The Schafalpenköpfe are a small mountain formation, consisting of three

peaks Peak or The Peak may refer to: Basic meanings Geology * Mountain peak ** Pyramidal peak, a mountaintop that has been sculpted by erosion to form a point Mathematics * Peak hour or rush hour, in traffic congestion * Peak (geometry), an (''n''-3)-di ...

, the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

(2,272 m),

Second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

(2,302 m) and Third Schafalpenkopf (2,320 m). A 2.4-kilometre-long

klettersteig A via ferrata (Italian language, Italian for "iron path", plural ''vie ferrate'' or in English ''via ferratas'') is a protected climbing route found in the Alps and certain other locations. The term "via ferrata" is used in most countries and ...

of medium difficulty (grade C), the Mindelheimer Klettersteig, runs over them.

Origin of the name

The naming of the mountains as ''Die Wilden'', "the Wild Ones" probably comes from the valley of

Kleinwalsertal Kleinwalsertal is a valley in the Austrian province of Vorarlberg and part of the Bregenz district. It includes the municipality of Mittelberg and consists of three villages along the River Breitach. Due to the geographic location in the Allgä ...

to the north, because they do not appear to be of agricultural value from that side. They were first mentioned in 1783 as the ''Wilden Köpf'' in Blasius Hueber's Vorarlberg map. The name of "Schafalpenköpfe" comes from the south and refers to the rocky summits (''Felsköpfe'') above the alpine sheep pastures (''Schäfalpen'') of the Taufersbergalpe, an alpine meadow. The name first appears as ''Schäfalpenkopf'' and ''Schäfalpenköpfl'' in 1819 in an old survey sheet of the

Bavarian State Office for Survey and Geoinformation The Bavarian State Office for Digitizing, Broadband and Survey (german: Landesamt für Digitalisierung, Breitband und Vermessung Bayern) or LDBV, until 31 December 2013 Bavarian State Office for Survey and Geoinformation (german: Landesamt für Ve ...

in Munich. An 1844 description of the border includes the words: ''über den ersten Schafalpenkopf, über den zweiten Schafalpenkopf, bis zu dem dritten Schafalpenkopf'' ("over the first Schafalpenkopf, over the second Schafalpenkopf to the third Schafalpenkopf"). In an Austria special map for the

Biberkopf The Biberkopf is a 2,599 m high mountain in the Alps on the border between Germany and Austria. Location and area The Biberkopf lies on the main crest of the Allgäu Alps on the border between the Bavarian district of Oberallgäu and the ...

region they are also named as the ''Walser Kerle''.Thaddäus Steiner: ''Allgäuer Bergnamen''. 2nd edn., Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg, 2008, (pp. 178f).

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schafalpenkopfe Two-thousanders of Germany Mountains of the Alps Mountains of Bavaria Allgäu Alps