In Search of the Reichen Dwarfs

According to Allan Hartley

Many, many years ago, beyond the few huts that would be later known as Mayrhofen; further still beyond the high alpine meadows of In der Au and the trout ponds and streams of Bärenbad where the bears would congregate; high on the hillside above what is today known as Zillergrund on a small plateau of Sonntaglahner; lived a small community of little people who would come to be known in antiquity as the Reichen Dwarfs. The Dwarfs enjoyed a peaceful lifestyle, having been blessed by the Queen of the Mountains as custodians of the Reichen Treasure, a treasure trove of caskets of gold and gemstones. To the Dwarfs the treasure had no material value.

Somehow, news of this treasure crossed the mountains into the Venediger, where the evil Wenedigermandl terrorized the mountains. A giant of a man over three metres tall held sway over everything he saw. Obsessed by thoughts of the treasure, the Mandl plotted to raid and steal the treasure. Passing through the Krimmler Achental he crossed the Reichen mountains and raided the Reichen Dwarfs’ hamlet destroying everything in his wake in search of the treasure. Emboldened, he took everything he could carry. High on the mountain, returning to his fiefdom of the Venediger, somewhere on the Kuchelmooskees glacier, weighed down by his booty he fell into a giant crevasse, never to be seen again.

For the Reichen Dwarfs their way of life was destroyed and most of them had no alternative but to scatter and make a life elsewhere, except for a small group who promised to stay in the mountain to find and restore the lost treasure for the sake of the Queen of the Mountains.

And so it is that should you visit the Reichen Group, overnighting at the Plauener Hütte, take a few moments in the late evening after Abendessen and search the night sky and the mountains of the Reichenspitze, taking time to look for pin-pricks of lights from candle lanterns, and the sound of rumbling, falling stones, as the Dwarfs continue to search for the treasure that was cruelly taken from them.

Footnote
The story is one of many myths and tales from Tirolean folklore; all have much the same theme of good versus evil. As for the Reichen Group of mountains, this is rarely visited for its own sake, which is a shame as it has some very good huts. The Reichen Group Runde is highly recommended – see ‘Trekking in Austria’s Hohe Tauern’ by Allan Hartley, published by Cicerone Press. The Reichen Group is sandwiched between the east of the Zillertal Alps and the west of the Venediger Group. The main peak is the Reichenspitze (3303m) followed closely by the Wildgerlosspitze (3280m).

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