Ofterschwang
Encyclopedia
Ofterschwang is a municipality
in Oberallgäu
, in Bavaria
, Germany
. It is a professional winter sport
s venue, regularly used for Alpine skiing World Cup
events.
Ofterschwang is actually an agglomeration of several small villages in the foothills west of Sonthofen and east of the Austrian border. All are nestled in the rolling, grass and forested covered Alpine foothills, where one will find a place that seems ripped out of the pages "Heidi," or, "The Sound of Music," with cow bells ringing in the distance and authentic Bavarian mountain residents, often still wearing native dress and celebrating still the return in September of the cows from grazing in the summer highlands.
Ofterschwang proper is the place to find the Dorfsabend, or village evening, where traditional, authentic Bavarian culture including costume, dance, food, and beer, of course. A much more thoroughly ethnically, "German," location would be hard to find.
The area is mostly agricultural, producing lots of milk. But tourism is also a growing trade, with skiing in the winter and lovely strolling, hiking, mountain biking, parachute flying and other summer mountain sports both made accessible by chair-lifts and extended improved trails. There is a famous large hotel situated roughly in between the villages called Sonnenalp offering a private golf course, as well as many, many vacation apartments that are built into or built to resemble authentic houses of the area.
There is a fascinating main church with a memorial to those from the area lost in the Second World War, as well as small, one man size Chapels which appear as mini churches. The village clock-tower chimes every 15 minutes from 6 am to 6 p.m., regulating village life.
released a track called Ofterschwang by minimalist electronic DJ Jürgen Paape. The piece was inspired by traditional German brass music.
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
in Oberallgäu
Oberallgäu
Oberallgäu is a district in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Unterallgäu and Ostallgäu, the Austrian states Tyrol and Vorarlberg, the district of Lindau, and the state of Baden-Württemberg...
, in Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It is a professional winter sport
Winter sport
A winter sport is a sport which is played on snow or ice. Most such sports are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally such sports were only played in cold areas during winter, but artificial snow and ice allow more flexibility...
s venue, regularly used for Alpine skiing World Cup
Alpine skiing World Cup
The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup is the top international circuit of alpine skiing competitions, launched in 1966 by a group of ski racing friends and experts which included French journalist Serge Lang and the alpine ski team directors from France and the USA...
events.
Ofterschwang is actually an agglomeration of several small villages in the foothills west of Sonthofen and east of the Austrian border. All are nestled in the rolling, grass and forested covered Alpine foothills, where one will find a place that seems ripped out of the pages "Heidi," or, "The Sound of Music," with cow bells ringing in the distance and authentic Bavarian mountain residents, often still wearing native dress and celebrating still the return in September of the cows from grazing in the summer highlands.
Ofterschwang proper is the place to find the Dorfsabend, or village evening, where traditional, authentic Bavarian culture including costume, dance, food, and beer, of course. A much more thoroughly ethnically, "German," location would be hard to find.
The area is mostly agricultural, producing lots of milk. But tourism is also a growing trade, with skiing in the winter and lovely strolling, hiking, mountain biking, parachute flying and other summer mountain sports both made accessible by chair-lifts and extended improved trails. There is a famous large hotel situated roughly in between the villages called Sonnenalp offering a private golf course, as well as many, many vacation apartments that are built into or built to resemble authentic houses of the area.
There is a fascinating main church with a memorial to those from the area lost in the Second World War, as well as small, one man size Chapels which appear as mini churches. The village clock-tower chimes every 15 minutes from 6 am to 6 p.m., regulating village life.
Related information
In 2009, the German record label KompaktKompakt
Kompakt is a Cologne-based electronic music record label and vinyl/CD distributor, owned by Wolfgang Voigt, Michael Mayer and Jürgen Paape. They specialize in microhouse and minimal techno, and are known for their Total compilation series which reached its eleventh installment in 2010.Kompakt...
released a track called Ofterschwang by minimalist electronic DJ Jürgen Paape. The piece was inspired by traditional German brass music.