Sunna-Weg: Stage 1

How does one actually come up with the idea of designing a new theme trail across three villages? In order to answer this question, we set out together with Matthias Dünser, the tourism chairman of the municipality of Nüziders. Start: "Hanging Stone" in Nüziders. Destination: the upper village in Bludenz. The weather is ideal, the spring sun shines from the sky, the light wind is pleasantly fresh on the skin.

Matthias is already waiting for me at the parking lot when the bus pulls into the stop. Wonderful how easy it is to reach the starting points by public transport. Matthias greets me and already begins to tell me: "The Sunna-Weg starts here right away with a favorite trail section of mine. The Hanging Stone is a foothill of the Northern Limestone Alps and even withstood a glacier during the Ice Age." We walk along a wide field path. Always straight ahead, the mighty rock on the left, a wide plain opens up on the right. My gaze wanders over the meadow - it only gets stuck on a hunting stand in the middle of it and on the residential buildings in the distance. We pass an insect hotel, resting benches and, of course, the Sunna-Weg signs.

So how did this themed trail come about, Matthias? "Already a few years ago, the tourism associations of Bludenz and Nüziders had the idea to connect their two places with a theme trail. The first draft content dealt with the Romans, who allegedly used this path in the past. But since this could not be proven historically, we were looking for another approach that would unite our communities," Matthias explains the initial thoughts in the project. The connection was quickly found: Nüziders, Bludenz and Außerbraz, which had also joined in the meantime, are all on the sunny side of the valley. The Sunna-Weg was born.

Matthias takes a break from telling the story, because we need our breath now for the short increase past the Bad Sonnenberg inn, up into the forest to the Sonnenberg ruins. And we are already at the top, even for me as an office sitter, the route is manageable without effort. The path leads us further into the forest, it becomes very quiet around us. Nothing can be heard except the chirping of birds and the rustling of leaves in the gentle wind. I now want to know what Matthias liked most about working on the Sunna-Weg? "The variety of topics we researched in advance. We determined the course of the trail, studied historical maps, and tracked down old field names. I realized some things that I wasn't aware of before," my hiking companion tells me.

We walk next to each other in silence for another stretch, enjoying the atmosphere in the forest. The scent of earth and wood has something calming about it. "Come on, let's take a short detour. It's worth it," Matthias says at this moment and walks ahead. I follow him. Three or four switchbacks later, I know how right he was. We're standing in a small clearing on the edge of the hill, looking out over all of Nüziders. What a view! "The best view you can get on the first stage: the 'Grafakänzele'".

We pass a few more places of historical interest, such as "Maria Brünnele", and stop again and again to read the information boards before finally arriving at the Daneu bridge below the Muttersberg in Bludenz. "What I like about the Sunna-Weg is that it doesn't just deal with a single topic, but captures completely different aspects that are important for the respective place. This keeps it exciting, for us locals as well as for the guests in our region." With these words, Matthias concludes our almost two-hour hike. An incentive to go out into nature and learn there, that's what it's supposed to be, the Sunna-Weg.