Siedlungsgeschichteweg (settlement history trail)

A leisurely hike with the Dornbirn Nature Friends group from the church on Bartholomäberg up to the Rellseck Inn (open from Saturday, May 24th). After a hearty lunch break, we continued our hike to Fritzensee, where we enjoyed a break with Sabine's homemade cake and admired the surrounding mountains, including Zimba & Co., the Three Towers, and more... After the break, we walked past the "Historic Mine" back to the bus stop on Bartholomäberg, where we took the bus and train back home.

The paved path starts at the baroque church in Bartholomäberg and goes straight uphill until we have passed the last houses in the village. Then we go to the left and forest and meadow paths alternate. They have one thing in common: 20% incline 🥵 A short breather at the mine. From here you can already see the Maisäß Hüsli on the Fritzensee. But up there it's a steep climb again. The SB Hüsli wasn't here on my last tour, but it's very convenient. After refreshment, we continue uphill on a wide gravel path through the forest, the purest mushroom flood, until we arrive at the Alpengasthof Rellseck. From here it is about an hour's steep descent back to the church.

Just arrived, the sun is shining. Suitcases can also be unpacked later. After all, hiking weather is not really in the forecast for the next two to three days. A trip to the Rellseck is always worthwhile

Can also be booked with a mountain guide: https://www.montafon.at/de/Veranstaltungskalender/Bergerlebnisse/Winterwanderung-Fritzensee_e_124320

The baroque parish church in Bartolomäberg serves as the starting point for today's tour. In order to reach it, the approach by car from the valley takes us a few meters further up until we reach the height of 1100 meters. Here, next to the church, there is a large parking lot. The hiking trail now curves along a small lane past homesteads and beautiful farms. From time to time a car comes towards us on its way down into the valley. The view down shows the parish church where we started as a small toy ensemble. The path continues and more and more mountain peaks can be seen. When the path leaves the road, it climbs a few more meters up the slope across meadows and soon reaches the entrance to the former St. Anna mine tunnel, which can be visited as a show mine, but is closed today. Another quarter of an hour further and a few meters higher, you reach Lake Fritza. A small drinks station provides refreshment and the small raft in the lake invites you to go on a small tour of discovery. On a wider forest path, the path now leads us first slightly downhill and then uphill again to the Rellseck restaurant. A magnificent vantage point down into the valley to Bludenz and the peaks of the surrounding mountains, such as the Zimba, the Schesaplana and the three towers. Even distant mountains can be seen. From the Itonskopf, I read later, Bartolomäberg's local mountain, there are probably 501 peaks in Austria, Switzerland, Italy and Germany that are kilometers away. - Well, we don't discover that many peaks from Rellseck. Nevertheless, the view is simply fantastically beautiful. When it's time to say goodbye, we let the hiking trail sign lead us back down the mountain. A pretty chapel along the way seduces my two boys to "ring the bell" and the bright tones of the chapel bell ring through the valley. Through forests, over meadows and finally again on a small road, we then reach our starting point again. We then enjoy a late-summer sundae on the terrace of the café of the Liebenau Foundation’s old people’s and nursing home. Conclusion: nice run-in tour. The paths are mostly wide, some are paved. We were able to enjoy the fact that the Bartolomäberg is nicknamed "sunny balcony in the Montafon" with every meter we walked today.

It rained heavily all night, but by breakfast the rain slowly eased. Nice hiking weather is forecast for the afternoon 👍. Still in the drizzle, we first drive to the organic farm shop Kristahof, the range is 100% regional and all products are “Körig & Sälgmacht”. Then we drive up and park in Bartholomäberg directly at the church with the green onion dome that can be seen from afar. We hike uphill on a beautiful forest path and soon find ourselves in historical terrain at the St. Anna tunnel, which is more than 1,000 years old. Further up we reach a magical clearing with weathered wooden huts on lush green alpine ground. Further up through meadow slopes, Fritzensee with its small Maisäß settlement becomes almost kitschy beautiful! Here the sun is already inviting us onto the beautiful terrace of a small hut, where we enjoy our snack from our backpack. Further up, thick drizzle clouds still hang over the forest. We therefore don't climb further up towards Monteneu, but instead take the panoramic path towards Rellseck. The clouds are clearing and leaving more and more space for the sun, we really enjoy the increasingly magnificent view. At the Rellseck Inn there is a magnificent Kaiserschmarrn on the panoramic terrace in a great setting. This also makes it clear what is meant by the sunny balcony. Our way back is garnished with breathtaking views. It is absolutely fascinating to watch how this fantastic mountain world gradually emerges from the clouds! A great experience! We can't get enough of it and are really looking forward to the next tours...!

Today in the Montafon. The mountain world looks more rugged there. Beautiful 😍

Now I could start and the first thing I looked at was the beautiful church, which I only knew from the outside. We continued on the marked winter hiking trail to the Rellseck with chapel and mountain inn. It's only open in summer and we've been mountain biking there. The specified circular hiking trail ended there, although the tour is specified by Touristik Montafon!? Then it just went back another way, which was well paved. Over the Fritzensee, covered under snow, we went past the visitor mine to Bartholomäberg. The whole thing was exhausting and not comparable to a normal hike.