Rye and Erschmatt 

We know that Erschmatt was inhabited more than 2400 years ago. Rye was initially grown in the immediate vicinity of the village. Over the centuries, the number of inhabitants increased, and as a result the cultivated arable land also grew. In 1535, the men of Ersch forming the first peasant guild regulated, among other things, when and how fields were to be ploughed and when they could be grazed after harvesting. The second peasant guild from 1753 then spoke explicitly of the Upper and Lower Zälg (slopes). It set out in detail exact rules for management.
Around 1850, the cultivation of rye in Erschmatt reached its peak.

The village always supplied itself with rye. The rye culture reached its largest extent around 1850. After that, on the one hand, potatoes were cultivated and, on the other, people increasingly turned to livestock farming. Later, villagers could buy flour and bread in the valley. Until the construction of the main road (1956), goods were transported to the village in back baskets or mules (see photo with Gustav Steiner). With the the beginning of industrialization in the valley (Lonza and Alusuisse), these companies needed numerous workers to maintain their shift operations. This was a source of income and Erschmatt families could buy their food and did not have to produce everything themselves. Nevertheless, agriculture has always been an important element, not only for the seasons of the year, but also in villagers' self-image.

With the construction of the road from Leuk to Erschmatt in 1956, transport of basic foodstuffs became easier. Rye cultivation fell sharply. But at the beginning of the 1980s, the Pro Erschmatt Association and the Botanical Reserve launched efforts to preserve rye culture and the traditional Erschmatt variety of the grain. To this day the traditional way of baking rye bread has remained alive in Erschmatt. Village families bake their bread in the communal oven in the Burgerhaus at set times. In the past, this was twice a year to enable them to be self-sufficient - a necessity. Today commmunal baking takes place only once a year to provide a culinary supplement or as a family and social meeting.

• communal breadmaking in 1973

Erschmatt's tradition of communal baking still flourishes. At the end of each year, the large oven is heated. Families and groups organize themselves and produce their own rye bread in shifts according to an agreed cycle. Founded in 2003, the association Erlebniswelt Roggen Erschmatt is committed to the preservation of the cultural heritage involving rye. It encourages interested groups and school classes to bake rye bread in the traditional way throughout the year under expert guidance. A cooperative was founded in 2006 with the aim of setting up a bakery in Erschmatt that produces rye bread commercially. A foundation founded in 2012 took over this mission and was able to open a bakery and a restaurant in the Roggen Zentrum in 2017. The hotel opened in 2021.

• Film: communal baking in 2015
• Offer: traditional baking experience

Im ganzen Wallis sind die Terrassenlandschaften, die Stadel und Speicher mit ihren Mäuseplatten, alte Mühlen und Dorfbacköfen sichtbare Zeugen einer früheren Zeit mit Roggenanbau und der Selbstversorgung mit Roggenbrot. In vielen Walliser Orten dienen diese Einrichtungen teils noch ihrem ursprünglichen Zweck, so auch in Erschmatt, wo man den Weg vom Korn zum Brot in allen Etappen noch sehen und kennenlernen kann:

• Terassenlandschaft Zälg
• Stadel-Speicher
• Hoher Spycher
• Alte Mühle
• Burgerhaus mit Backstube
• Sortengarten
• Roggen-Zentrum