Vorarlberg
Vorarlberg is the westernmost state (Land) of Austria. Though it is the second smallest in terms of area (Vienna is the smallest), it borders three countries:
Germany (Bavaria)
Switzerland (Graubünden and St. Gallen)
Liechtenstein,
as well as the Austrian state of Tyrol.
The capital of Vorarlberg is Bregenz.
The main rivers in Vorarlberg are the Ill (running through the Montafon and
Walgau valleys into the Rhine), the Rhine (forming the border to Switzerland),
the Bregenzer Ach and the Dornbirner Ach. Important lakes, other than the Lake
of Constance are Lüner Lake, Silvretta Lake, Vermunt Lake, Spuller Lake,
the Kops Basin and Formarin Lake; the first four were created for the production
of hydroelectric energy. Even before the dam for the power plant was built,
Lüner Lake was the largest mountain lake in the Alps. Most of this hydroelectric
energy is exported to Germany at peak times. At night the surplus (and therefore
cheap) energy from the caloric power plants in Germany is used to pump the water
back into some of the lakes.
As there are several notable mountain ranges in Vorarlberg, such as the Silvretta, the Rätikon, the Verwall and the Arlberg, there are many famous skiing regions. The highest mountain is Piz Buin, whose rocky peak of 3,312 meters is surrounded by glaciers. Vorarlberg is supposed to enjoy the greatest scenic diversity within limited confines in the entire East Alps at the border to the West Alps. The distance between Lake Constance and the plains of the Rhine valley across medium-altitude and high-alpine zones to the glaciers of the Silvretta range is a mere 90 km. Vorarlberg is divided into four large districts, from north to south: Bregenz, Dornbirn, Feldkirch and Bludenz. These districts appear on the automobile license plates in the form of abbreviations: B, DO, FK and BZ.
Economy
For several years, the Vorarlberg economy has been performing well above the
Austrian average. Whereas the all-Austrian GDP in 2004 rose by a "mere"
2.0% in real terms, Vorarlberg recorded an increase of 2.9%. This comes as a
surprise, particularly as the major trading partners in Germany, Switzerland
and Italy have not been faring well. Owing to this robust economic performance,
Vorarlberg was able to boost its gross regional product in 2004 to 11.5 billion
EUR according to calculations by the Economic Policy Department of the Vorarlberg
Chamber of Trade. This translates into a nominal increase of 5.0% (Austria as
a whole +4.0%). The regional product per inhabitant in Vorarlberg is 31,000
EUR, exceeding the Austrian national average by 8%. In addition to the flourishing
textile, clothing, electronics, machinery, packing materials industries of the
Rhine Valley, there is also a broad agricultural base, especially in the Bregenzerwald,
which is noted for its dairy products ("Bregenzerwälder Cheese Route"
and tourism. The tourist industry employs a considerable number of Vorarlbergers.
The greatest tourist attractions are the mountains and the numerous ski resorts,
the largest (and most famous) of which are:
the Bregenzerwald,
the Arlberg region (including the high-class ski resorts Lech and Zürs),
the Brandnertal, and
the Montafon.
Some famous skiers from these regions include Anita Wachter, Egon Zimmermann,
Gerhard Nenning, Mario Reiter, Toni Innauer and Hannes Schneider.
Language
Due to their isolated location from the rest of Austria, the most of the people
in Vorarlberg speak a very distinct German dialect which other Austrians have
a hard time understanding. It is in some way similar to the German dialects
spoken in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Baden-Württemberg and the Alsace
region in France (they are all Alemannic dialects, whereas the dialects in the
rest of Austria form part of the Bavarian-Austrian language group). In fact
many towns or even villages in Vorarlberg have their own distinct sub-dialects.
