Mittenwald

Not far from Krün, at the foot of the Karwendel mountains, is the village of Mittenwald. Living just four kilometres from the border with the Austrian Tyrol, the residents of Mittenwald – the "Mittnwoider" – are seen by some as Tyroleans themselves. Mittenwald is best known for the elaborately painted facades of its old centre – murals that led Goethe to describe the village as a "living picture-book". Here Alexander meets up with Walter Reiser, a retired head forester, who takes us on a walk around his snow-covered former stamping ground – home to deer, chamois and, legend has it, the extraordinary "Wolpertinger".