People of pleasure
Martin Mathies
The Montafon natives Martin and Peter breed Montafon stone sheep in their spare time
A guided tour to our stone sheep takes you over a part of the Via Valtellina, through the loveliest countryside of the Montafon.
Young Martin Mathies easily bounds up the steep slope. The expansive alpine meadow opens up behind a cluster of trees. At his call 20, maybe 30 four-legged balls of wool come rushing down the hill amidst a loud bleating and ringing of bells. “We don’t actually have to feed them anything extra,” says Martin. “It is just a reward for them being so good.”
Montafon stone sheep are considered particularly low maintenance, are tough and have a friendly nature. Since other breeds of sheep produce more meat, the Montafon species was long threatened by extinction. These days, people such as amateur farmer Martin (who otherwise works in the family’s carpentry business in St. Gallenkirch) and his neighbour Peter Kasper are devoted to the back-breeding of the small, nimble animals. In order to absorb the costs, the robust wool is turned into all kinds of products, from slippers through to the “Montilämmle” children’s pillow.
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Their enjoyment tip
The enjoyment box from the ‘bewusstmontafon’ society
gives you a good idea of what our region stands for – it contains products from our farmers such as the Montafon Sura Kees, smoked sausage, herbal tea and
fine schnapps.”
