Bichlbach

Bichlbach is a municipality in the district of Reutte in the Austrian state of Tyrol.
Geography.
Bichlbach lies at an elevation of in the Zwischentoren, the valley that links the Ehrwald Basin with the Lech valley. Over the municipal territory runs the watershed between the Lech and Loisach. The municipality consists of three villages: the elongated "Straßendorf" of "Bichlbach" (, population: 550) and the two almost adjacent villages of "Lähn" (, pop: 225) and "Wengle" (, pop: 76; population figures as at 15 May 2001). Bichlbach is the base for an ascent of the Kohlbergspitze (2,202 m) on a waymarked path that takes around 3 hours.
Constituent communities.
The municipal area comprises the following three villages (population as of 1 January 2019):
History.
The settlement took place from the Allgäu. The village was first mentioned in 1300 as "Puechelpach", which means something like "creek surrounded by beeches". In Bichlbach was operated mining as in Biberwier. Lead and Galmeierze were mined. The town of "Mittelwald" was destroyed by an avalanche in 1456 and rebuilt as "Lähn" (= "avalanche") elsewhere. This place was also destroyed by an avalanche in 1689. Lähn formed until 1816 the diocese boundary between Augsburg and Brixen.
Until 1859 Bichlbach was the seat of a masons and carpenters guild, the Great Guild Bichlbach. One of the members was the master builder Joseph Michael Schnöller. in its baroque style, the guild church of Bichlbach is today the only one of its kind in the German-speaking world.
Coat of arms.
Blazon: "In red a black, double-headed eagle, occupied by a silver post, therein a left-looking, black-robed figure of St. Joseph, holding a silver carpenter's triangle."
The municipal coat of arms awarded in 1974 is modeled after the guild seal of 1694 and shows St. Joseph as a patron of craftsmen in front of a black double-headed eagle. The colors of the community flag are black - red.
Economy and Infrastructure.
In addition Bichlbach is nowadays a two-season tourism community with a focus on winter tourism (by the location at the entrance to Berwang). The community is located on the Fern Pass and is connected to the railway station "Bichlbach-Berwang" and the stops "Lähn" and "Bichlbach-Almkopfbahn" at the Außerfernbahn to the railway network.
At the same time, the village is located on the long-distance cycle path, which runs as Via Claudia Augusta along an ancient Roman road of the same name.
Culture and sights.
In Bichlbach is the only guild church in Austria, the "baroque church of St. Joseph" (built 1710/1711).