Werdenfelser Land

From the Middle Ages until the Thirty Years' War, the Werdenfelser Land was subject to the Prince-Bishop of Freising, not the Duke of Bavaria.

It is sometimes called the Goldener Land after the wealth derived in the Middle Ages and Renaissance from the traffic along this Rottstraße, the main route over the Alps to Augsburg.

Occasionally the Romans adopted settlement and river names of Veneto-Illyrian or Celtic origin, some of which have survived to the present day (Partenkirchen – Partanum, Isar – Isara).

Werdenfels Castle, erected by Duke Otto of Wittelsbach in 1180 northwest of Partenkirchen, was transferred in 1294 to the Prince-Bishopric of Freising.

Control of the northern approaches of the important European trading route by the Freising archbishopric enabled the population of the County of Werdenfels to become relatively wealthy over a long period of time.

With the onset of the Modern Period there was a significant economic boom as a result of stronger trade relations with Italy (see also: Fugger, Welser).