Wattens is a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

of the

Innsbruck-Land District The Bezirk Innsbruck-Land is an administrative district (''Bezirk'') in Tyrol, Austria. It encloses the Statutarstadt Innsbruck, and borders Bavaria (Germany) in the north, the district Schwaz in the east, South Tyrol in Italy to the south, and th ...

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 ...

. It is chiefly known as home of the

Swarovski Swarovski (, ) is an Austrian producer of glass based in Wattens, Austria, and has existed as a family-owned business since its founding in 1895 by Daniel Swarovski. The company is split into three major industry areas: the Swarovski Crystal ...

crystal glass company.

Geography

Wattens is located in the

Lower Inn Valley The Lower Inn Valley (german: Unterinntal) is that part of the Inntal valley through which the Inn (river), Inn river flows from a point a few kilometres west of Innsbruck near its confluence with the Melach downstream to a few kilometres before R ...

North Tyrol North Tyrol, rarely North Tirol (german: Nordtirol), is the main part of the Austrian state of Tyrol, located in the western part of the country. The other part of the state is East Tyrol, which also belongs to Austria, but does not share a bord ...

, about east of

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

. The municipal area stretches from the southern shore of the

Inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...

River into the

Wattental The Wattental is a southern side valley of the Inn valley. The valley, through which the Wattenbach stream flows, is incised deeply into the quartz-phyllite rock of the Tux Prealps. The two dispersed settlements of Wattenberg and Vögelsberg ( ...

side valley, leading to the

Wattentaler Lizum {{Coord, 47, 10, 21, N, 11, 38, 16, E, region:AT-7_type:landmark, display=title The Wattentaler Lizum (locally also Wattener Lizum) is the name of the head of the Wattental valley which branches off the lower Inn valley near Wattens. ''Lizum'' mean ...

head within the

Tux Alps The Tux Alps (german: Tuxer Alpen) or Tux Prealps (''Tuxer Voralpen'') are a sub-group of the Austrian Central Alps, which in turn form part of the Eastern Alps within Central Europe. They are located entirely within the Austrian federal state o ...

range. It has access to the

Inn Valley Autobahn The Inn Valley Motorway or Inntal Autobahn A12 is an autobahn in the Austrian federal state of Tyrol and part of Euroroutes E45 and E60. It begins as a continuation of the German Bundesautobahn 93 on the German-Austrian border near Kiefersfel ...

(A 12) and is served by

ÖBB The Austrian Federal Railways (german: Österreichische Bundesbahnen, formally (lit. "Austrian Federal Railways Holding Stock Company") and formerly the or ''BBÖ''), now commonly known as ÖBB, is the national railway company ...

trains at

Fritzens Fritzens is a municipality in the district Innsbruck country in Tyrol (Austria). It lies 16 km east of Innsbruck on the left side of the Inn River. The Iron Age Fritzens-Sanzeno culture The Fritzens-Sanzeno culture is an archaeological cultu ...

-Wattens station on the

Lower Inn Valley Railway The Lower Inn Valley Railway (german: Unterinntalbahn) is a two-track, electrified railway line that is one of the major lines of the Rail transport in Austria, Austrian railways. It was originally opened as the ''Imperial and Royal, k.k. Nordti ...

line.

History

Archaeological settlement traces date back to the La Tène era; the name Wattens was first mentioned as ''Vuattanes'' in a 930 deed, when the area was part of the German

stem duchy A stem duchy (german: Stammesherzogtum, from '' Stamm'', meaning "tribe", in reference to the Franks, Saxons, Bavarians and Swabians) was a constituent duchy of the German Empire at the time of the extinction of the Carolingian dynasty (death o ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

. The region was held by the

Counts of Tyrol The (Princely) County of Tyrol was an estate of the Holy Roman Empire established about 1140. After 1253, it was ruled by the House of Gorizia and from 1363 by the House of Habsburg. In 1804, the County of Tyrol, unified with the secularised p ...

from the 12th century onwards and acquired by the Austrian

House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

in 1363. In 1559 a

paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt, ...

was established at Wattens, the first in the

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

lands. The local economy was further promoted, when in 1895

Daniel Swarovski Daniel Swarovski (24 October 1862 – 23 January 1956) was a Bohemian-born Austrian glass cutter, jeweler, and founder of the Swarovski crystal dynasty. Early life Swarovski was born in Georgenthal, Bohemia, Austrian Empire (now Jiřetín ...

