Saalfelden

Saalfelden lies in the Pinzgau of the eastern Alps, where a relatively open basin provides farmland beneath steep mountain walls. Routes through the valley connected local settlements with Salzburg and neighbouring Alpine districts. Livestock, hay meadows and limited arable cultivation supported rural households, while a market centre brought together farmers, craftsmen and travellers. The surrounding mountains supplied timber and pasture but also imposed seasonal limits on movement.

Saalfelden was mentioned as a market place by the mid-fourteenth century. In 1418 its court administration was joined to that of Lichtenberg Castle. Under the prince-archbishops of Salzburg, the market town's fortunes changed as trade routes shifted. A fire destroyed much of the market settlement in 1811, and Salzburg passed to Austria in 1816 after a period of Bavarian rule.