Region Seefeld – Tirol's High Plateau
The History of Seefeld
The Seefeld high plateau has been settled since prehistoric times and gained historical significance with the construction of the Roman military road, which led from the Po Valley over the mountain pass to "Augusta Vindelicorum," the present-day Augsburg. In the year 1077, the settlement "Sevelt" (Seefeld) was mentioned for the first time in a document from the Wilten Monastery.
The duke Sigmund the Coin-rich, who ruled from 1446 to 1490, was a patron of Seefeld and helped the community to pay its income to its own parish instead of handing it over to the provincial government. He also established fish farming in a lake near today's Seekirchl. Emperor Maximilian I also appreciated Seefeld and its surroundings, as it had the best hunting ground in the Karwendel mountains.
Seefeld began to gain importance and became a transit area for traders of all kinds. The economic development of Seefeld at that time was long linked to pilgrimage and devotional journeys. The Thirty Years' War (1618 – 1648) left economic scars, leading to a decline in pilgrimage and trade traffic. Followed by the dissolution of almost all monasteries in Austria by Emperor Joseph II, the situation in Seefeld worsened significantly. The subsequent "Peace of Pressburg" ceded Tyrol to the Kingdom of Bavaria. The Seefelder monastery, now the 'Klosterbräu' hotel, was put up for sale by the Bavarian state and taken into private ownership.
From the 1920s onwards, the development of Seefeld, as a sunny holiday village on the plateau with hospitality and tradition, was promoted. The optimal transport location between Innsbruck and Telfs as well as Munich and Garmisch favored the emergence of this multifaceted holiday destination. The construction of the Karwendel railway in 1912 boosted the growth of the tourist region and went hand in hand with the expansion of the tourist infrastructure in the 1950s.
The Olympic flame has found its way into the Seefeld region three times, positioning it as a host for the Nordic disciplines in the Olympic Winter Games in 1964, 1976, and 2012 during the Olympic Youth Winter Games, as one of the top Nordic winter sports areas.
Today, Seefeld is a year-round destination that offers a wealth of activities for tourists. The municipality has succeeded in finding a balance between modernity and tradition. While there are modern spa hotels, excellent restaurants, and high-quality leisure facilities, the town has also preserved its traditional character, be it in architecture or in cultural events.
