Archaeological finds indicate that the use of the conveniently located high pastures above the tree line is probably as old as the settlement of the Rhine Valley . In the High Middle Ages, the Walsers opened up the higher elevations with permanent settlements and expanded the alpine economy mainly to the areas used today. Until the 16th century, the Walser Alps were not owned by the village community, as was usual for the population living in the Rhine Valley. All of them were groups of individual farmers who took the Alps as fiefs and bought them.
In 1562 the local people of Triesenberg merged their private valleys, but not the Maiensaß , and regulated their use with share rights. In 2000 the Triesenberg parish became the property of the political municipality .
Economic system
Maiensäss Silum. View from the front silum to the Grauspitz .
In order to use the settlement area as intensively as possible, there is a mixed hay and pasture industry instead of pure pasture farming. For this purpose, an intermediate stage was set up between the homesteads and the high-lying communal Alps, which are not suitable for haying, with the cooperatively organized Maiensässen Silum and Steg .
The course of the year was determined by the economic system of transhumance . At the end of May, the Triesenbergers moved into the Maiensaß About three weeks later, the cattle were driven to the higher Alps. In the first half of September the animals returned to the Maiensäss. From the beginning of October, the meadows of the Heimgut on the Rhine Valley side were grazed. After All Saints' Day the cattle were brought to the highest stables , where the hay harvested and stored there was fed. Around Christmas the cattle were housed in the home stables, whereby the wild hay obtained on the hay mountains was also important until the 20th century. Since the children also worked on the alpine farm, the resistance of the Triesenberg population to the introduction of compulsory schooling was particularly strong in the early 17th century .
In alpine farming, in spite of the communal Alps, the inefficient individual dairy farm remained common until the late 19th century . In 1887 Prince Johann II sold his Alp Sücka to the community on condition that he give up the individual dairy . In addition to the four alpine dairies that have now been created in Sücka, Turna, Alpelti and Bargälla, there were three dairy cooperatives in the village. Until the 1940s, work in the Heuberge was also done collectively. The alpine clearing in the communal Alps is still considered a common work.
In the second half of the 20th century, structural change led to a major decline in jobs in agriculture. Today a large part of the population commutes to the valley, where there is a wide range of jobs.
The alp, which extends on the Rhine and Sami valley sides, was first mentioned as Walser Alp around 1509/17 and is used today by the Silum alpine cooperative. From the late 19th century onwards, Silum developed into a holiday and recreational area. → Main article: Silum
Gaflei
Until the sale in 1860/61, Gaflei served the Triesenberg owners as a mountain hut. After that, tourism in the Liechtenstein Alps began on the Gaflei, which was still used for alpine farming. Gaflei became Liechtenstein's first health resort. In 1952, the municipality of Vaduz bought the Alp located in the Trieserberger municipality. Although the alpine buildings have been demolished since 2006, the alpine pastures are still used. → Main article: Gaflei
Garsälli
The Alp Garsälli in the Samina valley is mentioned from 1516 as the property of the Triesenbergers and Walsers. The Garsälli may have been used as a Kuhalp earlier, in the Alpine statutes of 1867 it is called Galtalp. In the 1920s, the wood has been extensive beatings by the Sami Abach getriftet . The management took place from the 1990s together with the Bärgi and more recently with Bargälla. Since 2000, 433 hectares of the Garsälli have belonged to the Garsälli / Zigerberg forest reserve . At 1450 m above sea level M. is the Fürst-Johannes-Hütte, a former princely hunting lodge.
On the Alp Sücka, the alpine buildings also served as a health resort. The Kurhaus, built between 1888 and 1890, is now run as the “Berggasthaus Sücka”.
Bargälla
Bargälla, located on both sides of the mountain ridge between the Rhine and Samina valleys, is also known as the Alpa in Triesenberg . It was first mentioned in 1509/17 as the Walser Alp. Bargälla was taken over by Triesenbergers as a cooperative alp in 1562 and became a community alp. On both sides of the ridge there is an alpine stable and on the east side the hunting lodge of the Bargälla hunting area, although the alpine stable in the Samina valley is no longer used. Today the traditional cow is mostly raised with Galtvieh.
About 120 meters south-west of the alpine hut on the saminate side is at 1721 m above sea level. M. the geographical center of Liechtenstein. The center is marked by a boulder weighing around four tons .
Sücka
The Kuhalp Sücka is located in the Samina valley east of Steg . When it was first mentioned around 1509/17, Sücka was referred to as Triesner Alp and today's Düraboda part of the Alps as its own Walser Alp. From around 1600 Düraboda appears as a stately alp. In the 17th century, Sücka belonged to the Counts of Hohenems and from 1712 to the Princes of Liechtenstein , who leased it to private individuals and sold it to the Triesenberg community in 1887.
The Alpelti or Älple in Saminatal was first mentioned in 1403, when the Walser Hensli Gassner from Triesenberg the Alpelti of Triesen to hereditary fief received. In 1665 Alpelti was bought by the Triesenbergers. In addition to cows and Galtvieh, some sheep were also summered in the 1980s.
Huts arranged in a ring in the main pier
web
The origins and development of the ring-shaped buildings in the Maiensässsiedlung are unclear and have their roots neither in the law of the Rhaeto-Romans who originally lived in the Rhine Valley , nor is it typical of the Walsers. The surrounding pastures are managed as Alp Grossstäg (Grosssteg) and Alp Chleistäg (Kleinsteg). In the past, Steg was also important for forestry. → Main article: Steg (Liechtenstein)
Bärgi
The Alp Bärgi or Bergle lies northeast above the footbridge. It came in 1355 together with Grossstäg and part of Malbun as inheritance from the parish of Schaan - Vaduz to several Triesenberg Walsers. In 1562 the Bärgi became part of the Triesenberg municipal alps. A few years before the other Triesenberg Alps, in 1882, the common dairy was introduced on the Bärgi. Since the 20th century, mainly Galt cattle or sheep have been summering on the traditional Kuhalp . Bergi, which has no access road, often remained empty in the second half of the century.
Alp Turna, in the background Spiked Head
Turna
The Kuhalp in the high valley Malbun was formerly called Malbun . As early as 1355, Triesenberger Malbun received from Schaan as a fief . In 1911 the name Turna was only used for the area around the alpine hut. More recently, the Alp has been operated together with Alp Sareis. The chairlift of the same name, which has been leading from Malbun to the “Sareis” restaurant since 1963, is located in the Alp Turna area.
Sareis
The Alp Sareis in Triesenberg often Uberem degree called (behind the ridge) is in the most part to Vorarlberg belonging Gamperdonatal . It was first mentioned in 1542 when Triesenberg and Nenzing set the borders. Since 1960 the border between Liechtenstein and Austria in the area of Alp Sareis was redefined, part of the Alp has been on Austrian territory. Sareis is a Galtviehalp that does not have an access road or stable building.
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