Bad Hindelang & Oberjoch

Bad Hindelang is a climatic spa town in the Allgäu high Alps, above which the famous Jochstraße with its 106 hairpins leads to the pass village of Oberjoch, one of the highest villages in Germany. The region combines hiking, family skiing and an intact mountain-farming landscape with the Hintersteiner Tal nature reserve.

Highlights

• Jochstraße with 106 hairpins
• Oberjoch, one of the highest villages in Germany
• Climatic spa town
• Hintersteiner Tal nature reserve

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Practical info

Background & History

Bad Hindelang lies in the rear Ostrach valley, an Allgäu high valley framed by striking peaks such as the Iseler and the Hochvogel region. For centuries the people here lived from cattle and alpine farming, and to this day a traditional mountain-farming culture shapes the valley, whose deliberate cultivation early earned the municipality the reputation of a pioneer of gentle tourism and nature conservation. The nearby Allgäu High Alps nature reserve preserves an exceptionally species-rich mountain flora that thrives on the calcareous ground and has long attracted botanists.

Above the main village the Jochstraße winds up in numerous tight hairpin bends to the Oberjoch, which at around 1,180 metres is among the highest-lying places in Germany and is at the same time one of the most snow-sure winter sports spots in the Allgäu. The winding pass road, which was widened in the 1930s, opened up the once remote high moor and made it accessible to tourism. As a health-climate spa and at the same time an original mountain-farming valley, Bad Hindelang combines the genuine, organically grown world of the Allgäu Alps with a long tradition of recreation in pure, clear high-altitude air. The surrounding alpine pastures and dairies also keep the heritage of cheesemaking alive, and in the village core long-handed-down Lüftlmalereien recall the piety and pride of earlier generations.