Laufen

Laufen stands in a bend of the Salzach north of Salzburg. Its name recalls the river's rapids, once a formidable obstacle to navigation. The archbishops of Salzburg acquired the surrounding district in the thirteenth century, and the town prospered through the salt trade. A rock called the Nocken forced boatmen to transfer cargo from smaller vessels to larger ones at Laufen, bringing work and revenue to the town.

Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian ordered that salt from Hallein travel by the Salzach, securing the importance of this river route. Laufen's wealth supported shipbuilding and the construction of a collegiate church unusually large for a small town. In 1773 the obstructing rock was blasted away. The Treaty of Munich in 1816 transferred Laufen to Bavaria and left its former suburb of Oberndorf on the Austrian side of the river.