Bad Reichenhall is a traditional center of salt production, obtained by evaporating water saturated with salt from brine ponds.
History
The earliest known inhabitants of the area were tribes of the Glockenbecher-Culture (a Bronze Age Culture, from about 2000 B.C.)
In the age of the La Tene culture (about 450 B.C.) organised salt production commenced utilising the local brine pools. In the same period a Celtic place of worship is placed at the "Langacker".
From 15 B.C to 480 A.D, the city was part of a Roman province, Noricum.
1136 A.D bought the founding of a monastery St. Zeno.
In 1617–1619, a wooden pipeline for brine exportation to Traunstein was built, with a length of 31 km, and more than 200 m in altitude difference.
In 1834, two thirds of the city's buildings were destroyed by a major fire.
The early 19th century saw the beginning of tourism, with Reichenhall becoming a famous health resort.
From 1890 Reichenhall became known as "Bad Reichenhall".
During World War II the area was bombed by Allied forces, killing 200 people on 25 April 1945. The town centre with many hospitals and the train station was nearly totally destroyed; the barracks did not suffer any damage. After the war the area was under American military governance (1945–1948).
After World War II, the Americans established a Displaced Persons camp in the town, where Holocaust survivors lived for several years before immigrating to other countries.
In 1947, Ben Gurion visited the DP camp, and saw the artworks created by Samuel Bak, one of the Holocaust survivors living at the camp.
On 1 November 1999, 16-year-old Martin Peyerl shot at people in the streets from his bedroom window, killing three and wounding several others, among them actor Günter Lamprecht. He finally committed suicide after fatally shooting his sister and the family cat.
In 2001 Bad Reichenhall was named Alpine Town of the Year and a few years later became a member of Alpine Pearls. [3]
Fifteen people, twelve of them children, died in the collapse of the Bad Reichenhall Ice Rink on 2 January 2006. Thirty-four people were injured in the accident.[4]
Notable people from Bad Reichenhall
Anni Friesinger-Postma (born 1977), German speed skater (born in Bad Reichenhall, lived in Inzell ~10 km away and now lives in Salzburg)
Lore Frisch, well known German actress in the 1940s and 1950s. Moved from Traunstein to Bad Reichenhall in the mid-1930s and got her start in acting in Bad Reichenhall before becoming famous in Munich and Berlin.
