Schwaz is a city in Tyrol

Tyrol (state)

Tyrol is a state or Bundesland, located in the west of Austria. It comprises the Austrian part of the historical region of Tyrol.The state is split into two parts–called North Tyrol and East Tyrol–by a -wide strip of land where the state of Salzburg borders directly on the Italian province of...

, Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

. It is the administrative center of the Schwaz

Schwaz (district)

The Bezirk Schwaz is an administrative district in Tyrol, Austria. It borders Bavaria in the north, the districts of Kufstein, Kitzbühel and Pinzgau in the east, South Tyrol in the south, and the Innsbruck-Land district in the west.Area of the district is 1,843.20 km², with a population of...

 district (Bezirk

Bezirk

Bezirk means "district" in German and can refer to:* The primary Subdivisions of East Germany from 1952* The districts of Austria* Some of the Districts of Switzerland...

). Schwaz is located in the lower Inn

Inn River

The Inn is a river in Switzerland, Austria and Germany. It is a right tributary of the Danube and is approximately 500km long. The highest point of its drainage basin is the summit of Piz Bernina, at 4,049 metres.- Geography :...

 valley, and has a population of about 13,000.

At its height during the Middle Ages, it was an important silver mining center, providing mineral wealth for both the Fugger

Fugger

The Fugger family was a historically prominent group of European bankers, members of the fifteenth and sixteenth-century mercantile patriciate of Augsburg, international mercantile bankers, and venture capitalists like the Welser and the Höchstetter families. This banking family replaced the de'...

 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

Austrian Empire

The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...

, after Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

.

Schwaz received its city rights in 1898 by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria

Franz Joseph I of Austria

Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916.In the December of 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of...

.

Schwaz is the birthplace of 16th century pulpit

Pulpit

Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...

 orator Georg Scherer

Georg Scherer

Georg Scherer was a Roman Catholic pulpit orator and controversialist.Born at Schwaz, in Tyrol, Scherer entered the Society of Jesus in 1559. Even before his ordination he was famed for his preaching powers. For over forty years he labored in the Archduchy of Austria. To Scherer, in part, it owes...

 and 20th century philosopher Hans Köchler

Hans Köchler

Hans Köchler is a professor of philosophy at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, and president of the International Progress Organization, a non-governmental organization in consultative status with the United Nations...

.

Twin cities

Schwaz is twinned with:

  Bourg-de-Péage

Bourg-de-Péage

Bourg-de-Péage is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France.-Population:-International relations:Bourg-de-Péage is twinned with: Schwaz, Austria Mindelheim, Germany Verbania, Italy Sant Feliu de Guíxols, Spain East Grinstead, United Kingdom-References:*...

  Mindelheim

Mindelheim

Mindelheim is a town in the German Bundesland of Bavaria. The town is the capital of the Unterallgäu district. At various points in history it was the chief settlement of an eponymous state.- Geography :...

  Tramin

  Trento

Trento

Trento is an Italian city located in the Adige River valley in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. It is the capital of Trentino...

  Verbania

Verbania

Verbania is a city and comune on the shore of Lake Maggiore, Piedmont, in northwest Italy, about north-west of Milan and about from Locarno in Switzerland.-Overview:...

  Satu Mare

  Sant Feliu de Guíxols

Sant Feliu de Guíxols

Sant Feliu de Guíxols is a municipality in the comarca of the Baix Empordà inCatalonia, Spain. It is situated on the Costa Brava and is an important port and tourist centre. The district abuts to the north, the upmarket s'Agaró resort built round the Sant Pol Beach. In addition to tourism and the...

  East Grinstead

East Grinstead

East Grinstead is a town and civil parish in the northeastern corner of Mid Sussex, West Sussex in England near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders. It lies south of London, north northeast of Brighton, and east northeast of the county town of Chichester...

External links

• Web site of the municipality of Schwaz (German)
• Schwaz Silver Mine (German)
• official tourism information of Schwaz (english)
• About Schwaz and surrounding (english)