Oberstdorf: the back story

About Oberstdorf: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Ski Resorts Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Oberstdorf sits at the southern tip of Germany in the Allgäu Alps, a village of farmers, guesthouses and ski jumpers. Its Nebelhorn looks over some 400 peaks, its ski area runs across the border into Austria’s Kleinwalsertal, and its jumping hills have made the name famous every New Year.

The southern tip of Germany

Oberstdorf is the southernmost village in Germany, set among the Allgäu Alps with the hamlets of Rubi, Reichenbach, Schöllang, Tiefenbach and Kornau in the same municipality. It is a premium-class climatic health resort and Kneipp spa resort, and its side valleys are closed to through traffic, which keeps them quiet. Locals have a word for the clearest days, “Obheiter”, when you stand above everything and see more than 400 peaks.

A village that flies

Ski jumpers first launched themselves from a hill in Oberstdorf more than a hundred years ago. The architect and jumper Heini Klopfer flew 90 metres on the wooden forerunner of today’s ski-flying hill, which carries his name; world records were set there into the 1980s, and today’s hill record is 242.5 metres. The Four Hills Tournament has included Oberstdorf’s Schattenberg since its first edition in 1953, and the village has hosted the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships three times, in 1987, 2005 and 2021, when women’s Nordic combined made its championship debut.

On an “Obheiter” day you look out over 400 peaks above a sea of cloud.

Families and inns

Hospitality runs in families here. The Erste Skischule Oberstdorf has taught since 1932; the Bolkart-Fetz family runs several restaurants, among them Das Jagdhaus, a timber house built in 1856, and the Strauss family the Löwen & Strauss, whose ESS ATELIER holds a MICHELIN star.

Two countries, one ski area

The Oberstdorf Kleinwalsertal Bergbahnen link seven ski mountains, the Nebelhorn, Fellhorn, Söllereck, Kanzelwand, Heuberg, Walmendingerhorn and Ifen, with 130 km of pistes and 48 lifts, and around 140 snow days from December to May. You can start the day in Germany and finish it in Austria. On the Nebelhorn, one of Germany’s longest runs drops 7.5 km.

Our advice: ride the Nebelhorn on a clear morning for the 400-peak view, ski across the Fellhorn and Kanzelwand into the Kleinwalsertal, and give beginners a day on the gentle Söllereck.

Oberstdorf through the years

From oberstdorf.de, the Four Hills Tournament, the ski schools and the MICHELIN Guide, read October 2026.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Oberstdorf: the back story before you go.