The history of Kitzbühel

Bronze Age

The first traces of human activity in the area of Kitzbühel date back to late Bronze Age (approx. middle of the 13th – middle of the 8th century B.C.). Because of the extraction of copper, the most important raw material for bronze production, the Alpine area was extremely important. In the area of Kitzbühel several copper mining sites have been found; amongst the most important ones is the Kelchalpe at an altitude of 1500m – 1800m which is only a few kilometers south of today’s town. Excavations in the years before and after WWII uncovered a mining center dating back to late Bronze Age, to about 1000 B.C. Findings helped to considerably increase the knowledge of primeval mining methods. Some 800 years later around the time of Christ, when Emperor Augustus moved the borders of the Roman Empire further north beyond the Alps, Roman soldiers, families, civil servants and craftsmen came to teach the subjected inhabitants the Roman way of life and their language.

6th Century

In the second half of the 6th century A.C. the Bavarii came to the Kitzbühel Alps after the West-Roman Empire collapsed. Still today the people of the area have a similar dialect to the Bavarians and their architecture is similar. The area of Kitzbühel was part of Bavaria for almost 1,000 years.

12th Century

In the middle of the 12th century the Dukes of Falkenstein took over the Leukental County. Under the reign of Bavarian dukes the name of “Chizbuhel” appeared for the first time in a Chiemsee document dating back to 1165. The name of “Chizbuhel” is a fusion of the name of “Chizzo” and the description of its location on a “Buehel” (hill). On 06 June 1271 Duke Ludwig II granted the town of Kitzbühel the town charter of Munich; so Kitzbühel has been a town since then. A wall was built around it to protect it but the town was spared from military events. From 1450 to the middle of the 17th century mining had its heyday in Kitzbühel and building activities started. The town’s defenses were put in question. The town’s walls were pulled down to ground floor level and outside walls of residential buildings build on the leftovers of the wall.

Trade and Market Square

In the conflict time of the wars Kitzbühel was supported by its sovereigns and became a considerable trade and market place. Active border traffic across the Felbertauern pass and the Pass Turn to Kitzbühel and Chiemgau took place. This explains the strong traffic of horse-drawn carriages and the extensive horse husbandry. When Margarete Maultasch married the Bavarian Duke Ludwig in 1342 Kitzbühel became part of Tirol for the first time. But after the death of Ludwig and the 6-year war between Bavaria and Austria Margarete gave up Tirol.

Emperor Maximilian

In Austria it was Emperor Maximilian who conquered Kitzbühel and the Kufstein fortress at the beginning of the 16th century. So the two powers together with Rattenberg became again part of Tirol by virtue of a resolution of the Imperial Diet of Cologne on June 30, 1504.
After Maximilian pledged Kitzbühel the Baron of Wolkenstein and Sigmund of Lamberg inherited the town. In the 17th century Duke Franz Anton Lamberg became sole sovereign of the town and remained so to 1840. The town was handed over to the state with a festive ceremony on May 01 of the same year. The wars of the 18th and 19th century affected Kitzbühel only marginally. But its inhabitants took part in the tough liberation fights when the Bavarian Duke Max Emanuel invaded Tirol in the course of the Spanish War of Succession and in the war against Bavaria under the reign of Maria Theresia. After that the inhabitants of Kitzbühel had to defend themselves against the troops of the French General Lefebvre. After the Peace of Preßburg Franz II handed Tirol over to Bavaria and after the unsuccessful liberation fights of 1809 Kitzbühel became as part of Tirol again part of Bavaria. Only when Napoleon was brought down Tirol was united with Austria at the Congress of Vienna.

The end of the war

When the war with Italy and Prussia ended, Emperor Franz Joseph tidied up the unclear constitution. This brought about an upturn for the economy and industry of the country. After WWI, Kitzbühel was also spared from the effects and devastations of war. Ever since its foundations the town of Kitzbühel has been lucky in this respect.