OverviewNote: On both sides of the border, the language is (a
dialect of) German. Many objects on the border or on the Italian
side have been given an Italian name, but often these names are
not used by the local population. Where I give two names, the
German one is the first. The south-eastern part of the Ötztal
Alps is home to the three Seelenkogels. Extending roughly from
north-west to south-east these are the Vorderer, Mittlerer and
Hinterer Seelenkogel, meaning front, middle and back,
respectively. The first two lie in Austria, the Hinterer lies on
the border with Italy. The origin of the name There are a few
small tarns below the glaciers on the western slopes of the
Seelenkogel. In the local Ötztalerischer dialect, See'len means
small lakes - the corresponding German word is Seelein. Kogel
means summit or peak, and so, translated literally, the name
means peak of the small lakes. Sometimes it is written as
See'lenkogel. The Hinterer Seelenkogel The peak towers over the
small Italian village of Pfelders