Scheidegg is a market town and municipality in the district of

Lindau Lindau (, ''Lindau am Bodensee''; ; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Lindou'') is a major Town#Germany, town and Lindau (island), island on the eastern side of Lake Constance (''Bodensee'' in German) in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and a licensed Kneipp cure spa and open-air health resort.

Geography

Located in the

Westallgäu Westallgäu is the western part of the Allgäu in Germany. It contains large parts of the districts of Lindau in the southwest of the region, Swabia in Bavaria and the district of Ravensburg in the southeast of Baden-Württemberg. Westallgäu exte ...

region, the municipality of Scheidegg consists of the town of Scheidegg and the district of Scheffau. To the west and south, the municipality borders on the

Bregenz Forest The Bregenzerwald (, ) is one of the main regions in the States of Austria, state of Vorarlberg (Austria). It overlaps, but is not coterminous with, the Bregenz Forest Mountains, which belong to a mountain range, range of the Northern Limestone A ...

, which is part of the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n state of

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( ; ; , , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the second-highest popu ...

History

The area around Scheidegg was most likely settled for the first time in the 6th and 7th centuries by the

Alamanni The Alemanni or Alamanni were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River during the first millennium. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Roman emperor Caracalla of 213 CE, the Alemanni c ...

. Until 1481 it belonged to Weiler and was - due to the document being lost - first mentioned in 1255 in St. Gallen. The imperial Benedictine abbey of St. Gallen promoted

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

. In 1296, Abbot Wilhelm sold Scheidegg to Count Hugo of

Bregenz Bregenz (; ) is the capital of Vorarlberg, the westernmost states of Austria, state of Austria. The city lies on the east and southeast shores of Lake Constance, the third-largest freshwater lake in Central Europe, between Switzerland in the wes ...

(Montfort). The area, which the

Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

had purchased in 1571, remained part of Vorarlberg until the Treaty of Pressburg in 1805 (Napoleon), and later became part of

. The tradition of Scheidegg as a spa and tourist location dates to the turn of the 20th century. When the first summer visitors came to Scheidegg after the construction of the railway line from Röthenbach to Scheidegg, the first attempt to attract tourism was made by founding the Association for Transport and Beautification in 1902. The construction of the Prinzregent-Luitpold-Kinderklinik (a paedriatic clinic) in 1912 was the cornerstone for the development of Scheidegg into a spa. In 1936 Scheidegg became a licensed air-health resort. A new start was required after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The importance of officially qualifying as a spa was soon acknowledged, and hence the first licensed kneippism business was established in 1964. In 1972, the municipalities of Scheidegg und Scheffau were merged as part of the municipal reform in Bavaria.

Tourism

Scheidegg has a capacity of about 3,200 guests. Every year about 450,000 stays are booked. Consequently, Scheidegg is among the 10 largest spas and tourist resorts in the

Allgäu The Allgäu (Standard ) is a region in Swabia in southern Germany. It covers the south of Bavarian Swabia, southeastern Baden-Württemberg, and parts of Austria. The region stretches from the pre-alpine lands up to the Alps. The main rivers flo ...

Swabia Swabia ; , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of ...

region.

Culture and sights

The Catholic parish church of St. Gallus, featuring paintings by Ludwig Glötzle from

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, and the evangelical resurrection church with an accessible maze, can be found in the town centre. Scheidegg has 13

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

s in its vicinity, one of which is

ecumenical Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...

. All the chapels are connected with the aforementioned churches and the Kreuzberg by the small and large ecumenical chapel route, which is unique in

. Scheidegg is located on the ''Westallgäuer Käsestraße'' (Westallgäu cheese route), and the local alpine dairy in the district of Böserscheidegg can be visited, including a tasting of Allgäuer Emmentaler and other local cheeses. Other attractions include the

reptile Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...

zoo, the museum of local history and the ''Scheidegger Wasserfälle'' (Scheidegg waterfalls). There are the ''"Original Scheidegger Wasserfälle"'', with a service and parking lot, as well as the surrounding waterfalls: ''Hasenreuter Wasserfälle'', ''Schwedenhöhle'' and ''Rickenbachfälle''.

Notable people living in Scheidegg

Tobias Steinhauser Tobias Steinhauser (born 27 January 1972) is a German former professional cycle sport, cyclist. He is the brother-in-law of Jan Ullrich. Steinhauser lives together with his wife and three children in Scheidegg, Bavaria. After his professional ca ...

cyclist Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

References

External links

Official website

Scheidegger Wasserfälle in summer and winter
{{Authority control Lindau (district)