Außerfern () refers to the district of

Reutte Reutte (; Swabian: ) is a town in the Austrian state of Tyrol. It is the administrative center of the Reutte district (''Districts of Austria''). Reutte is located on the Lech, and has a population of 6,704 (as of 2018). Neighbouring municipal ...

in the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n federal state of

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

Etymology

The name is probably derived from ''Außer dem Fern'' ("beyond the Fern" where ''Fern'' is the

Fern Pass Fern Pass (elevation 1212 m) is a mountain pass in the Tyrolean Alps in Austria. It is located between the Lechtal Alps on the west and the Mieming Mountains on the east. The highest peak in Germany, the Zugspitze is only 13.5 km away to t ...

).Finsterwalder, K. (1995): Die Ortsnamen im Außerfern. – In: Ölberg, H. M. & Grass, N.: Tiroler Ortsnamenkunde – Gesammelte Aufsätze und Arbeiten 3. – S. 1197-1210; Innsbruck (Wagner). ''Außer-'' ("outer") and ''Inner-'' ("inner") in the Tyrolese dialect are common prefixes to the name of a valley and distinguish the mouth of the valley from its upper reaches, or the section of a valley downstream of its main settlement from the upstream regions, or simply the directions into and out of the valley. ''Außerfern'' may possible refer, therefore, to the valley up to the historic climb to the Fern Pass.

History

The region was settled from the

10th century The 10th century was the period from 901 (represented by the Roman numerals CMI) through 1000 (M) in accordance with the Julian calendar, and the last century of the 1st millennium. In China, the Song dynasty was established, with most of C ...

along the

Via Claudia Augusta The Via Claudia Augusta is an ancient Roman road, which linked the valley of the Po River with Rhaetia (encompassing parts of modern Eastern Switzerland, Northern Italy, Western Austria, Southern Germany and all of Liechtenstein) across the Alp ...

Alamanni The Alemanni or Alamanni were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River during the first millennium. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Roman emperor Caracalla of 213 CE, the Alemanni c ...

. At the end of the 13th century it became part of the

County of Tyrol The (Princely) County of Tyrol was an Imperial State, estate of the Holy Roman Empire established about 1140. After 1253, it was ruled by the House of Gorizia and from 1363 by the House of Habsburg. In 1804, the County of Tyrol, unified with th ...

through the imperial agreement (''Reichseinigung'') of Duke

Meinhard Meinhard is a municipality in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location The community lies in the North Hesse Low Mountain Range landscape on the edge of the Werra valley, 3 km from the district seat of Eschwege. Near ...

, however the Außerfern's close economic and cultural relationships with the

Allgäu The Allgäu (Standard ) is a region in Swabia in southern Germany. It covers the south of Bavarian Swabia, southeastern Baden-Württemberg, and parts of Austria. The region stretches from the pre-alpine lands up to the Alps. The main rivers flo ...

region remained. For example, the Außerfern was for a long time placed ecclesiastically under the Bishopric of

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

. This was aided by good transportation links to the

and to

Upper Bavaria Upper Bavaria (, ; ) is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany. Geography Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and seat of the district gove ...

, whilst there was only one link to the

Inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway. Before the advent of motorized transportation, they also provided accomm ...

valley usable in winter, namely the Fern Pass.

Linguistic unit

Linguistically the region is dominated by a mixed form of the Alemannic and

Austro-Bavarian Bavarian (; ), alternately Austro-Bavarian, is a group of Upper German varieties spoken in the south-east of the German language area, including the German state of Bavaria, most of Austria, and South Tyrol in Italy. Prior to 1945, Bavaria ...

dialects. The regions settled by Upper Bavaria and from the

valley, such as the

Ehrwald Ehrwald is a municipality in the district of Reutte in the Austrian state of Tyrol. Geography Ehrwald lies at the southern base of the Zugspitze (2950 meters above sea level), Germany's highest mountain, but which is shared with Austria. The tow ...

Basin and the tributary valleys of the Lech have similarities with the dialects of the Upper Inn Valley, whilst in the region around

and in the

Tannheim valley The Tannheimer Tal ("Tannheim valley") is a high valley, at an elevation of about 1,100 metres, in the Tannheim Mountains, which are part of the Allgäu Alps in the Austrian state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol (Bezirk Reutte, county of Reutte).It is ...

, a Swabian-Alemannic dialect dominates.

NUTS division: AT331

In the

NUTS Nut often refers to: * Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed * Nut (food), a dry and edible fruit or seed, including but not limited to true nuts * Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt Nut, NUT or Nuts may also refer to: A ...

division for official statistics collected by the EU the ''Außerfern'' is one of the five groups of districts (level NUTS:AT-2) in Tyrol, bears the code AT331 and covers the

administrative district Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

of Reutte.

The region today

Today the term is used particularly in the '' Regional Development of Außerfern'' – the region is part of the

Euroregion In European politics, the term Euroregion usually refers to a transnational co-operation structure between two (or more) contiguous territories located in different European countries. Euroregions represent a specific type of cross-border regio ...

s '' Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino'', ''EUREGIO via salina'' and ''Zugspitze-Wetterstein-Karwendel''.

