Marcaires and cheese farms

Who are the marcaire?

The marcaires are the farmers of the area that breed cows to make Munster cheese. Their name come from the Alsatian dialect word "malker" from the German "melker", the one that milks cows. Over one thousand years ago, the marcaires went to what is know called the high stubble fields, to clear the land and create pasture.  

Traditions

On St Urbain’s day, May 25th, the marcaires used to leave the village, to the sound of the drove’s bells, to reach the stubble fields. It is in a farm called “marcairie”, that the cattle breeder and his boys were making the cheese.

Nowadays, the Summer farms have grown bigger, to become farm-inns where the hiker can have the famous marcaire meal. You can see the traditional marcaire outfit during village fairs or for transhumance.   

Sources

Sources: Marcaire d’hier fermiers d’aujourd’hui (Malou Schneider, Gérard Lacoumette, Gérard Léser) Edition du Rhin more information: www.munsterfermier.com