History Of Schwendau

Schwendau’s medieval and modern history included building and destruction of the castle, rise and fall of the mining business, religious and political strife, and growth in tourism and infrastructure.

On the Burgschrofen hill, above the valley and the river, the Counts of Tyrol erected Schwendau Castle in the 12th century. Apart from a dwelling for the nobles and clergy, the castle served as a strategic defense and administrative center. In the 14th century, a fire destroyed the fortress; it never was rebuilt. There are just a few ruins left on the hill today accessible by trekking path. On the hill also is a chapel honoring Saint Leonard, the patron saint of animals and inmates.Built in the 1830s as a monument to the victorious counter-reformation, the chapel was intended to be seen from long distances.

When the first copper and silver mines opened in Schwendau in the fifteenth century, his mining business started. When the mining business peaked in the Tyrol region in the 16th and 17th centuries, Schwendau emerged among the most significant mining centers there. Along with social and cultural developments, the mining sector contributed the wealth and prosperity of the community. Among the several obstacles the mining sector encountered were resource depletion, rivalry from other areas, and environmental and health effects.In the 18th and 19th centuries mining fell; finally, it vanished in the 20th century.

Schwendau’s political and theological disputes mostly connected to the Reformation and the Napoleonic Wars. Beginning in the 16th century, the Reformation split Schwendau’s people into Catholics and Protestants who regularly fought over authority of the church and the territory. The Reformation caused many Protestants to be persecuted and banished; many also left for other nations or areas. Early in the nineteenth century, French and Bavarian soldiers seized and acquired Schwendau during the Napoleonic Wars, imposing several restrictions and changes.The Napoleonic Wars also resulted in lost Tyrolean sovereignty; Schwendau was incorporated into the Austrian Empire.

Late nineteenth and early twentieth century Schwendau’s tourism and infrastructure development started when the hamlet started drawing tourists with its historical landmarks, natural beauty, cultural events, and leisure activities. Tourism and infrastructure developed with the building of the Mayrhofen-Hippach Tourism Association, which supported and coordinated the valley’s tourism industry, and the Zillertal Railway, which linked Schwendau to neighboring cities and villages.The hamlet also benefited and suffered from tourism and infrastructural development in terms of employment and money generation, better quality of living, and preservation of legacy and identity.