Next: about 2 Oct 2027
Almabtrieb in Austria and Bavaria
Late September to early October, decorated cattle return from the Alm to the valleys of Tyrol, Salzburg and Bavaria.
Cheeses for Almabtrieb in Austria and Bavaria
Almabtrieb is the cattle descent of Austria, Bavaria and South Tyrol, held on different weekends from mid-September into early October, depending on the valley and the weather. If the summer passed without an accident to the herd or herders, the lead cows wear tall headdresses of flowers, ribbons and mirrors; if one was lost, the herd comes down undecorated. Village festivals follow, with music, stalls and the cheese of the alpine dairies. Bergkäse, the hard mountain cheese, is the main product, and in the Zillertal and other Tyrolean valleys the sour-milk Tyrolean grey cheese is a local speciality.
The cheeses
Also part of it, and being written: Bergkäse (The hard mountain cheese made on the summer pastures.).
Written by the EveryCheese desk with AI assistance. Background: "Almabtrieb" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Tyrolean grey cheese: Jürgele, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Vorarlberger Bergkäse: Hubertl, CC BY-SA 4.0, source