Rattenberg Attractions

Rattenberg (513m/1,683ft), a little town of only 600 inhabitants, still preserves a uniquely medieval appearance with its handsome oriel-windowed burghers' houses of the 15th and 16th C. The parish church, originally Late Gothic (15th C.), was remodeled internally in Baroque style in 1735 (ceiling fresco by Matthäus Günther). The Servite Church (1709) has some fine stucco work and frescos. On a projecting spur above the town lie the ruins of Schloss Rattenberg (open air dramatic performances). The castle was erected in the 11th century by the Bavarians as a bastion against Tirol and in the 15th C. was massively fortified with an outer wall. It also served as a prison and it was here that the Chancellor of Tirol, Wilhelm Biener, was beheaded in 1651 on a false charge.