Hiking (mountain trail, in places narrow and exposed)
Alpine route (equipped or very exposed section, snow field, blocks)
R55
St. Gerold » Feldkirch
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4h50 |
21 km
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273 m
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677 m
Via Thüringerberg, the village which has always been known as the main gate to the Große Walsertal valley, as all of the paths from Schnifis, Bludesch and Thüringen meet here, the trail reaches Feldkirch. Feldkirch is the westernmost town in Austria and, with the Schattenburg neighbourhood, boasts the best preserved medieval townscape in the province of Vorarlberg.
At the provostry of St. Gerold (848m), the signs point in the direction of the woodland’s edge, where a footpath takes you down through the wood to the Klostertobel ravine. From the ravine, head uphill again. You will reach a road that must be followed until reaching a group of houses, from which another footpath leads through a woodland ravine to the valley road. From there, an almost 20-minute walk along the road is still unavoidable to get to the village of Thüringerberg (877m) (St. Gerold – Thüringerberg in a total of 1h 15min). In Thüringerberg, a municipal road branches off between the parish church and the road bridge to the Parzelle Außerberg farmland. Take this road until reaching a wayside shrine where the trail continues straight ahead following the course of the historical trail. You will come to the Parzelle Hagen farmland (840m) at a little meadowland terrace, after which a short woodland path leads to the Gschading-Gütle woodland meadow. The route now follows a road until reaching the crossroads at the Plattenhof farmstead (785m), from where it takes a quarter of an hour to reach the centre of the Walgau village of Schnifis (657m) (Thüringerberg – Schnifis 1h 30min). A few steps past the church in Schnifis and the trail turns to the left onto the former district road, which must be followed until reaching a sign pointing to a turnoff along a footpath to the left. The trail leads along the outskirts of the wood and finally through meadows into the little village of Röns (610m; Schnifis – Röns 30min). Pass the parish church of Röns and follow the route along a road through a woodland hollow and afterwards through mountain forest down the valley to Satteins (Röns – Satteins 1h). From the signpost in the village centre at Satteins parish church (495m), keep heading in the direction of Schildried. From the northern edge of the village, walk upward through meadowland for a short while and in woodland until reaching the road that leads through the hollow of the Schwarze See lake to Rankweil. After crossing the road, you will come to an idyllic meadowland track to the Kristhof farmstead, after which a municipal road takes you to the hamlet of Schildried (469m; 1h from Satteins). A little flat road brings you closer to the Ill river and you will come to the point at which this major river of the Walgau region is bridged by the motorway and the railway line. This also brings you past a covered wooden bridge that used to be a road connection for Göfis – Frastanz. Now, after long stretches of walking in the mountains, Via Alpina once again reaches a main valley floor. It carries on for a while along a road beside the banks of the Ill until reaching a railway underpass. Here, take an agricultural road for a few minutes up to the houses at the Parzelle Stein farmland (488m; 30min from Schildried). From there, it is not even half an hour to the town of Feldkirch. To get there, we used the access to a forest path. In the Illschlucht ravine, walk for a few minutes following the course of the former road and railway road to the eastern end of the town and enter the old town at the foot of Schattenburg Castle (458 m). (Christina Schwann, OeAV)
Natural and cultural heritage
The lower half of the slopes on the Walgau valley’s sunny side, made of flysch rock and carpeted in green as far as the Walserkamm ridge, often has distinctive scarps. These terraces are reminiscent of the Ice-Age melted ice streams on the edge of the Illgletscher glacier. The Ried hollow below Röns and the sloping terraces of Röns and Schnifis along the route are the remains of such a river bed of melted ice. On the subsoil sealed by ground moraines, there are numerous damp biotopes. The hills between Feldkirch and Satteins were already populated in prehistoric times (e.g. in the Bronze Age on the Vatlära hill). For the early settlers, the easily accessible nearby area around the primeval trail from Rankweil through the hollow of the Schwarze See (Black Lake) to Satteins was of particular interest. Excavations have come up with traces of Roman settlements, for example on the so-called Heidenburg (pagan castle) between Göfis and the Schwarze See lake and a Roman villa near Satteins. Göfis is mentioned in a Raetian property inventory of 842 by the name of Segavio, and Satteins as Sataginis. In the Middle Ages, castles were also built here of which only modest ruins can still be seen today. Close to Schildried lie the remains of a castle of the Knights of Sigbert just 10 minutes off the route and above Satteins, the walls of a castle of the Knights of Schwarzenhorn can be seen. Both castles were destroyed in the first half of the 15th century. This section of the