Alpbach, Tyrol

Alpbach
Coat of arms
Alpbach Location within Austria
Location within Kufstein district
Coordinates: 47°23′54.72″N 11°56′38.06″E / 47.3985333°N 11.9439056°E / 47.3985333; 11.9439056Coordinates: 47°23′54.72″N 11°56′38.06″E / 47.3985333°N 11.9439056°E / 47.3985333; 11.9439056
Country	Austria
State	Tyrol
District	Kufstein
Government
• Mayor	Markus Bischofer
Area
• Total	58.38 km2 (22.54 sq mi)
Elevation	975 m (3,199 ft)
Population (1 January 2016)
• Total	2,561
• Density	44/km2 (110/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	6236
Area code	05336
Vehicle registration	KU
Website	www.alpbach.tirol.gv.at

Alpbach (German: [ˈalpax] UL-pukh, locally: [ˈɔɪ̯b̥ɔx] OY-bawkh) is a town in western Austria in the state of Tyrol.

The earliest written record of the name Alpbach comes from 1150, although human settlement is known to have begun there 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.

Christianity was first brought to the region in the 7th and 8th centuries by Irish and Scottish monks, and the patron saint of the parish church 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 the 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 seat of the Mining Court. In those days, Alpbach already had two inns, the Böglerhof and the Jakober Inn, where the men of the village would go to drink spirits, such as schnapps. By the middle of the 19th century, productivity at the mines had declined to the stage where they had to be closed.