Schwaz

Schwaz lies in the Inn valley of Tyrol, where Alpine routes connected mining districts with commercial centres north and south of the mountains. Silver and copper extraction transformed the locality into a major mining community. Miners, smelters and craftsmen depended on supplies of food, timber and fuel from a much wider area. Transport through the valley helped move metals outward and brought necessities into a town whose prosperity rested on intensive specialized work.

The Schwaz chronicle records rich mines at Falkenstein in 1420. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the town became an important silver and copper centre, attracting miners and merchants. The Fugger family participated in the metal trade and, from 1522, directly acquired shares in local mines. Mining linked the Inn valley with Habsburg revenues and wider European markets.