Bregenzerwald (Bregenz Forest)  Date of Submission: 01/08/1994
Criteria: (iv)(v) Category: Cultural Submitted by: State,
Province or Region: Ref.: 27 Cultural landscapes Word File
An impressive landscape on the north side of the Alps, the
Bregenzerwald has largely maintained its traditional farming
structure including the specific types of farmstead buildings.
In the long-stretched linear or nucleated villages many of the
characteristic Bregenzerwald farmsteads of the 18th and 19th
centuries have been conserved. They reflect in their shapes and
styles the economic history of the country, the regional
agricultural conditions, but also the early onset of industrial
development in Vorarlberg which is embodied in the rural
architecture of the time. Many small textile processing
workshops in the farming milieu are a testimony to this
development. A number of villages, such as Thal, Schwarzenberg,
or Schoppernau, still have some fine examples of original
"Walderhauser" (Forest Houses) to illustrate this larges