Keep our charms under your hat

Embach, traditional charm on a sunny plateau

Embach is preparing to host the official launch of Bauernherbst – which means farmers' autumn. Bauernherbst is not an ancient tradition, but a marketing exercise throughout the province of Salzburg to prolong the summer tourist season. As such it is justifiable as September and October are often wonderful months with sunny days, clear skies and ideal temperatures for strolling in the mountains. It is just unfortunate that “autumn” has to start almost before the summer has got into top gear.

The honour of being the official opening village, is appropriate as Embach is primarily a farming village. The modest number of visitors on holiday does not overwhelm the local community and the main attraction in summer on this sunny plateau are wonderful marked routes for walking in the mountains.

Embach has finally won a long legal battle to prove that the thermal spring water which rises in the mountain behind the village, does not belong to the spa in the next valley. Now the question is how it should be used and who is going to finance the project. The general proposal is to use it to attract more visitors, rather than to directly benefit the inhabitants.

The balance between farming and tourism could change if a long-planned hotel with outdoor swimming lake with the naturally warm spring water is finally constructed. But we have waited years for this and it could take a few more years to come to fruition.

This problem of balance was evident on a recent journey through the Mosel valley in Germany. Here one or two villages have become “tourist attractions”. Arriving at such a village one first meets a huge and crowded car park, then a series of tour coaches disgorging snap-happy visitors, while on the river, huge cruise vessels bring more sightseers to join the throng squeezing into the main street. Shops providing everyday needs have disappeared in favour of those offering giant traditional beer mugs (steins), cuckoo clocks, postcards and souvenir tat.

A few kilometers along the valley and one reaches the next village, nestling against the steep vineyards, it is home to a few vintners and one or two modest hotels. It is quiet, and residents can go about their daily lives without having to battle their way through a mass of visitors filling in time until their tour departs to the next attraction.

Even with its spring water, proposed hotel and hosting the Bauernherbst launch, it is, thank goodness, hard to imagine Embach becoming a “must” on the package tour circuit. Farming in this part of the world is small-scale and hard work. These are family businesses with a long tradition of maintaining the local environment. Swamping them with tourists would destroy the village's most attractive asset...so if you have discovered Embach's charms, keep them under your hat.

Villages like this can be swamped by tourism, making life intolerable for inhabitants