The Cattle Descent in the Alps

31 January 2019

The cattle descent (Alpabzug) is an old tradition and an annual festival in the Alps nowadays.

The cows and their farmers return to the valley in September after the summer in the mountains.  They go along steep and and often centuries-old pathes, for example the Scala Mola alpine,  constructed  in 1645 in the rocks of the Filmstein.

The farmers and cows in Graubünden are the heroes of the day when they arrive in their villages.

(Source: J. Mathieu, Die Alpen. Raum, Kultur, Geschichte, Stuttgart 2015).