Mitteregg in Tyrol: to the end of the world with love

There are just 17 people in the village. Mathias’s wife Marlene grew up there before studying for eight years in Vienna to become a vet. During that time she met Mathias, who was working for a rescue service. They wed two years ago and returned to her home in Mitteregg, Tyrol. It’s the place where, after a good hour’s hike from Berwang, the mountains towering into the sky obscure the horizon. They’re so gigantic that you feel you’ve reached the ‘end of the world’ – something Mitteregg makes no secret of. On the contrary, it wears this badge with pride.

The young couple came back to enjoy being in touch with nature and the cosy atmosphere in the village – for a quality of life you’d be hard pressed to find anywhere else. Even as a child, the trained carpenter, who also grew up in a Tyrolean village, knew he had a strong affinity for nature. ‘Sitting at home playing video games wasn’t my thing.’ He spent most of his time with his grandfather, out in the fields, meadows, and forests every single day. As he says, ‘I really did prefer being outdoors with granddad when I was a child. Now I can live out that passion every day.’

He and Marlene seized the opportunity when an old farm, unused for a quarter of century in Mitteregg, Tyrol, was put up for sale. The foundation walls can be dated back to 1640, a testament to how long mountain farmers have been taking care of the land. ‘It’s fascinating to see and think about how it was all done in the past,’ says Mathias. ‘People built and cultivated farms and villages even in remote places because they saw the opportunity to make something with their own hands. And yet it was often a bitter fight for survival.’