Via Alpina route touches several times on historical transportation routes. In the Illschlucht ravine, it follows the railway road for a while, which was built in 1872 and closed in 1992 after the construction of a tunnel. Just before the ascent to Stein, it changes onto the federal road closed in 1980 while on the ravine road built in 1537 with its bridge over the Ill. In the Schildried area, the considerably wider Ill riverbed was already crossed at a ford as early as Roman times. A short distance downstream, a bridge was erected in the Middle Ages at a narrow point in the river. It was, however, repeatedly destroyed in times of flooding. The covered wooden bridge that is still there today was buit in 1921. Today’s traffic crosses the Ill river beside it on the iron railway bridge and on the high concrete pillars of the motorway bridge. The memorable battle of Frastanz took place on the other side of the Ill on 20 April 1499, in which the 10,000 strong army of Emperor Maximilian was defeated by the army of the Swiss Confederation, which was almost the same size. When it became obvious that the Emperor’s would be defeated, many fleeing soldiers tried to escape from the battlefield over the Ill bridge from Frastanz to Göfis, which at the time was the only bridge. Legend tells of a farmer by the name of Bertsch, a Walser from the Frastanzer mountain and his seven sons who lost their lives in the heroic defence of this bridge. (Christina Schwann, OeAV)
Useful topographic maps
Wanderschönes Feldkirch ~ Amt der Stadt Feldkirch (1:25.000)
Wandern in Vorarlberg - Walgau-Sonnenseite ~ Amt der Vorarlberger Landesregierung (1:40.000)
Wanderkarte Biosphärenpark Großes Walsertal ~ Tourismusvereine u. Gem. des Großen Walsertales (1:40.000)
WK 364 Bregenzerwald ~ Freytag&Berndt (1:50.000)
Nr. 2 Bregenzerwald, Westallgäu ~ Kompass (1:50.000)
ÖK 50 141 ~ Bundesamt für Eich- und Vermessungswesen
Websites relative to natural and cultural heritage
Favourites, criticisms ? Make your personal comments on this stage. For more general notes please use the comments section of the page Over to the Via Alpinists.
Meiner Meinung nach ist der Weg von Thüringerberg bis nach Schnifis sehr schlecht beschildert.
POPEYE GG - 2019-02-04
Lundi 2 juillet 2018
Partis de Satteins du fait de manque d'hébergement depuis St-Gérold, nous arrivons en fin de matinée à Feldkirch, par le château-fort de Schaffenburg d'où nous avons une vue imprenable sur les beaux toits de la ville.
C'est l'heure de la séparation d'avec Thierry. Je me retrouve seul. Pas d'hébergement bon marché; il fait beau: je décide de continuer jusqu'à Fedkircher Hütte, ce ne sont que 7,5km, et en plus arrivée dans un cadre superbe et sympathique.
Automatic translation
[Google]
Monday, July 2, 2018 Satteins parties due to lack of accommodation from St. Gerold, we arrive in the late morning in Feldkirch, by the castle of Schaffenburg from where we have a breathtaking view of the beautiful roofs of the city . It's time for the separation from Thierry. I find myself alone. No cheap accommodation; the weather is nice: I decided to continue until Fedkircher Hütte, it is only 7.5km, and more arrived in a beautiful and friendly.
The Tourist Office is in the Montfort House, just as you enter the old town. Look for the green 'i'. Very helpful people, they will give you a Via-Alpina overview map. I was sent to a pension way out of town, easily reached by bus. There is also a Youth Hostel close to the station (which was full then).
According to the people in Gasthof Thüringerberg there is NO accomodation in this village, nor in Schnifis. So I had to take the bus back to St.Gerold, Gasthof Kreuz. Pleasant stay there.
tof - 2014-12-27
Trieste-Monaco le 13/8/14
Bivouac à Hagen (promontoire).
Epicerie à Schnifis, ouf!
A Feldkirch arrivée par un étroit chemin entre le tunnel ferroviaire et la rivière. Peu engageant mais ça passe.
Camping de Feldkirch en banlieue à 3kms environ. Bon accueil, calme, supermarché non loin.
Automatic translation
[Google]
Trieste-Monaco on 13/8/14 Bivouac in Hagen (headland). Grocery in Schnifis, phew! A Feldkirch arrival by a narrow path between the railway tunnel and the river. Uninviting but it happens. Camping Feldkirch in the suburbs about 3kms. Welcome, quiet, supermarket nearby.
A Thüringerberg, il y a une chambre d'hôte très bon marché chez une dame charmante. Pour réserver:
Frau Rosemarie Bischof
6721 Thüringerberg
Innerberg 141
Tel 05550/4324
(Prise de pitié, en me voyant partir sous une pluie qui n'en finissait pas de tomber depuis plusieurs jours, elle m'a offert un parapluie !)
Automatic translation
[Google]
A Thüringerberg, there is a guest house very cheap at a charming lady. For reservations:
Frau Rosemarie Bischof
6721 Thüringerberg
Innerberg 141
Tel 05550/4324
(Taking pity, seeing me from under a rain that would not stop falling for several days, she offered me an umbrella!)
(St. Gerold -> Feldkirch): Instead of staying in Feldkirch (which i did), you can go directly up to the Feldkircher hut which is on the next day etap.
This takes about only 2 more hours from the entrance to Feldkirch and allows you to stay on a hut instead of a town with quite expensive accomodations.
|
4h50 |
21 km
|
273 m
|
677 m
Favourites, criticisms ? Make your personal comments on this stage. For more general notes please use the comments section of the page Over to the Via Alpinists.