Rattenberg ( bar, Råttnberg) is a

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

on the

Inn River , image = UnterinntalWest.JPG , image_caption = Lower Inn valley from Rattenberg castle , source1_location = Swiss Alps (Lägh dal Lunghin) , source1_elevation = , source1_coordinates= , mouth_location = Danube (Passau) , mo ...

in the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n state of

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

near Rattenberg mountain and

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol and the fifth-largest city in Austria. On the River Inn, at its junction with the Wipp Valley, which provides access to the Brenner Pass to the south, it had a p ...

. With just 400 inhabitants and a surface area of 10 ha, it is the smallest city in the country.

Geography

The proximity of a mountain to the south of the town means that Rattenberg, like many villages nested in steep sided valleys throughout the

region of the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

, receives no direct sunlight for much of the winter. It is one of the few places at a significant southerly latitude that experiences a prolonged period without direct sunlight (another is

Viganella Viganella in 2005. Viganella is a ''frazione'' of Borgomezzavalle, a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about northwest of Verbania. It was a ...

, Italy), although the sky remains bright while the town is in the mountain's shadow so there is no permanent darkness or 'polar night' as experienced north of the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at ...

Gallery

File:Rattenberg, stadszicht met Ehemalige Augustiner- Servitenkloster en Kirche Sankt Augustinus Dm69821 foto6 2017-08-02 10.55.jpg, View to the town with former monastery and churchtower File:Rattenberg, toren van de Katholische Pfarrkirche Sankt Virgil Dm121560 foto8 2017-08-02 11.11.jpg, Churchtower (Katholische Pfarrkirche Sankt Virgil) File:Rattenberg, Spitalkirche Heilige Geist Dm121572 foto5 2017-08-02 11.20.jpg, Church: Spitalkirche Heilige Geist File:Rattenberg, straatzicht Haussauerstrasse foto1 2012-08-09 10.46.jpg, Street view Haussauerstrasse

History

Founded in the 14th century, it was built in the literal shadow of Rat Mountain to protect itself from

marauders Marauder, marauders, The Marauder, or The Marauders may refer to: * A person engaged in banditry or related activity ** Piracy ** Looting ** Outlaw ** Partisan (military) ** Robbery ** Theft Entertainment * ''Marauder'', the second novel in the ' ...

. Maximilian I had the original town citadel expanded to a formidable fortress.

The modern era

In November 2005, the town announced they were building 30 specialized rotating mirrors called

heliostat A heliostat (from '' helios'', the Greek word for ''sun'', and ''stat'', as in stationary) is a device that includes a mirror, usually a plane mirror, which turns so as to keep reflecting sunlight toward a predetermined target, compensating ...

s to reflect sunlight into parts of the town during the winter months. The $2.4 million operation was suggested by Bartenbach Lichtlabor GmbH, a lighting design company. The EU planned to foot half the bill as of November 2005. However, the project was never implemented.

Population

Economy

Christmas baubles - 2022-01-02 - Andy Mabbett - 17

Rattenberg has been known for its glass making. Its abundance of crystal glass shops continue the tradition of craftsmanship.Chizzali, p. 42

References

External links

Website of the Rattenberg Tourist Board
Cities and towns in Kufstein District {{Tyrol-geo-stub