---
title: "Schwaiger Joe & the Sebaldusweg | 360° Alpenland"
url: "https://www.360alpenland.com/en/the-man-behind-the-sebaldusweg-schwaiger-joe.html"
description: Feel the story behind the Sebaldusweg. Schwaiger Joe tells of pilgrimages between mountain feeling and nature as a place of power in 360° Alpine country.
image: "https://www.360alpenland.com/fileadmin/user_upload/360alpenland/Logos/360Alpenland-Logo.png"
date: 2026-04-30
modified: 2026-04-30
---

# Schwaiger Joe & the Sebaldusweg | 360° Alpenland

We would like to thank...
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Schwaiger Joe
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The initiator of the Sebaldusweg is Josef Schwaiger, who has been known as Joe since his school days. The farmer and school bus operator from Gaflenz used to take patients who were undergoing rehabilitation in Weyer on excursions in the region on Sundays. The unanimous opinion of his passengers was: "You live in paradise. They were fascinated by something we hadn't even seen before!" - that, says Joe, was his inspiration to create this route.

It took a few years and some fellow travellers from the region for the idea to fall on fertile ground. But someone like Joe is as tenacious as he is persistent. Just as it should be for someone who has spent 55 years travelling on extreme rock and ice. He doesn't talk much about his mountaineering achievements. You have to ask a few questions to find out how many times he climbed Mont Blanc and the Glockner or that he climbed in the Gesäuse with the Weyr eight-thousander legends Sepp Larch and Sepp Hinding.

The path of appreciation - a very special path. And Joe is also appreciated. Because without his commitment and tireless endeavours, the Path of Appreciation would not exist!

**THANK YOU**, Joe!

   Open copyright  © Foto Oberösterreich Tourismus GmbH/Stefan Mayerhofer Zwei junge Frauen wandern auf einer Wiese, im Hintergrund das Ennstal Close copyright

      ![Zwei junge Frauen wandern auf einer Wiese, im Hintergrund das Ennstal](https://www.360alpenland.com/fileadmin/_processed_/2/4/csm_NationalparkregionWandernSebaldusweg_OberoesterreichTourismusGmbHStefanMayerhofer_93df033d06.jpg "Foto Oberösterreich Tourismus GmbH/Stefan Mayerhofer Zwei junge Frauen wandern auf einer Wiese, im Hintergrund das Ennstal")

   Open copyright  © Foto Oberösterreich Tourismus GmbHStefan Mayerhofer Zwei junge Frauen blicken in Richtung der Kirche St. Sebald am Heiligenstein Close copyright

      ![Zwei junge Frauen blicken in Richtung der Kirche St. Sebald am Heiligenstein](https://www.360alpenland.com/fileadmin/_processed_/d/7/csm_NationalparkregionWandernSebalduswegStSebald_OberoesterreichTourismusGmbHStefanMayerhofer_2860b19242.jpg "Foto Oberösterreich Tourismus GmbHStefan Mayerhofer Zwei junge Frauen blicken in Richtung der Kirche St. Sebald am Heiligenstein")

   Open copyright  © Foto Oberösterreich Tourismus GmbHStefan Mayerhofer Eine junge Frau pflückt Kräuter auf einer Almwiese Close copyright

      ![Eine junge Frau pflückt Kräuter auf einer Almwiese](https://www.360alpenland.com/fileadmin/_processed_/d/b/csm_NationalparkregionWandernSebalduswegWiese_OberoesterreichTourismusGmbHStefanMayerhofer_a7e9ab9d63.jpg "Foto Oberösterreich Tourismus GmbHStefan Mayerhofer Eine junge Frau pflückt Kräuter auf einer Almwiese")

      ![Honour for the initiator of the Sebaldus Trail Schwaiger Joe, in the picture with his wife and the mayor of Gaflenz ](https://www.360alpenland.com/fileadmin/_processed_/f/7/csm_nce-Ehrung-Schwaiger-Joe-Eroeffnung-Sebaldusweg_4a2850bb3e.jpg "Foto: Steyr und die Nationalpark Region/Gemeinde Gaflenz - Weg-Initiator Schaiger Joe")

Initiator Schwaiger Joe

with his wife and Mayor Kellnreitner

   Open copyright  © Foto: Steyr und die Nationalpark Region/Gemeinde Gaflenz - Weg-Initiator Schaiger Joe Close copyright

Not to forget:
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In addition to Joe Schwaiger, the initiator of the Path of Appreciation, we would also like to thank the Sebaldusweg working group - Angela Ahrer, Alois Wick, Georg Blasl, Andreas Forster, Maria Seyerlehner, Klaus Riedler, Herbert Matzenberger, Rosina Bürscher and Ute Steininger for their commitment, which made the creation of this path possible in the first place.

**Special thanks also go to all the landowners through whose meadows and forests the Sebaldusweg leads for their co-operation. Without them, the route of the Sebaldusweg would not have been possible.**

   Open copyright  © Light and shadow (c) Maria Fahrngruber Close copyright

      ![](https://www.360alpenland.com/fileadmin/_processed_/4/8/csm_20200726-_DSC2822_df7aac05ba.jpg "Light and shadow (c) Maria Fahrngruber")