History of the market town of Schruns
In 1433 the church is called St. Josen zu Schruns. From 1579 Schruns is a separate parish, but the entire area of the Ausserlitz remained with Bartholomäberg for a longer period of time.
In 1622 Schruns was sacked by troops. The plague killed many people in 1629 and in the severe avalanche winter of 1689 there were four deaths on the Stiefen. In 1682 the parish church burned down. Since this happened in the middle of the day, the surrounding houses could be saved.
In 1696 the craftsmen's guild of the valley was founded in Schruns and Ulrich Marent was appointed as the first guild master. In 1754 Schruns already had 1230 inhabitants. In 1762 the rivers Ill and Litz devastated the fields of the village in a great flood. 20 houses fell victim to the floods. After long efforts, Schruns was given its own court in 1775 and at the same time the right to hold markets.
Between 1796 and 1799 Schruns was in distress. Local riflemen under Landammann Batlogg took part in battles against Napoleon's troops near Feldkirch and the Schlappinerjoch. In 1800 the place was occupied. From 1805 to 1814 the Montafon belonged to Bavaria. At that time the valley road was built through Schruns. In 1867 the current, recently built church is occupied. The local artist family Bertle worked on the decoration of the church even later.
The first holidaymakers came to Schruns around 1870 and it began to develop as a tourist destination. Gradually, the first hotels were built and in 1905 the Montafonerbahn opened, which is operated by the previously built power station on the Litz. By 1900 Schruns already had around 350 inhabited houses, and this number increased significantly by the First World War. In 1910 Schruns reached the number of around 1,600 inhabitants that it had already had around 1850. In 1928 Schruns was officially raised to a market town.
Text: Schruns market town