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Ark of TAsTegan keeping the best bulls and by the 1860s the Murnau-Werdenfels was the most important breed in the region.At the end of the 19th century, the Sim- mental breed arrived in Bavaria from Switzerland. With its greater milk yield and heavy carcass, it gradually be- gan to replace the local cattle breed. In 1960 the number of animals was drastically reduced even further, when countless animals were culled to halt the spread of bovine tuberculosis. The extinction of the Murnau-Werdenfels breed seemed imminent.the breed’S revivalOnly a few farmers continued to raise the cattle, and it is mostly thanks to their link with tradition that the breed has survived to the present day. One of them was Martin Jais, a part-time farm- er, and his wife Elisabeth, from Weiler Eschenlohe, a village near the Olym- pic venue of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. In 1940 Martin’s father bought a small farm called “Schulmeister,” a former school. As was common in the past, the teacher had lived in the school- house and tended a small farm on the land. Martin Jais worked as a builder, while his wife took care of the farm and their three children. The cows in the family’s cattleshed were healthy, pro-ducing a calf every year and providing delicious milk, thanks to a diet based on the grasses from the marshy mead- ows and the mountain pastures.The quantity of milk produced, however, could not compare to that from high- yield breeds. Therefore it took much idealism and great obstinacy to con- tinue to farm the pure-bred cattle. Of- ten, despite the mockery, Martin partici- pated in local fairs with his animals and even in the Zentrallandwirtschaftsfest agricultural fair, held every three years in conjunction with Oktoberfest. Over time, his breeding animals earned the esteem of the public and the same gov- ernment authorities that once handed out prizes for the elimination of Murnau- Werdenfels cattle now recognize the breed’s value as a precious genetic re- source and pay subsidies to the farmers raising the breed.Martin Jais has managed to kindle en- thusiasm for the Murnau-Werdenfels among his fellow farmers, and he is now the president of an association for farm- ing the breed. His son Josef is planning to take over the farm when he retires and carry on raising the cattle. Since 2007, the breed has entered the Ark of Taste, and with the help of the association for pro- moting the breed, created in 2009, the number of animals is growing every year.118 almanaC© arChIVIo Slow Food