Longstanding
traditions
Lived village culture in East Tyrol, at the village centre of Obertilliach – and our guests can share in these rural, East Tyrolean costumes & traditions. What would the Tyrolean villages do without their traditional bands and associations of Schützen? They are an essential part of the villages’ culture and social life. Locals and guests appreciate their commitment and so you may encounter them having a morning pint or during an evening concert.
Their presence at religious feasts is a colourful event and represents a demanded photo motif. Also the folk dance group Obertilliach and many small bands that perform at various events sustainably enrich the rural cultural life. But beyond that Obertilliach has something really extraordinary to offer - Austria’s only night watchman Helmut Egartner is Austria’s only night watchman. He has been watching over Obertilliach and its 800 inhabitants since the year 2000. For 10 years Helmut Egartner has been making his patrol through the narrow and steep alleys of this village counting 800 souls – equipped with lantern, halberd, coat and iron toe-caps. On Tuesdays and Fridays the night watchman starts at the church square of Obertilliach intoning the famous night watchman song. Since the colonisation of Obertilliach the night watchman has had a fundamental role. He saved the scattered village with the very closely situated wood houses from blasts. And this makes still sense. In the last years he had indeed discovered some dangers like stack fires. His role is therefore not strictly a touristic one.