1150 is the date of the earliest written record of the name Alpbach, although human settlement there is known to have begun before and around the year 1000, and a bronze axe found at Steinberger Joch (the pass leading to the Ziller Valley) in 1860 suggests that the route was already in use in the Hallstatt period.
Alpbach Austria's most beautiful village
Christianity was brought to the region in the 7th and 8th centuries by Irish and Scottish monks, and the patron saint of the parish church (tower built in 1440, main nave in 1754) is in fact St Oswald, a former King of Northumbria.
At the beginning of the 15th century, deposits of copper and silver were discovered on Gratlspitz and Schatzberg and in the Luegergraben. At the time, the Fugger merchant family from Augsburg had control over mining operations in Schwaz and Kitzbühel, and they extended their activities to include the Alpbach Valley.
The Böglerhof housed the Fugger offices and was also the seat of the Mining Court. In those days Alpbach already had two inns, the Böglerhof and also the Jakober Inn, where the men went to drink spirits. By the middle of the 19th century, productivity at the mines had declined to the stage where they had to be closed.
Vorder-Unterberg Farm, which was built in 1636-1638 by local carpenters and was lived in until 1952, stands at the edge of the forest above the little church in Inneralpbach. Today the historical building is a mountain farming museum, and the exhibits include the old parlour, the chapel, a combined kitchen and smokehouse, and about 800 artefacts of daily life and work.
The road leading up the valley to Alpbach was not built until 1926, and the isolated location of the village led to the development of a distinctive style of architecture and furnishings, and also enabled the local folk traditions to be preserved for much longer than in most of the valleys of the Tyrol.
The first tourists arrived in Alpbach at the turn of the century, and by 1938 the resort had accommodation for 110 visitors. In the meantime the figure has increased to about 2,500 and Alpbach now attracts some 22,000 visitors in summer and about the same number in winter for an annual total of 300,000 bed nights. Tourism is the main source of income for today’s 2,300 local residents, but there are still 105 working farms in Alpbach, about the same number as a hundred years ago.
Since 1945 Alpbach has been the venue for the Alpbach European Forum, an annual two-week conference of leading figures from the worlds of science, business, the arts and politics. The Forum and the participation of so many people who have shaped the thinking of their times have given Alpbach the name “Village of Thinkers”.
The first conference hall in Alpbach was built in the mid-fifties and named after the Austrian poetess Paula von Preradovic, who wrote the words for the Austrian national anthem. The plenary hall was named after the physicist and Nobel Prize-winner Erwin Schrödinger, who lies buried in the Alpbach cemetery.
At the suggestion of Alfons Moser, Mayor of Alpbach from 1945 to 1979, the Council issued a local planning bylaw in 1953, which made the traditional style of architecture in Alpbach mandatory for all new buildings.
In 1975 the Austrian Public Health Institute certified that Alpbach had the purest air in the whole of Austria.
In a contest organised by Austrian Television in 1983, Alpbach was voted “Austria’s Most Beautiful Village” for the harmony of its timber buildings and its fine floral decorations.
In June 1985, the Council of Europe in Strasbourg conferred on Alpbach the right to fly the official European flag in recognition of the community’s services to the cause of European unity.
In the 1993 Entente Florale competition, Alpbach won the Most Beautiful Floral Village in Europe Award.
In August 1999, the new Alpbach Congress Centre was opened together with the 55th Alpbach European Forum. With its combination of exciting architecture and minimum environmental footprint, the facility sets the stage for the new millennium. The centre has a plenary hall with seating for 500 attendees as well as five meeting halls and committee rooms for between 20 and 200 persons, plus spacious foyers and a fine coffee shop and restaurant. The main architectural feature is a spiral-shaped gallery with floor-to-ceiling glazing for a unique view of the spectacular mountain backcloth.
Congress Centrum Alpbach
Alpbach Tourismus GmbH
A-6236 Alpbach
Tel. +43 5336 600-100
Fax +43 5336 600–200
info@alpbach.at
www.congressalpbach.com
