Bichlbach is a municipality in the district of

Reutte Reutte (; Swabian: ) is a town in the Austrian state of Tyrol. It is the administrative center of the Reutte district (''Districts of Austria''). Reutte is located on the Lech, and has a population of 6,704 (as of 2018). Neighbouring municipal ...

in the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n state of

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

Geography

Bichlbach lies at an elevation of in the Zwischentoren, the valley that links the Ehrwald Basin with the Lech valley. Over the municipal territory runs the watershed between the Lech and

Loisach The Loisach is a river that flows through Tyrol, Austria and Bavaria, Germany. The Loisach runs through the great moors and The Loisach is a left tributary to the Isar whose source is near Ehrwald in Austria. It flows past Garmisch-Partenkirc ...

. The municipality consists of three villages: the elongated '' Straßendorf'' of ''Bichlbach'' (, population: 550) and the two almost adjacent villages of ''Lähn'' (, pop: 225) and ''Wengle'' (, pop: 76; population figures as of 15 May 2001). Bichlbach is the base for an ascent of the Kohlbergspitze (2,202 m) on a waymarked path that takes around 3 hours.

Constituent communities

The municipal area comprises the following three villages (population as of 1 January 2019): *Bichlbach (532) *Lähn (189) *Wengels (60)

History

The settlement took place from the

Allgäu The Allgäu (Standard ) is a region in Swabia in southern Germany. It covers the south of Bavarian Swabia, southeastern Baden-Württemberg, and parts of Austria. The region stretches from the pre-alpine lands up to the Alps. The main rivers flo ...

. The village was first mentioned in 1300 as ''Puechelpach'', which means something like "creek surrounded by beeches". In Bichlbach was operated mining as in Biberwier. Lead and Galmeierze were mined. The town of ''Mittelwald'' was destroyed by an

avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a Grade (slope), slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be triggered spontaneously, by factors such as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, othe ...

in 1456 and rebuilt as ''Lähn'' (= "avalanche") elsewhere. This place was also destroyed by an avalanche in 1689. Lähn formed until 1816 the diocese boundary between

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

and

Brixen Brixen (; , ; or , ) is a town and communes of Italy, commune in South Tyrol, northern Italy, located about north of Bolzano. Geography Brixen is the third-largest city and oldest town in the province, with a population of nearly twenty-three t ...

. Until 1859 Bichlbach was the seat of a masons and carpenters guild, the Great Guild Bichlbach. One of the members was the master builder

Joseph Michael Schnöller Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

. in its baroque style, the guild church of Bichlbach is today the only one of its kind in the German-speaking world.

Coat of arms

Blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

: ''In red a black, double-headed eagle, occupied by a silver post, therein a left-looking, black-robed figure of St. Joseph, holding a silver carpenter's triangle.'' The municipal coat of arms awarded in 1974 is modeled after the guild seal of 1694 and shows St. Joseph as a patron of craftsmen in front of a black double-headed eagle. The colors of the community flag are black - red.

Economy and Infrastructure

In addition Bichlbach is nowadays a two-season tourism community with a focus on winter tourism (by the location at the entrance to Berwang). The community is located on the

Fern Pass Fern Pass (elevation 1212 m) is a mountain pass in the Tyrolean Alps in Austria. It is located between the Lechtal Alps on the west and the Mieming Mountains on the east. The highest peak in Germany, the Zugspitze is only 13.5 km away to t ...

and is connected to the railway station ''Bichlbach-Berwang'' and the stops ''Lähn'' and ''Bichlbach-Almkopfbahn'' at the Außerfernbahn to the railway network. At the same time, the village is located on the long-distance cycle path, which runs as

Via Claudia Augusta The Via Claudia Augusta is an ancient Roman road, which linked the valley of the Po River with Rhaetia (encompassing parts of modern Eastern Switzerland, Northern Italy, Western Austria, Southern Germany and all of Liechtenstein) across the Alp ...

along an ancient Roman road of the same name.

Culture and sights

In Bichlbach is the only guild church in Austria, the ''baroque church of St. Joseph'' (built 1710/1711).

Personalities

* ''Alois Zotz'' (1814-1893), priest, later American journalist and newspaper publisher * Nicole Hosp (* 1983), world champion in ski giant slalom, lives in Bichlbach

References

External links

* Cities and towns in Reutte District {{Tyrol-geo-stub