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

is an important source of income, because the rather barren and high terrain is difficult to cultivate. In addition, industry and trade play a role, especially in the central Lech valley and the Reutte Basin. The Tyrolean Lech Valley Nature Park and the river Lech, one of the last natural rivers in Europe, together with the multitude of sporting facilities are the basis for tourism in the Außerfern. The main link into the rest of Tyrol is over the

. The region is linked from the German railway network by the Außerfern Railway.

References

Sources

* Fuchs, F. (1984): Heimat Außerfern – Eine Heimatkunde des Bezirkes Reutte. – 196 S.; Reutte (Außerferner Druck- und Verlagsgesellschaft). * Gasser, H. (1978): Erlebnis Außerfern. – 211 S.; Graz u.a. (Leopold Stocker Verlag). * Greif, F. & Schwackhöfer, W. (1979): Die Sozialbrache im Hochgebirge am Beispiel des Außerferns: Schriftenreihe des Agrarwirtschaftlichen Institutes des Bundesministeriums für Land- und Forstwirtschaft 31. – 185 S., 23 Abb.; Wien (Österreichischer Agrarverlag). * Katholischer Tiroler Lehrerverein & Bezirksschulrat Reutte (2004): Der Bezirk Reutte – Das Außerfern. – 432 pp.; Höfen (Koch). * Klebelsberg, R. v. (1955): Außerferner Geologie. – Schlern-Schriften, 111: 9-23, 8 images.; Innsbruck. * Koller, H. (1969): Die Elektrizitätswirtschaft des Außerfern. – In: Ulmer, F.: Beiträge zur alpenländischen Wirtschafts- und Sozialforschung 57. – 70 pp., 12 Tab.; Innsbruck (Wagner). * Lechenbauer, L. (1973): Außerfern – Ein Kleinod in Tirol. – 100 pp., 75 Abb.; Wolfsberg (Theiss). * Linser, P. (1988): Sagenhaftes Außerfern 11 – Die Entstehung des Drachensees. – Außerferner Nachrichten: 4; Reutte. * Lipp, R. (1994): Außerfern. – 127 S.; Innsbruck u.a. (Tyrolia). * Mutschlechner, G. (1955): Der Erzbergbau in Außerfern. – Schlern-Schriften, 111: 25-52, 1 Abb., 5 Tab.; Innsbruck. * Mutschlechner, G. & Palme, R. (1976): Das Messingwerk in Pflach bei Reutte – Ein bedeutsames Industrieunternehmen zu Beginn der Neuzeit. – 127 S., 5 Abb.; Reutte (RTW Verlag Außerferner Schriften). * Ruepp, W. A. (2002): Die Mohrenwirtin. 100 Jahre Reuttener Zeitgeschichte. 110 S.; Reutte (Eigenverlag). * Ruepp, W. A. (2004): Ausserferner Eigenart. Eine menschliche Spurensuche. 97 S.; Reutte (Ehrenberg-Verlag). * Schöner, R., Scholz, H. & Krumm, H. (2003): Die mittelalterliche Eisengewinnung im Füssener Land (Ostallgäu und Außerfern) – Neue Ergebnisse zum Abbau und zur Verhüttung der Eisenerze aus dem Wettersteinkalk. – Arch. f. Lagerst.forsch. Geol. B.-A., 24: 193-218, 21 Abb., 3 Tab.; Wien. * Schrettl, R. (2004): Expedition Außerfern – Geschichten und Eindrücke einer elftägigen Wanderung rund um den Bezirk Reutte. – 74 S., 21 Abb.; Reutte (Ehrenberg-Verlag). * Thurner, H. (1924): Die Fernbahn, eine neue Nord-Südlinie Deutschland-Italien – Ein Beitrag zur Volkswohlfahrt West-Tirols Lebensnerv. – 44 S., 2 Anl.; Innsbruck (Selbstverlag Thurner). * Trapp, O. (1986): Tiroler Burgenbuch – Oberinnteil und Außerfern VII. –; Bozen (Athesia). * Wolkersdorfer, C. (1990): Ehrwaldit vor 125 Jahren entdeckt. – Außerferner Nachrichten, 7. Juni 1990: 4, 1 Abb.; Reutte. * Wolkersdorfer, C. (2005): Der neue Montan-Wanderweg – Wandern auf geschichtlichen Spuren, erleben Sie die Bergbaugeschichte Biberwiers. – Außerferner Nachrichten, 25. August 2005:, 3 Abb.; Reutte. * Wolkersdorfer, C., Göbel, J., Hasche-Berger, A. & Hanneberg, A. (2007): Führer zum Montan-Wanderweg Silberleithe. – 79 S., 128 Abb.; Biberwier (Bergwerksverein Silberleithe Tirol).

External links

* Wolfgang Ruepp on th
''Außerferner Eigenart''
(selected chapter of the book)
Information page about the Außerfern
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ausserfern Geography of Tyrol (federal state) Subdivisions of Austria