The story of Bad Hofgastein
The history of Bad Hofgastein began in Roman times, for here was the centre of the silver and gold mining - on Radhausberg, near Angertal and Pochkar. Bad Hofgastein is located in the widest part of the valley, this is also the reason that this "settlement" also became the chief town of Gastein and was also the first parish in the valley. That is the reason why the town was named in court as Gastein, later it was Hofgastein. Later, in the Middle Ages, Hofgastein was the centre of commodity exchanges between Italy and Austria and Germany over the two Gastein Tauern. On the paths already constructed by the Romans on the Korntauern, tropical fruits, wine and other products were transported through this mountain valley to be exchanged in return for gold and silver. The market route was approved in the 13th century. The parish church in Bad Hofgastein was designed in 894 as a small church, and didn't receive today's Gothic appearance until the 15th century.
The dramatic decline ushered the decline of gold prices and natural disasters. The outbreak of the plague in 1574, as well as the social and religious conflicts during and after the Thirty Years' War did the rest, resulting in a total decline in the place. A second blossoming reached Hofgastein as a spa, after the abolition of the Archdiocese of Salzburg and the connection to Austria. Emperor Francis I in 1820 gave rights to the thermal water of Bad Gastein. Thereafter it was possible to transport the coveted water from Bad Gastein in an approximately 8km long thermal water system. Since 1936, the village has been officially named Bad Hofgastein.
