Absam

Absam is a municipality in the Innsbruck-Land District, Tyrol (Austria) situated at an altitude of 632 m, which had an area of 51.92 km² and 6,776 inhabitants as January 2015.

Geography

Absam is 15 km from Innsbruck, in the lower Inn Valley (Unterinntal), at the slopes of the Zunterkopf Haller group, north of Hall in Tirol to which is connected with the regional road (Landesstraße) L 225, while the L 372 is the road connecting with Innsbruck via Mühlau, Arzl, Rum and Thaur.

It is possible to reach the village by using bus lines D and E from Innsbruck.

The highest point in the municipality is the summit of Große Bettelwurf at altitude of 2775 m.

The neighbour municipalities are: Baumkirchen, Fritzens, Gnadenwald, Hall in Tirol, Innsbruck, Mils, Tyrol, Scharnitz, Thaur, Vomp.

History

Origin

The origin of a prehistoric settlement in Absam is not sure, although a disk pommel of a sword and a brooch of copper were found there dating to 1500 BC. Traces of Roman settlements have not been found, a coin dating from the time of Diocletian has been discovered, though the Romans had conquered the Tyrol in 15 AD. The place names were of the Roman period, including "Abazanes", which became Absam. Abazanes was mentioned for the first time in 995, in a document kept in the records of the Diocese of Brixen; at that time the Bishop of Augsburg was the owner of most of the land in the region, which was administered by the Maierhof. The village, in 1282, belonged to the parish of Thaur that covered the entire region. In 1288 the name "Abzan" appeared in the register of the lands of Meinhard, Duke of Carinthia, and in the fourteenth century Absam was cited 14 times in the documents including a citation, on September 21, 1331, concerning the appointment of church to parish, until then affiliated with Thaur.