Kleinwalsertal is a valley in the Austrian province of Vorarlberg and part of the Bregenz district. It includes the municipality of Mittelberg and consists of three villages along the River Breitach. Due to the geographic location in the Allgäu Alps with its alpine terrain, the Kleinwalsertal has no direct traffic connection to the rest of Vorarlberg. It is accessible only via Oberstdorf, Germany, to the north, and thus is an Austrian "practical exclave" or "pene-exclave".
Etymology The name of the valley derives from the Walsers who moved there from the Valais () in the 13th century (see also "Großwalsertal").
Geography
Natural geography The Kleinwalsertal is a high valley in the Allgäu Alps and is located in the east of Vorarlberg. The Breitach river runs through the entire valley and is fed by a few side streams, which come from the side valleys of the Kleinwalsertal.
The Kleinwalsertal is almost completely surrounded by high mountains of the Allgäu Alps, which are part of the northern eastern Alps. Its highest elevation is the Großer Widderstein at . followed by Hoher Ifen , Kanzelwand , Walmendingerhorn , Fellhorn , Elfer and Zwölfer (Vorarlberg)
The Kleinwalsertal is cut off from the rest of Austria. A traffic connection exists only to the Bavarian town of Oberstdorf.
Four geological units meet in Kleinwalsertal. The Helvetic with the karstified Schrattenkalk (Ifen, Gottesackerplateau), the Rhenodanubian or Vorarlberg Flysch (Walmendingerhorn, Heuberg, Güntlispitze, Fellhorn) and the rugged rocks of the Eastern Alps (Northern Limestone Alps) made of main dolomite (the Walser Kerle: Widderstein, Elfer, Schafalpköpfe, Kanzelwand). The Arosa zone forms a narrow, patchy belt between the Flysch and the Eastern Alps. It contains the greatest variety of rocks and stretches from the Üntschenjoch, along the Bärenkopf across the Gemstel and Wildental valleys to below the Kanzelwand. Lias rocks on the Elfer and rocks of the Ultrahelvetic mélange in the Mittelalp area can also be found in Kleinwalsertal.
The main European watershed between the Rhine/North Sea and the Danube/Black Sea runs across the Gottesacker plateau and the Hohe Ifen to the Gerachsattel and on to the Hochalp Pass near the Widderstein.
Drinking water originates from five main springs of the valley, namely Kaltes Bächle ("Chalta Bächle") in Mittelberg, Humbachquelle, Walmendingerquellen, Quelle Sattelalp and Quelle Lüchle. As of 2021, the water quality was excellent.
Human geography The Kleinwalsertal includes the municipality of part of Mittelberg and consists of three villages which are situated along the River Breitach: Mittelberg, Hirschegg and Riezlern.
The official name of this entire municipality is Mittelberg after the first populated place. On an area of live 4,902 inhabitants with primary residence, which results in a population density of almost 51 inhabitants per square kilometre ().
Nature Conservation Kleinwalsertal is home to the Ifen European nature reserve, the second largest European nature reserve in Vorarlberg. The Hochifen and Gottesackerwände plant conservation area is even larger, with both conservation areas overlapping. Northwest of the Grünhorn - Schwarzwasserbach - Breitach line, the entire Kleinwalsertal is a nature reserve. The adjacent German areas near the Hoher Ifen are also protected. The Gottesacker karst landscape with the Höllloch cave system, the Schwarzwasserbach stream and the numerous raised bogs in the upper Schwarzwassertal valley are particularly ecologically valuable and worthy of protection.
History Finds of arrowheads and stone tools prove human settlement during stone age, 7000 years BC. At the Bärenkopf, a small mine for radiolarite was found. This was mined to produce stone tools and arrowheads. The Kleinwalsertal was populated by the Walsers in 1270, a group of people who migrated from what is now Switzerland. This Alemannic origin still distinguishes the inhabitants from the inhabitants of the surrounding communities by their dialect.
From 1891 until 1995, the Kleinwalsertal enjoyed a customs union with Germany, a free border, and used the German Mark as currency. Since Austria joined the European Union in 1995, followed by the signing of the Schengen Agreement (1997) and the introduction of the Euro (2002), this special status has no longer applied.
With EU accession goods from Austria had to be cleared in Germany or the import turnover tax had to be paid while German goods were free of taxes. Taxes were to be paid to the Austrian tax office in D-Mark until the introduction of the Euro. A special tariff was also applied to Swiss Post. Shipments to Austria were calculated according to the domestic tariffs of Austrian Post, those to Germany were to be freed with domestic port of the Federal Post.
In 1954, the public drinking water supply of the valley was established through creation of the Kaltes Bächle spring in municipality of Mittelberg.
Economy and tourism Today, the valley is Austria's third largest tourist destination. For centuries, the most important economic sector was agriculture, which is now only of marginal importance. As early as 1960, the number of overnight stays reached one million for the first time. In the tourism year 2001/02, there were a total of 1,678,180 overnight stays with a capacity of 12,000 beds.
Hiking and excursion tourism — especially for families with small children and senior citizens — is very pronounced. The selection of easy walking paths and moderately difficult hiking trails is correspondingly wide and well signposted. Mobility in the valley without a car is guaranteed with the closely timed Walserbus, which is available free of charge to tourists who pay visitor's tax and are holders of the Walser Card.
