The town of Bregenz on the Bodensee (Lake Constance) is the provincial capital of Vorarlberg and is at the same time also the major town in the district of the same name. Here the traffic routes from the Rhine Valley into the German Alpenvorland (Lower Alps) run together. Bregenz is a railway junction and centre for the Bodensee shipping lines. The annual Festspiele (festival productions) on the permanently anchored revolving stage on the banks of the lake are famous. The district includes the Austrian part of Lake Constance, the communities of northern Vorarlberg, the Kleine Walstertal and most of the Bregenzerwald. The Bregenzerwald is defined as the catchment area of the river Bregenzerache that runs into the Bodensee at Bregenz. The Vordere Bregenzerwald, in the northwest of the district, is a low grass-covered mountain range with mainly scattered settlements and cattle farming. This stands in complete contrast to Hinterwald, south of the Subersach, with its high mountain character and which is mainly forested and has chain settlements. The narrow gauge railway "Walderbahn" that used to be a connection between Bregenz and Bezau is now a tourist attraction and is run as a museum line on a part of the old track. The most important settlements are Reuthe, Andelsbuch, Egg, Alberschwende, Schoppernau, Damüls, Mellau and Hittisau. The Klein Walsertal has an exceptional position: no road connection to the rest of Austria and the resulting economic orientation to Germany gave the valley the status of a customs-free zone which made free trade possible. The main source of income nowadays is all-year-round tourism.