(1862–1956), a glass cutter from Jiřetín pod Bukovou in

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

, settled here to start the production of crystal jewelry. Wattens received

market rights A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

in 1895.

Population

Economy

The Swarovski company is Wattens' main employer. In 1995, it celebrated its one-hundred-years jubilee by the establishment of the ''Swarovski Kristallwelten'' museum.

André Heller Franz André Heller (; born 22 March 1947 as Francis Charles Georges Jean André Heller-Hueart) is an Austrian artist, author, poet, singer, songwriter and actor. Biography Heller was born in Vienna into a wealthy Jewish family of sweets manufac ...

designed several cabinets of curiosities modelled on the historic chambers of

Ambras Castle Ambras Castle (german: Schloss Ambras Innsbruck) is a Renaissance castle and palace located in the hills above Innsbruck, Austria. Ambras Castle is above sea level. Considered one of the most popular tourist attractions of the Tyrol, Ambras Castle ...

. The museum features the history of crystal manufacturing, the life of Daniel Swarovski and a large collection of crystals including works by notable artists like

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

and

Niki de Saint Phalle Niki de Saint Phalle (; born Catherine Marie-Agnès Fal de Saint Phalle; 29 October 193021 May 2002) was a French-American sculptor, painter, filmmaker, and author of colorful hand-illustrated books. Widely noted as one of the few female monume ...

. It is today one of the major

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...

destinations in Austria, attracting visitors from all over the world. Other museums are the

typewriter A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an inked ribbon selectivel ...

museum and the Museum Wattens, dedicated to the history of Swarovski, the paper mill and excavations (

Prehistory Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

Classical antiquity Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...

) in Wattens, as well as in neighbouring

Volders Volders is a municipality in the district of Innsbruck-Land in the Austrian state of Tyrol located 12 km east of Innsbruck on the southern side of the Inn River. Geography Sights are Schloss Friedberg and Schloss Aschach and the church o ...

and Fritzens. The historic paper mill is the predecessor of the ''Wattenspapier'' factory, one of the leading manufacturers of

rolling paper Rolling paper is a specialty paper used for making cigarettes (commercially manufactured filter cigarettes and individually made roll-your-own cigarettes). Rolling papers are packs of several cigarette-size sheets, often folded inside a cardbo ...

, since 1980 owned by the

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

Delfort Group. 97% of the tobacco paper is exported to over 90 countries.

Notable people

Wattens is the birthplace of the

Marianist The Society of Mary ( la, Societas Mariae) abbreviated SM is a clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men (brothers and priests) commonly called the Marianists or Marianist Brothers and Priests. Its members add the nominal l ...

priest Jakob Gapp (1897–1943). Openly rejecting the Austrian ''

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...

'' to

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

in 1938, Gapp fled to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and upon the French defeat in 1940 to

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, where he preached against the persecution of Catholic resistance fighters by the Nazi authorities. In November 1942 he was captured by

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

agents in

German-occupied France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...

and deported to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. At trial of the People's Court led by President

Roland Freisler Roland Freisler (30 October 1893 – 3 February 1945), a German Nazi jurist, judge, and politician, served as the State Secretary of the Reich Ministry of Justice from 1934 to 1942 and as President of the People's Court from 1942 to 1945. As ...

, he was sentenced to death and was executed at

Plötzensee Prison Plötzensee Prison (german: Justizvollzugsanstalt Plötzensee, JVA Plötzensee) is a juvenile prison in the Charlottenburg-Nord locality of Berlin with a capacity for 577 prisoners, operated by the State of Berlin judicial administration. The d ...

. A

Christian martyr In Christianity, a martyr is a person considered to have died because of their testimony for Jesus or faith in Jesus. In years of the early church, stories depict this often occurring through death by sawing, stoning, crucifixion, burning at th ...

of the Catholic Church, Gapp was

beatified Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

in 1996.

Climate

Climate type is dominated by the winter season, a long, bitterly cold period with short, clear days, relatively little precipitation mostly in the form of snow, and low humidity. The

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

subtype for this climate is '' Dfc'' (Continental subarctic climate).

References

External links

* Municipality Wattens: Official website of the municipality in th
Hall-Wattens region
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Innsbruck-Land District