Schwaz () is a city 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 the administrative center of the Schwaz district. Schwaz is located in the lower Inn valley.

Location

Schwaz lies in the middle of the Lower Inn Valley at the foot of the

Kellerjoch The Kellerjoch is a 2,344 m-high mountain above the Inn valley near Schwaz in 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 ...

and Eiblschrofen mountains. It is located approximately east of

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 ...

. The city covers an area of . Neighbouring communities include: Buch bei Jenbach, Fügenberg, Gallzein, Pill, Stans, and Vomp.

History

The Counts of Tyrol guarded Schwaz from nearby Burg Freundsberg. At the town's height during the 15th and 16th centuries, it was an important

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

mining center, providing mineral wealth for both the

Fugger The House of Fugger () is a German upper bourgeois family that was historically a prominent group of European bankers, members of the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century mercantile patriciate of Augsburg, international mercantile bankers, and ven ...

banking family and, through them, for the Austrian emperors. During this period, its population of about 20,000 inhabitants made it the second largest city in the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central- Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...

, after

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

.Chizzali. Tyrol: Impressions of Tyrol. (Innsbruck: Alpina Printers and Publishers), p. 28 Schwaz received its

city rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...

in 1898 by Emperor

Franz Joseph I of Austria Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until ...

Population

Personalities

Schwaz is the birthplace of 16th-century

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, acces ...

orator An orator, or oratist, is a public speaker, especially one who is eloquent or skilled. Etymology Recorded in English c. 1374, with a meaning of "one who pleads or argues for a cause", from Anglo-French ''oratour'', Old French ''orateur'' (14th ...

Georg Scherer and 20th-century

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

Hans Köchler. It is also the birthplace of the 20th c. Austrian

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

and a Roman Catholic priest, Johannes Messner.

Economy

Three large industrial companies have their headquarters in Schwaz: *

Tyrolit Tyrolit is an Austrian company that develops, manufactures and markets abrasive products as well as concrete sawing and drilling equipment. With 29 production locations on 5 continents, the TYROLIT group belongs to the world’s largest producers ...

– a globally active producer of bonded abrasives * Adler Lacke – a family-run producer of coating systems * DAKA – a regional waste management company

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Schwaz is twinned with:

Gallery

File:Schwaz, Tyrol, Austria.jpg, Aerial view File:Eiblschrofen near Schwaz b 2007.jpg, Eiblschrofen near Schwaz, seen from N. File:Schwaz (Tyrol) from NE closer.jpg, Schwaz seen from NE, closer File:Schwaz-Parish Church.jpg, Schwaz, Parish Church, consecrated in 1502 File:Schwaz, der Friedhofsturm Dm10410 met buste Ludwig Penz foto5 2012-08-09 14.02.jpg, Tower (der Friedhofsturm) and bust from Ludwig Penz File:Schwaz, straatzicht foto1 2012-08-09 13.44.jpg, View to a street

References

External links

Web site of the municipality of Schwaz
(German)
Schwaz Silver Mine
(German)
official tourism information of Schwaz
(English) Cities and towns in Schwaz District {{Tyrol-geo-stub