SUMMARY
The Southern Black Forest (Germany) and the Central Apuseni Mountains (Romania) are mountain ranges with comparable natural conditions for land use (montane climate, high precipitation, relatively steep slopes and less fertile soils). A comparison was made between the montane settlements of these two regions. Differences in colonisation time, changes of techniques, infrastructure, and access and integration into markets resulted in distinct patterns of people´s livelihood and landscape until today. Four phases of development could be distinguished, namely (1) subsistance production, (2) improved agriculture, (3) infrastructure development and easier access to markets, and (4) integration into European and global markets. The development in Black Forest can be described as being more continuous, whereas in the Apuseni Mountains the pase of subsistance production still today predominates, shaping the household economies and landscape structures. Only in the last 15 years, relatively fast processes of integration into the market begun, parallel to developments of the infrastructure. It can be expected, that the trends in land uses in the Apuseni Mountains within few years will lead to similar landscape patterns like in other European mountain ranges. It remains to be hoped, that many of the unique landscape features and habitats of the Apuseni Mountains can be preserved for the future.