Lingenau: Hiking Trails, Nature and Cheese-Making Tradition

In Lingenau, hiking trails and woodland sit alongside geological features, a cheese-making tradition, and sacred and engineering landmarks. You can tailor your stay to your interests in nature, culture and history.

Hiking and Landscapes

Lingenau’s hiking trails are marked uniformly in accordance with Vorarlberg’s hiking trail system. One example is the Rotenberg Forest Trail, which leads from Lingenau or Hittisau through a particularly species-rich mixed forest. Its diverse trees include silver firs, beeches, spruces, ash trees, maples, elms and lindens. Along the trail, 19 information stations cover topics including a forest room, a raised bog and a natural arena of Nagelfluh conglomerate. Rotenberg Forest also offers a natural and cultural landscape featuring a natural stone arena of Nagelfluh boulders and the Bruggmoos, a remnant of a glacial lake. The Bregenzerach runs along the Achtal Trail, which also has a cycle path.

Geology and Nature Experiences

The spring tufa in Lingenau is one of the most unique calcareous sinter formations north of the Alps and one of Vorarlberg’s outstanding geological features. The Natur.Museum on Dörnelstraße is located just behind the church. This open-air museum presents habitats in the Nagelfluhkette Nature Park and offers a quiz. While the spring tufa highlights the area’s geology, the museum focuses on the nature park’s habitats.

Stories Along the Trails

The “Lingenau erzählt” (“Lingenau Tells Its Story”) project features 28 hiking benches where you can listen to audio recordings of personal stories connected to the landscape. The Erzählbänkle story benches are located along four routes. You’ll need a mobile phone and internet access to listen. Unlike the Rotenberg Forest Trail, whose information stations cover forest topics, these benches focus on personal stories: the two formats share their content in different ways.

Cheese-Making Tradition and Local History

Lingenau’s cheese-making tradition has a specific historical starting point: in 1718, Appenzell cheesemaker Büchele introduced fat cheese-making here. The village subsequently became a major center of fat cheese production in Vorarlberg. The Genusswelt at the Bregenzerwald Cheese Cellar in Lingenau showcases its member businesses and offers a varied selection of regional specialties.

Chapel and Bridges

St. Anne’s Chapel was built in the Baroque style from 1722 to 1728 and dedicated to Saint Anne. May devotions and rosaries are held there, and weddings and wedding anniversaries are celebrated. The building’s history, religious use and festive occasions are all part of its story.

The Gschwendtobel Bridge was built between 1979 and 1981 as a 358 m-long, 105 m-high arch bridge between Lingenau and Großdorf. It is the main transport link to the neighboring community of Großdorf. The covered wooden Gschwendtobel Bridge over the Subersach connects Egg and Lingenau and is a protected historic monument. It is attributed to Alois Negrelli, the planner of the Suez Canal.

Discover more destinations: Großdorf, Reuthe, Hirschegg, Bregenz, Riefensberg, Eichenberg, Egg, Kennelbach

Go to the main travel overview: Bregenz.