Hittisau is a municipality in the district of Bregenz in the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n state of

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label=Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is ...

. Hittisau has a surface area of 46.65 km². It lies in the

Bregenzerwald The Bregenz Forest (german: Bregenzerwald, ) is one of the main regions in the States of Austria, state of Vorarlberg (Austria). It overlaps, but is not coterminous with, the Bregenz Forest Mountains, which belong to a mountain range, range of the ...

in the west of the country. Hittisau is a member of the German-Austrian community project Naturpark

Nagelfluhkette The Nagelfluhkette is a mountain range located in Bavaria, Germany and Vorarlberg, Austria, bordering on the northern edge of the Allgäu Alps. It has a maximum altitude of 1,834 m above sea level. Its name derives from the rock type Nagelfluh. ...

Population

History

In 1249, "Hittinsowe" was reported for the first time in a document. In 1754, Hittisau counted 1000 inhabitants, in 1850 there were 2087 Hittisauers. In 1908 electricity came to the municipality. The water company was built in 1929.

Culture

The parish church Hl. Drei Könige was built from 1843 to 1845. The artist Josef Bucher painted the canvas (of the three kings) for the high altar around 1850. Christian Moosbrugger contributed a lot to the sculpture of the church. The organ was built in 1868 by the Rankweiler organ builder Alois Schönach. In 1977, the Sennerei Hittisau (cheese factory Hittisau) was founded. The cheese factory concentrated mainly on the production of

Emmental The Emmental ( en, Emme Valley) is a valley in west-central Switzerland, forming part of the canton of Bern. It is a hilly landscape comprising the basins of the rivers Emme and Ilfis. The region is mostly devoted to farming, particularly dai ...

cheese. Since the EU membership in 1995, the production has focused on Hittisauer

Bergkäse ( for, , German, mountain cheese) refers to a number of varieties of cheese produced in the Alps. This includes products of mountain farming, the cultivation of alpine pastures as well as the milk processing of local producers in dairies. The te ...

. Today, the cheese factory in Hittisau is one of the largest in the Bregenzerwald with around 5 million kilograms of milk delivered per year; it still produces cheese in the traditional Vorarlberg way. The cheese factory is part of the KäseStraße Bregenzerwald. The Alpsennereimuseum, also located in Hittisau, informs about the alpine cheese production that has been going on for centuries. The Frauenmuseum (Women's museum) in Hittisau was opened in 2000 and is devoted to the achievements of women. It is the only museum in Austria whose goal it is to make women visible and document female representatives of art and culture. 360° Grad Parzelle Höfle im Lecknertal

External links

Website of the municipality

Website of the Women's museum Hittisau

Website of the cheese factory

References

Cities and towns in Bregenz District {{Vorarlberg-geo-stub