Mittelberg is a municipality in the district of Bregenz in the

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 Allg� ...

,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 state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with th ...

. It is accessible by road only from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

Geography

The town of Mittelberg lies in the

, a valley that is accessible by road only from

. The largest stream in the municipality is the

Breitach The Breitach is a mountain river, the southwestern (left) source of the Iller in the Allgäu Alps, in the states of Vorarlberg (Austria) and Bavaria (Germany). Detail The river originates in , a part of Mittelberg, in the Kleinwalsertal as the ...

which originates in Baad and flows through all three villages of Mittelberg, Hirschegg and Riezlern. It receives water of the side streams such as Derrabach, Turabach, Bärgundbach, Gemstelbach and Wildenbach. The main mountains of Mittelberg include Elfer (2387 m) Bärenkopf (Allgäu Alps) (2083 m), Walmendingerhorn (1990 m), Grosser Widderstein (2536 m) and Zwölfer (2224 m).

History

Mittelberg was settled around 1300 by five

Walser The Walser people are the speakers of the Walser German dialects, a variety of Highest Alemannic. They inhabit the region of the Alps of Switzerland and Liechtenstein, as well as the fringes of Italy and Austria. The Walser people are named a ...

families from Tannberg coming across over the Hochalppass. The first houses were probably in Bödmen, a district of Mittelberg. The settlers inherited the land from the Swabian Counts of Rettenberg. The valley initially belonged to the Walser court of Tannberg but in 1563 the valley was awarded its own court in Mittelberg, which existed until 1807.

Population

Although it is not an

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

in a strict sense (it is contiguous with the rest of Austria), its geographic position creates a special situation for inhabitants and visitors. For instance, it has both Austrian and German

postal code A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, included in a postal ...

s. Since 1891 Kleinwalsertal has been in the German customs union, and has an open border with that country. Before the introduction of the euro the Deutsche Mark was used there. Since Austria joined the European Union (1995), the

Schengen Agreement The Schengen Agreement ( , ) is a treaty which led to the creation of Europe's Schengen Area, in which internal border checks have largely been abolished. It was signed on 14 June 1985, near the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, by five of the t ...

was ratified (1997), and the

Euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

was introduced (2002), this special status no longer applies. However, due to its location several taxation differences apply, such as a lower VAT rate.

Education

Kindergartens: * Kindergarten * Kindergarten * Kindergarten

Riezlern Riezlern is a village in Mittelberg, Vorarlberg, Austria. In the winter season it is well known as a centre for alpine skiing. A well known hotel in the village is Hotel Erlebach Erlebach was a village in Germany, founded in 1310 A D. It was ...

Kindergarten Riezlern
" Mittelberg. Retrieved on January 6, 2018.

In popular culture

Mittelberg was the setting of "The Final Reich," one of the levels of '' Call of Duty: World War II: Nazi Zombies''.

References