A summer in the Alps.
A blend of mountain idyll, hard work and living tradition.
By the time the day is slowly getting underway down in the valley, quite a bit has often already happened up on the mountain pasture. The first chores have been done, the animals have been tended to, and perhaps the milking has already taken place. Dew still lies on the meadows, the mooing of the cows can be heard from the barn, and the sky is slowly brightening above the peaks.
Summer on the alp sounds like a break from it all. It evokes images of green meadows, cowbells and a hut with a view. And yes – that’s exactly what it can be like. But life up here is far more than just an idyllic backdrop.
An alp is a workplace, a home, a farm and a natural environment all in one. For a few weeks or months, it becomes the centre of life. The daily rhythm is not dictated by appointments in the calendar, but by the weather, the animals, the pastures and whatever needs doing.
In Vorarlberg, this form of farming has a long tradition. More than half of the land used for agriculture is managed as alpine pastures. Around 40,000 animals spend the summer on more than 500 active alpine pastures. Around 1,000 people look after the animals, pastures and alpine produce during this time.
Why ‘Alpe’ and not ‘Alm’, actually?
Anyone new to Vorarlberg will sooner or later come across this small but subtle difference: here, it’s called an ‘Alpe’, not an ‘Alm’.
This isn’t a marketing gimmick, nor is it a particularly Alpine term for a mountain hut. In Vorarlberg, ‘Alpe’ is the common term for mountainous areas used for agriculture. The term belongs to the Alemannic linguistic area and distinguishes Vorarlberg linguistically from many other regions of Austria, where the term ‘Alm’ is more commonly used.
Summer in the Alps
Summer in the Alps
Summer in the Alps
Summer in the Alps
In Vorarlberg, pastureland has been and continues to be used across several altitude zones: in early summer, people and livestock first head for the lower pastures, known as ‘Vorsäße’. Later, they move further up into the High Alps, before gradually making their way back down into the valley in autumn.
It is difficult to pin down a single time for a typical day on an alp. The weather, the livestock, the division of labour and the type of alp all play a part.
The only certainty is this: sleeping in isn’t necessarily part of the plan.
On some alps, the working day begins as early as five o’clock in the morning. Looking after the animals, milking, doing stable work, checking the pastures, inspecting fences, organising feed or carrying out tasks around the hut – it’s rarely a dull moment.
And what do the animals get up to all day?
And quite a lot of it.
What at first glance looks like pure relaxation is, at the same time, an important part of agriculture. Pasture farming makes use of land that would be hardly suitable for other forms of agriculture. At the same time, this practice helps to ensure that open mountain meadows are preserved and do not gradually become overgrown with scrub.
It’s easy to romanticise life on the alpine pastures. And, of course, it has its magical moments.
There’s that moment in the early morning when the first light falls over the mountains. The fresh air. The lush green of the meadows. The tranquillity. A view that doesn’t end at the next house wall, but stretches somewhere between the peaks and the sky.
Yet behind this panorama lies hard work.
Alpine farming is an important part of Vorarlberg’s cultural landscape. It maintains grazing land, shapes the landscape and produces high-quality products. At the same time, it is a living part of regional culture – not something confined to a museum, but something that is brought to life anew every summer.
This tradition is also evident around Warth-Schröcken.
Farmed alpine pastures around Warth-Schröcken.
- Alpe Felle
- Alpe Batzen
- Lower Auenfeldalpe
- Alpe Körb
- Alpe Bürstegg
- Alpe Hirschgehren
- Alpe Hochalp
- ...
The ‘Ufm Tannberg’ Alpine Museum also illustrates just how closely agriculture, craftsmanship and life on the Tannberg in days gone by were intertwined.
So, when you pass an alp on a hiking trail, you don’t just see a pretty hut set against an imposing mountain backdrop. You see a place where people are actually working.
Cheese, milk and the satisfaction of knowing where they come from.
On many of Vorarlberg’s alpine pastures, milk and alpine products are processed right there on the spot. Mountain cheese, in particular, is closely linked to traditional farming practices. The summer months in the mountains are therefore not only part of the animals’ annual cycle, but also of the region’s food culture.
And perhaps that is precisely why a snack on the alp tastes a little different.
Not just because of the view.
But because there is a whole story behind the cheese, bread and fresh mountain air: pastures, animals, weather, craftsmanship, experience and many hours of labour.
But the alpine summer does not last forever.
Depending on the location and farming practices, the season begins in early summer and usually ends in late summer or early autumn. Around Warth-Schröcken, various alpine pastures are occupied from early July until early or mid-September.
And then comes the moment towards which the whole summer has been building: the descent from the alpine pastures.
The animals leave the summer pastures and return to the valley.
Alpine cattle drive
Alpine cattle drive
Alpine cattle drive
Alpine cattle drive
The cattle drive down from the alpine pastures.
The summer months are over.
The days grow shorter, the nights cooler.
Eventually, it is time to make the journey back down to the valley.
The Alpine cattle drive is far more than simply moving cattle from A to B. In Vorarlberg, it is one of the year’s great farming traditions and has been practised in the Bregenzerwald for centuries. In many villages, the animals are festively decorated for the drive and welcomed by the people in the valley. Music, markets, regional specialities and communal celebrations are part of the festivities in many places.
So what remains of a summer on the Alpe?
Perhaps it is precisely this combination.
The slow pace and the physical labour. The silence and the early start. The freedom and the responsibility. The spectacular sunrise – followed by the less spectacular, but equally necessary work that still has to be done.
And perhaps that is precisely why life in the alpine pastures continues to fascinate to this day.
It’s authentic.
Anyone hiking through Warth-Schröcken in summer can experience this interplay: green slopes, animals grazing in the pastures, traditional alpine pastures, regional produce and paths that lead right through a centuries-old cultural landscape.
Perhaps that’s why, next time, it’s worth not just walking straight past an alp.
Stop for a moment.
Let your gaze wander.
Listen to the tinkling of the cowbells.
And realise that up here, it’s just a normal working day.
A rather special one, though.