Pfronten is a small tourist town at the foot of the Allgäu Alps. In the vicinity there are the ruins of the medieval castle Falkenstein, and the entire valley is known for its active tourism in both summer and winter.
The town has flourished since the Middle Ages as the property of an Augsburg monastery. In the nineteenth century, tourism began to develop in this area, including cross-country skiing, which is a popular form of winter recreation here to this day.
The medieval ruins of Castle Falkenstein are the highlight of Pfronten and its surroundings. It is the highest castle in Germany. It stands on a rocky hill 1227 m above sea level. At the end of the 19th century, Louis of Bavaria commissioned plans to rebuild the castle and wanted to create a second of his fairy-tale residences. However, these plans were never realized, and only sketches and a model of the building remained.
The village of Pfronten has a lot of traditional alpine architecture with wooden houses and a baroque church. It fits beautifully with the landscape of green meadows and forested mountain slopes falling down to the valley. There are many hiking trails here, and in winter there is a small ski resort with approx. 10 km of slopes.
