Rottenmann

Rottenmann lies in the Palten valley of Upper Styria, on an old road used by salt merchants. A castle protected travellers by the early twelfth century, and a town grew around a broad market street. Its town rights were confirmed in 1320, together with privileges in trade and justice. Rights to store iron and salt, and revenues from nearby silver mines, helped its citizens prosper.

A citizen, Wolfgang Dietz, endowed an Augustinian house in 1453. The Reformation brought Lutheran influence to the valley under the Hoffmann lords, but a princely commission sent to Rottenmann in 1599 demolished the Protestant church. Emigration followed. Emperor Joseph II dissolved the Augustinian house in 1785. French occupations during the Napoleonic wars brought hunger, before ironworking revived under Josef Pesendorfer from 1815.