The Bregenzerwald is the most architecturally significant rural valley in Austria. A tradition of skilled timber craftsmanship, combined with a post-war generation of locally based architects including Peter Zumthor, Hermann Kaufmann, and Bernardo Bader, has produced a body of contemporary wooden buildings that are studied internationally. The valley runs from Egg to Schoppernau with traditional dark-wood farmhouses sitting alongside modern structures built from the same logic. The Käsestrasse cheese trail connects alpine dairies producing Vorarlberger Bergkäse across the valley. Bezau is the main village. The Werkraum Bregenzerwald, designed by Zumthor in Bezau, functions as the valley’s craft exhibition center. About 30-40 minutes from Bregenz by car.
region
Bregenzerwald
The Bregenzerwald has produced more celebrated contemporary wooden buildings per square kilometer than any other region in Austria, possibly in the world. Architects including Peter Zumthor, Hermann Kaufmann, and Bernardo Bader have built here, working with a local timber tradition that goes back to the guild craftsmen of the 16th century.