The good transport links to the north have also contributed to the strong development of tourism. It only takes around two and a half hours to travel from Stuttgart to Kleinwalsertal.
In 2003, there were 243 businesses in the village with 1573 employees and 144 apprentices; 2518 people were subject to income tax.
Winter tourism The importance of tourism is also reflected in the winter sports infrastructure. Embedded in the Kanzelwand/Fellhorn, Ifen, Walmendingerhorn and Heuberg ski mountains, the Kleinwalsertal ski area stretches across the entire valley with 103 kilometers of pistes—only interrupted by the Breitachbrücke (3-minute walk or bus) and the Schwarzwassertal (bus shuttle from the Parsenn mountain station to the Ifen valley station). The T-bar lifts near the valley are particularly suitable for beginners—in addition to the ski pass for the entire area, there are also beginner passes available. Neighboring ski areas are the Söllereck halfway to Oberstdorf (1 gondola and 4 T-bar lifts, 14 kilometers of slopes) and the Nebelhorn in Oberstdorf (3 gondolas, 2 chairlifts and 2 T-bar lifts, 13 kilometers of slopes). In total, the cross-border Kleinwalsertal-Oberstdorf ski area offers over 130 km of pistes in all levels of difficulty on 48 lifts (7 gondola lifts, 9 chairlifts and 15 T-bar lifts).
The first lift in Kleinwalsertal, the Parsenn T-bar lift, was built in 1940; soon after, in 1945, the Heuberglift was built as a single chairlift. The valley's first mountain lift, the Kanzelwandbahn, was completed in Riezlern in 1955 and renovated in 1989. The Walmendingerhornbahn was built in 1966. The Ifenbahn in Schwarzwassertal near the Gottesacker was opened in 1972 and completely renovated in 2016/2017 with 10-seater cabins and a 6-seater chairlift. There is also a fun park and a boarder park.
Cross-country skiing is possible on the Schwendel trail (12 km), the Küren-Wäldele-Egg trail (14 km) and the Steinbock trail (14.6 km) (plus 10 km skating trail) at an altitude of between 1044 m and 1290 m above sea level.
The area also contains more than 50 km of winter hiking trails. The Ifen, Parsenn, Walmendingerhorn and Kanzelwand cable cars, as well as the Heuberg and Zaferna chairlifts, transport pedestrians to summit stations or to these high-altitude trails.
Summer tourism In summer, guests mostly come for hiking. The hiking trails extend over three altitudes between 1,086 and 2,536 m. The trail network consists of 185 km of natural, marked hiking trails. They are flanked by 40 huts, alpine pastures and mountain restaurants. Kleinwalsertal is also the starting or finishing point of the "Great Walser Trail" from Zermatt to Kleinwalsertal or vice versa. In summer, 8 lifts are open in Oberstdorf to make the ascent and descent easier.
Kleinwalsertal is also the venue for trail running competitions and training camps. Three different altitudes between 1,100 and 2,500 m allow for training in different altitude and ground conditions, as well by people of varying ability.
Numerous bike tours and trails have been added relatively recently. e-mountainbikes in particular are often used by visitors to climb a little higher. The bike tours have been set up by the municipality along scenic or historic routes. Typical for the Kleinwalsertal is the "small border traffic" route across the German-Austrian border. This route leads along a panoramic path to Oberstdorf and along the Breitach river back to Kleinwalsertal.
There are also popular via ferratas in the region—the Mindelheim via ferrata (B-C) leads over the Schafalpköpfe in the Wildental valley. In 2007, the Kleinwalsertal Mountain School set up the challenging 2-country via ferrata (C-D) and the Walsersteig, the adventure route for beginners (B), on the Kanzelwand. The conditions for sport climbing on the Hohe Ifen and Bärenköpfle are among the best in the Alps. However, it is severely restricted or completely prohibited for reasons related to hunting (preservation of megafauna). These restrictions have been criticized by mountaineering associations as inappropriate and technically unsound, especially in view of the extensive development of the surrounding area. The magazine Alpin wrote that "[...] such a restricted area fits in well with the overall concept of the Kleinwalsertal: Hard and noisy tourism with great economic benefits there and a quiet zone here, where there is simply nothing to be gained." On the other hand, the authorities emphasize the need for a quiet zone for game in the valley, which is heavily used by tourists all year round.
Customs zone and impact of EU membership; postal and police services Since 1891, Kleinwalsertal has been a customs-exclusion zone and thus a German economic area (the treaty was restored after World War I as well as in 1945 between the Republic of Austria and the Federal Republic of Germany). This enabled the Walser population to trade duty-free with the neighboring Bavarian regions and made the exchange of goods much easier, because duty-free trade was no longer only necessary on foot over mountains and passes. After Austria joined the European Union in 1995, the special status of the Kleinwalsertal lost its significance, as Austria and Germany now belonged to the same economic area.
Until Austria joined the EU, goods from Austria had to be cleared through customs in Germany or import sales tax had to be paid, while German goods could be purchased duty-free. Until the introduction of the euro, taxes had to be paid to the Austrian tax office in Deutschmarks.