the cows are coming home!
A horned cow in front of a snowy Swiss mountain and green valley

almabtrieb

An Alpine tradition of flower crowns, cowbells and a whole-village party.

what is almabtrieb?

Every fall, cows in the Alps take a big walk downhill. They've spent all summer munching grass on the mountaintops, and now it's time to go home for winter.

what it means
In German, Almabtrieb means "drive down from the mountain pasture."
when it happens
Late September or early October, every year.
where
Mountain villages across the Alps in Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

by the numbers

Every summer, almost a million cows head up to the mountains to graze. That's a lot of cowbells!

Cows in the Austrian Alps
500,000cows in Austria
Cows in the Swiss Alps
380,000cows in Switzerland
Cows in the German Alps
50,000cows in Germany

where to see it

Hundreds of mountain villages hold their own Almabtrieb every fall. Here are some of the best-known ones.

Map of the Alps with numbered pins on festival towns in Germany, Austria and Switzerland
  1. 1

    reith im alpbachtal

    Tyrol, Austria · one of Austria's biggest, with a farmers' market

  2. 2

    ramsau am dachstein

    Styria, Austria

  3. 3

    bad hindelang

    Allgäu, Germany · about 1,000 animals come down

  4. 4

    krün

    Bavaria, Germany · village party and farmers' market

  5. 5

    charmey

    Gruyère, Switzerland · the country's best-known désalpe

  6. 6

    st-cergue

    Vaud, Switzerland · hundreds of cows trot through the village

  7. 7

    urnäsch

    Appenzell, Switzerland

Festival towns from regional tourism sites.

a cow's year

Cows walking up the mountain in spring

spring: going up

Cows walk from the valley barns up to the mountain pastures. This trip is called the Almauftrieb.

Cows grazing on a mountain pasture in summer

summer: grazing

All summer, the herds munch fresh mountain grass, sometimes moving from one pasture to the next.

Cows walking down to the valley in fall

fall: coming down

The whole herd walks back down to the valley together. This is the Almabtrieb!

whose cow is whose?

Cows from lots of different farms share the same pasture. Back in the valley, they're sorted at the Viehscheid so each cow goes home to its own farmer.

why the cows dress up

If the summer on the mountain went by with no accidents, the cows get dressed up for the trip home.

They wear big, colorful headdresses with flowers, ribbons and bells. A flower crown means everyone made it through the summer safe and sound.

A cow wearing a flower headdress

party time

When the cows reach town, everyone celebrates with music, feasts and dancing. In some places the parade has become a huge festival, with stalls along the route selling farm food and handmade crafts.

Cows resting in an alpine meadow Close-up of a horned cow Cows grazing below a rocky peak Cow with a flower headdress Shaggy calf on a flowery slope

one tradition, many names

Depending on where you are in the Alps, people call the cows' trip by different names.

Bonus word: the summer pastures are called Almen in Austria and Germany, and Alpen in Switzerland.

around the world

Moving animals to fresh grass with the seasons is called transhumance. Almabtrieb has cousins in other places too!

redyk

Poland

A lot like Almabtrieb, but with sheep instead of cows.

trailing of the sheep

Idaho, USA

Sheep take over the town as they move to their winter pastures.

yaylag

Turkey & Central Asia

The name for the high summer pastures where herders take their animals.