Road Construction to Bischofshofen
Today, it is hard to imagine reaching a
village only via narrow cart tracks and long
detours. In 1850, there were only two ways
to reach Mühlbach from Bischofshofen:
one over the Götschenberg along the
Haidberg, and the other through the
Gainfeldtal up to the Arthurhaus and then
to Mühlbach.
It wasn‘t until the establishment of the
smelter in "Blumau“ (now part of the
district "Schmelz“) in 1848 that the copper
mining association began construction
of a valley road along the Mühlbach to
Bischofshofen in 1852. In October 1852,
for the first time, copper produced over
the summer was transported as freight
via the new connection to Ausserfelden
(Mitterberghütten).
In late August 1879, a massive summer
storm destroyed the entire road with its
many bridges, resulting in significant
economic damage to the copper mining
industry. Already on December 4, 1879,
St. Barbara‘s Day, the first freight could
be transported via the newly constructed
road, which roughly followed today‘s
route. The journey began adorned with
wreaths in front of Prem‘s Inn (now
Gasthof Alpenrose) in Mühlbach.
For all locals and many tourists, this road
remains the only way to reach Mühlbach.
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