Almabtrieb here—we have ALPABTRIEB! In our friendly neighboring country of Austria and in Upper Bavaria, there are “Almen”—here in the Allgäu and in Switzerland, there are “Alpen.” Difference? There isn’t one!

“Sennberg”—what on earth is that? Why is the laundry hanging on the line here? Do people live up here all year round? Do the kids go to school? Don’t they have electricity? What do they do in the winter? Are there still people willing to take over this work? Every day, in the morning when it “tagert” (gets light) and “zoabad” (gets dark), seven days a week, from late May or early June until “Scheid”?

Question after question. Which I’m happy to answer together with those involved—the shepherds and mountain folk.
That’s true. The people of the Allgäu are extremely taciturn. It’s not for nothing that they say: “You can stack 10 Allgäuers on top of each other, and the one at the bottom is just as grumpy as the one at the top!”
However, if someone isn’t saying anything, it’s either because his wife has been giving him a hard time, the livestock is scattered and not all accounted for, or because “dr’Grind weahduat” (his head hurts) since, for whatever reason, the night before was spent drinking too much Allgäu beer.

In any case: What the Wiesn is to Munich, “Scheidzit” is to us!
Especially since I go to the Wiesn once a year in memory of my father, who worked there as a bartender when he was a young man. That’s where I learned what “beer stretching” was all about. Because from a “Hirschen” (a 100-liter beer keg), the bartenders had to pour 150 Maß. The bartender’s earnings were whatever exceeded 150 Maß (1 Maß = 1 liter).

The day before, I look forward to the “Scheidwanderung” to the “Schellaaleaga”—a hike held the day before the festival, when the pasture bells are exchanged for the “Zugg’schelt.” And, of course, I look forward to the actual hike on the day of the festival to Obermaiselstein. There, the brass band plays, and the ox on a spit is usually already eaten by the time we arrive. There’s excellent beer, we watch the festivities, and sooner or later we’ll return home blissfully.

And the next day, we might be a bit taciturn.

With that in mind,
. Sincerely, Karl Traubel

Livestock Fair in the Allgäu

• Oberstaufen and Balderschwang on September 11, 2026
• Gunzesried, September 16, 20269
• Thalkirchdorf, September 18, 2026
• Obermaiselstein, Immenstadt, and Missen on September 19, 2026
• Bolsterlang on September 23, 2026