Reutte

Reutte lies on the Lech in northern Tyrol, where routes cross the Alpine valleys toward southern Germany. The old Via Claudia Augusta passed through the district, as did the Tyrolean salt road from Hall toward Lake Constance. In 1489 Duke Sigmund raised Reutte to the status of a market town; Maximilian I later confirmed and extended its privileges. Trade and the needs of travellers helped sustain the settlement. Nearby, Ehrenberg Castle guarded a route through the mountains. Reutte also had a tradition of painting: Paul Zeiller established a workshop here in 1692, where the painters Johann Jakob and Franz Anton Zeiller later received their early instruction. The town's history joined the movement of goods through the Alps with the work of its own craftspeople.