Alpine Villages

On the Austrian-Slovenian border, Slovenian Vida Matk and Austrian Zravko Haderlap are trying to develop ideas for the region that has been separated for years.

For centuries, the mountain farmers in the Bregenzerwald cultivated three-stage agriculture: in spring they moved with the animals from the village to the mountain pastures, and in summer they continued up to the high Alps. A life plan like from another time. And yet people still try to live semi-nomadic life today.

The tiny mountain village of Soglio lies in the largest sweet chestnut forest in the Alps. The groves lay fallow for a long time. They have been farmed again for a few years. But then a devastating landslide changed the lives of residents throughout the valley.

In the western French Alps, three doctors have found a model that combines demanding work and their own life plans: they share the practice. In other regions, village doctors cannot find successors; here the residents of the mountain village are cared for.

Ostana, a mountain village in the Piedmont Alps, seemed doomed to extinction. Instead of 1,000 inhabitants there were only five 20 years ago. A clever mayor brought about the turning point: now 50 people live here again and the number keeps growing.