Fuggerau

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Fuggerau was a mining and metal works near Arnoldstein in Carinthia, Austria. It was probably started by the Fugger family in 1495 on land bought from Arnoldstein Abbey, with permission from the Bishopric of Bamberg. In return the Fuggers gained many rights—water, land, fortifications, and various abbey duties—along with rights to cut wood, hunt, and fish within limits; the abbey was compensated for these rights. These rights were expanded in 1496. The Fuggers also could exercise lower-court rights at Schloss Rosenheim, while higher-court matters stayed with the Carinthian vicedom.

The complex included separating works, a hammer mill, and a cannon foundry, producing 261 cannons in 1504 and supplying guns for its fortress. Smelting happened inside the fortress; brass was hammered in the valley using water power, probably from the Gailitz. The Fuggerau processed ore from local mines and from Upper Hungary for the Venetian market. Gold came from Kliening, and copper for Venice was a major product, with large copper and silver transactions tied to Venice.

Lead pipes were made there (1537–1546) as well as at Bleiberg, using lead from Schwaz. The first factor was Hans Fugger vom Reh; after he died in 1503, Christoph Hering and then Jobst Zeller managed the operation, with Zeller dismissed after blame for a Venetian gun seizure during the War of the League of Cambrai. In 1537 Gastel Fugger vom Reh became factor. Brass hammering at the site happened mainly from 1530, and from 1547 the Fuggers moved away from Hungarian mining toward domestic ores, reducing the site’s importance.

In 1570 Marx and Hans Fugger sold the Fuggerau, its lands, and equipment back to the Abbey for 2500 guilders during Petrus von Arnoldstein’s abbacy. The buildings fell into ruin and the name faded; by 1688 Valvasor noted the ruins. The Schrotturm Gailitz was built on the site in 1814, replaced in 1830, and operated until 1974; the tower still survives today.