Bartholomaeberg – a portrait of the village

Bartholomaeberg’s tourism promotion relates to the sunny location of the village and has even christened Bartholomaeberg as the sunny balcony in the valley.  Actually, the favourable weather conditions were probably one of the reasons that people have been coming here for thousands of years.  It’s not an exaggeration when we say that the Bartholomaeberg is the cradle of the Montafon.  In fact, the name Montafon was originally only meant for the area surrounding the Bartholomaeberg but later it referred to the whole valley.  Apart from the climate, it was without question the ore deposits that played an important role in the importance of this place.  Ore was looked for here probably as early as pre-historic times, but certainly during the middle ages.  The result was a certain amount of prosperity that manifested itself in the magnificent baroque church.  Beside the witnesses to mining in the past like the pre-historic castle ruins in the Friaga Forest and the Kueng Maisäss or May Field preserve, the church is the main attraction when it comes to cultural history points of interest.
Today, the community of Bartholomaeberg includes the factions Bartholomaeberg, Innerberg, Jetzmunt and Gantschier (on the valley floor).  Although farming dominates, tourism and industry play an important role in the economy of the area today.  However, quite a few of the 2,300 inhabitants still commute to other towns when they go to work.