Many inhabitants of Jenbach believe that the name "Jenbach" is derived from "Jenseits des Baches", which means "Beyond the brook", however earlier versions of the name, for instance "Umbach" suggest that it could also be derived from "Um den Bach [herum]", which means "Around the brook".

From 1410 onwards the Fugger constructed furnaces in order to process the silver and copper ore dug from the mines near Schwaz.

In February 1945 31 tons of bombs were dropped on the railway station during Operation Clarion in order to prevent the Reichsbahn from transporting war-material.

During the war the Heinkel factories produced, under license, the Hellmuth Walter KG-designed liquid rocket motors for the Me 163B Komet, the first operational rocket engine powered combat aircraft; and other parts for the V-2 SRBM missiles fired at southern English cities during the final months of the Second World War.

In April and May, remainders of SS-units, among them the main staff of the SS-Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler, withdrew from the quickly advancing French units commanded by Charles de Gaulle, to Tyrol, which Nazi propaganda had portrayed as a "fortress in the Alps".

Mayor Somweber and a lieutenant of the Austrian resistance, Nentwich, negotiated with the SS to withdraw, and with the allies to end air raids on Jenbach.