Planken

Planken is the smallest municipality in Liechtenstein with around five hundred people, sitting on a terrace at around eight hundred metres above Schaan, settled by Walser who came over the Alps in the thirteenth century. The village looks straight out over the Rhine valley to the Swiss mountains, and paths run up into the forest and on toward the Drei Schwestern ridge above. The Walser settlers were given land on the higher ground because the valley floor was already taken and prone to flooding.

History

People from Schaan and Vaduz had already cleared the land before the Walser came in the 13th century and cleared the upper slopes, and the village is first recorded in 1361. A road reached it in 1868, a great fire in 1869 drove many away, and by 1901 only 56 people remained (Wikipedia, Planken).

The main sights

• The terrace position - a village on a shelf at around eight hundred metres.
• The Walser origin - a settlement of Alpine migrants from the 1200s.
• The valley view - the Rhine and the Swiss mountains laid out below.
• The forest paths - the routes climbing toward the ridge above.

When to go

May to October is the walking season. Autumn colour is good in October. Winter brings snow and the paths need equipment.

What to expect

The village is very small with almost no facilities. The main draw is the view and the walking. The road up is narrow and winding.

Nearby

Schaan is below, and the Drei Schwestern ridge is above.

Key facts