Lechfall route

Vils is located on the border with Bavaria (neighboring municipality Pfronten). The town is one of the smallest in Austria and the only one in the district. It is crossed by the Vils river, which flows into the Lech just a little below. Vils was granted town rights as early as 1327 by King Ludwig IV. (German-Roman Emperor 1328) according to the law of Kaufbeuren. Today, the center is characterized by wide houses with gabled roofs and facade paintings („merchant town“). Until the 20th century, agriculture was the most important source of livelihood. The Lords of Hohenegg, influential nobles in the Middle Ages, built Vilsegg Castle, which is now a ruin.

The Alatsee is located at 842 meters above sea level and six kilometers west of Füssen in the Ostallgäu. With its peaceful walking paths around the lake, the Alatsee is an ideal hiking destination for every nature lover. At its deepest point, the mountain lake is 35 meters deep. It lies about 80 meters north of the border to Austria and about 500 meters south of the lower Weißensee. Fed by groundwater, the lake's water flows through the Faulenbach via Obersee and Mittersee in the Faulenbacher valley into the Lech.

There are many legends and mysteries from long ago. On one hand, this rumor about sunken treasures and gold persists stubbornly. Locals from that time speak of large Wehrmacht convoys fleeing the Allies up to the Alatsee. During World War II, the Alatsee was a military restricted area. On the other hand, there is said to be a narrow hole in the middle of the lake where the lake narrows like an hourglass before widening again downwards. Old legends say that the Alatsee is unfathomably deep and houses a monster. Another legend tells of three enchanted women who try to lure men (knights) into the depths of the lake to be redeemed. Even today, it is said that on some nights voices can be heard calling for help. Above the Alatsee there is said to be a force field that extends in an energy line from the Alatsee to a triangular meadow.

The Lechfall near Füssen
The Geotope Lechfall near Füssen reveals a unique natural monument in the Bavarian Alpine region. Impressively, the waters of the Lech, fed from the Alps, plunge twelve meters down over five steps. Below the waterfall, the riverbed narrows and enters the Lech gorge, which the Lech has carved into the rock over millennia. The Lech gorge is the only one in the entire Bavarian Alpine region where a larger Alpine river can still flow freely and unhindered by human hand.