The church of Jochberg with the snow-covered village and the wooded mountainside in the mist

Tyrol · Kitzbühel Alps

History of Jochberg

Three thousand years

From copper ore to ski slopes

Jochberg lies at 924 metres in the valley of the Jochberger Ache, between Kitzbühel and the Pass Thurn. The long, stretched-out village has just over 1,500 inhabitants and is surrounded by mountains rising to 2,363 metres (the Gaisstein). Driving through the valley today you see meadows, farmhouses and ski lifts – but the history of Jochberg begins underground.

As early as the Bronze Age, some three thousand years ago, copper was mined and smelted around the Kelchalm, which makes Jochberg one of the oldest mining areas in Tyrol. In the fifteenth century the extraction of copper- and silver-bearing ore started again in the area that later became known as the “Kupferplatte”. For centuries miners and smelters shaped life in the village; the ore was processed in the hamlet of Hütten. The last copper was smelted in 1875 and on 31 July 1926 the mine closed for good.

After that Jochberg went back to what it had always been as well: a farming village. Until 1959, when the first chairlift opened on the Wagstätt and ski tourism began. Since 2013 a modern gondola lift takes skiers into the KitzSki area in a few minutes.

Coloured drawing from the Schwazer Bergbuch (1556): miners in a Tyrolean mountain landscape — Miners in the Tyrolean mountainsSchwazer Bergbuch, 1556 · public domain (Wikimedia Commons)

Drawing from the Schwazer Bergbuch (1556): an assayer at his furnace — The assayer tests the oreSchwazer Bergbuch, 1556 · public domain (Wikimedia Commons)

Timeline

Jochberg through the centuries

c. 1000 BC
Bronze Age copper mining
Copper ore is mined around the Kelchalm and processed in smelting furnaces. Archaeologists have found the remains.
1073
First mention
Jochberg (“Johberg”) appears in a charter in the name of Emperor Henry IV – probably a later forgery from the 12th or 13th century, but still the oldest document naming the village.
1275
Border village
The border between the Archbishopric of Salzburg and Bavaria runs at Jochberg. In the 14th century the village belongs to the court of Kitzbühel.
1447
Copper and silver
Mining of fahlore, rich in copper and silver, begins in what later became the Kupferplatte.
1482
Gasthof Schwarzer Adler
The village inn is built – and is still there today.
1504
Part of Tyrol
Together with the court of Kitzbühel, Jochberg becomes part of Tyrol under Emperor Maximilian I.
1505
The Wolfgang spring
99 healings are recorded at the spring below the church. For almost three hundred years pilgrims come to Jochberg.
c. 1600
Erbstollen zum Heiligen Geist
A new main adit opens up the ore veins deeper in the mountain.
1750–1752
Baroque church
The parish church of St Wolfgang is built by Kassian Singer; the frescoes and stucco are by Simon Benedikt Faistenberger.
1762
Independent village
Jochberg is recognised as one of the ten villages of the Landgericht Kitzbühel.
1835
The road through the valley
Construction of the road towards the Pass Thurn and the Salzburg region.
1875
Last smelt
Copper is smelted for the last time at the smelting works in Hütten.
31 July 1926
End of mining
After almost five centuries the Kupferplatte closes for good.
6 December 1959
First chairlift
The Wagstätt lift opens: the start of ski tourism in Jochberg.
7 December 2013
New Wagstättbahn
A 10-seater gondola replaces the old lift and links Jochberg directly to KitzSki.
Today
Over 1,500 inhabitants
A quiet mountain village with a former mine as its attraction: the Kupferplatte show mine and the mining and local history museum.

Drawing from the Schwazer Bergbuch (1556): two men washing ore under a roof — Washing the oreSchwazer Bergbuch, 1556 · public domain (Wikimedia Commons)

Drawing from the Schwazer Bergbuch (1556): smelters at a furnace with bellows — Smelting works with bellowsSchwazer Bergbuch, 1556 · public domain (Wikimedia Commons)

Black-and-white photo from 1944 of Kitzbühel with the Wilder Kaiser in the background — Kitzbühel with the Wilder Kaiser, 1944Photo: Willy Pragher · Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg, Staatsarchiv Freiburg W 134 · CC BY 4.0

Did you know…?

Fun facts about Jochberg

3,000years

That is how long ago copper was already being mined around the Kelchalm: Jochberg is one of the oldest mining areas in Tyrol.

479years of mining

From 1447 until 31 July 1926 copper and silver ore was mined in the Kupferplatte.

1482Schwarzer Adler

The village inn is ten years older than the discovery of America – and it is still there today.

99healings

In 1505, 99 miraculous healings were recorded at the Wolfgang spring below the church.

1073“forged”

The oldest charter naming Jochberg is probably a medieval forgery.

400metres deep

That is how high the 3S cable car floats above the Saukasergraben between Jochberg and Kitzbühel. One cabin has a glass floor.

85metres

The Sintersbach waterfall drops 85 metres into natural pools, about an hour’s walk from the valley.

54years and 1 day

Between the first chairlift (6 December 1959) and the new Wagstättbahn (7 December 2013).

1,439metres higher

The village lies at 924 metres; the Gaisstein above it rises to 2,363 metres.

Discover it yourself

History you can visit

Kupferplatte show mine

Put on a helmet and go into the old galleries: in summer you can visit the copper and silver mine and see how the miners worked for centuries.

Parish church of St Wolfgang

The baroque village church of 1752, with its onion-domed tower the landmark of Jochberg. Below it lies the old Wolfgang spring.

Sintersbach waterfall

The waterfall drops 85 metres, about an hour’s walk from the Schradlern car park. At its most impressive in spring, after the snowmelt.

Sources: Wikipedia (Jochberg, Tirol), bergbaugemeinden.at, kitzbuehel.com.