Bischofshofen is often referred to as the cradle of the Pongau. Because the present municipality area has been an important settlement, mining and trading location as well as a cultural center in the state of Salzburg since ancient times. Already Around five thousand years ago people settled on the "Red Rock" near Götschenberg and marked the beginning of copper mining in Bischofshofen. From the 5th century BC The Celts settled in our municipality from the 1st century BC. A.D. there are traces of Roman settlement. In the 5th century AD, Roman rule north of the Alps collapsed.

"Cella Maximiliana “- The first monastery in Pongau

At the end of the 7th century AD Rupert, the bishop of Worms, arrives in Juvavum. In 711/712 he founded the first monastery in Pongau, the "Cella Maximiliana", as an outpost for the Christianization of the Slavs. The special position of Bischofshofen in church history, in addition to the spectacular results of church excavations, there are also unique art treasures such as the “Ruperti Cross”. In 1151 the name “Hofen” was first mentioned in a document. In 1216 it became Chiemsee diocese founded. The Kastenhof was set up by the Bishops of Chiemsee as a residence and administrative center. Bischofshofen also had its own jurisdiction in which justice was pronounced on behalf of the archbishop has been. This fact is still reflected today in the depiction of the staff of judges and bishops in the Bischofshofener coat of arms.

Peasant uprising and eviction of Protestants

In 1421, Archbishop Eberhard III granted the privilege of holding a market on the Buchberg on October 12th, Maximilian's Day, which later became very important as a horse market. Middle of the 16th century Protestantism spread further out. Bischofshofen and the Buchberg became centers of the new peasant uprising, which ended with the execution of the two ringleaders Wilhelm Egger and Hans Steiner. In 1570 the blood ram service was introduced, which lasted until In 1811 it continued: as a deterrent example, the descendants of the rebels had to drive two rams, each covered with a yard of red cloth, to Salzburg every year. In 1732 numerous Protestants from Bischofshofen emigrated. you found a new home in Prussia but also in America.

From the village to the market

Until the 19th century, Bischofshofen was determined by a petty-bourgeois peasant economic structure. The construction of the railway with the opening of the "Giselabahn" (Salzburg - Bischofshofen - Wörgl) and the "Kronprinz-Rudolf-Bahn" (towards Radstadt) in 1875 brought the change: On February 9, 1900, the village of Bischofshofen was raised to market due to the "commercial development" of Emperor Franz-Joseph. Railways and copper mining were the main carriers at that time the economy.

From an market to an city

Bischofshofen has developed into a central business location and cultural center. The place is world-famous for the four hills tournament and the hosting of the large hill competitions as part of the 1999 Nordic World Ski Championships. This positive development was the decisive factor in the fact that the market town of Bischofshofen was made a town on September 24, 2000, the name day of St. Rupert. Since then, the appearance of the town has been completely changed: the station has become one modern traffic control center and designed the center as an attractive shopping mile.