With 2571 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2020) and an area of 97.49 km², Kappl is the second and largest community in the Tyrolean Paznaun. The community is located in the judicial district of Landeck.
13th Century
In the 13th century, the area of
the Landeck court, to which the tithing Paznaun (today's
municipality of Kappl) also belonged, to the Counts of Ulten and in
1248, after their extinction, to the Counts of Tyrol, who now
exercised county authority.
Several acts of war also took
place on the soil of today's Kappl municipality: In 1406 the
Appenzell people marched into Paznaun from the Zeinisjoch and
controlled it until 1408. During the coalition wars, the riflemen
had to be ready and guard the crossings.
Before the first
permanent residents settled, the alpine pastures in the area of
today's Kappl municipality were used as summer pastures.
Presumably these were Rhaeto-Romans from the Engadin who drove their
cattle through the Oberpaznaun to the alpine pastures. This can be
attested by the Romanesque roots of the name given to the alpine
pastures. The settlement of the Unterpaznaunes (sunny side and
Frödenegger Berg) took place from the Stanzertal across the Joch
crossings, but not through the Gföllschlucht, which was then
inaccessible. Wherever the hamlet stands today, there used to be a
courtyard.
Niederhof is mentioned as the first settlement in the
2nd half of the 13th century. In 1370 Kappl is mentioned for the
first time as "capella sancti Antonii". The name is a German
translation of the Latin capella ('chapel'). Langesthei ('spring
pasture') also appears for the first time. The Trisanna area
belonged to the Engadin people (municipality of Sent) and was given
to the local people as a permanent loan for annual interest (first
in kind, later money) in 1572 and sold by the municipality of Sent
to the residents of Niederhof and Wiese in 1810 . The same process
is believed to have occurred in the Vesul area. The division of the
individual farms often resulted in four to six farms, which were in
turn expanded through clearing. In 1427 Kappl had around 550 and
1754 already 1,850 inhabitants.
16th to 18th century
In
1754 the Landeck court came to the Oberinntal district with its
administrative headquarters in Imst. The Dingstätten incorporated
into the Landeck court were entrusted with the self-administration
of economic community affairs. The Dingstätte Stanzertal coincided
roughly with the area of the original parish of Stanz (later
Zams).
In the course of the Counter-Reformation, chapels were
built in many hamlets so that the residents could worship near their
homes. The area of today's parish Langesthei was administered by
the parish Kappl until the 17th century. One reason for the split
was the very arduous way to Kappl at the time. For this reason, a
church was built by the local residents, which was consecrated in
1698. A chapel previously stood on the site of today's church. The
separation from Kappl finally took place in 1700 through the
establishment of a curate, which was not tolerated in Kappl without
resistance.
Towards the end of the 18th century, as part of the
introduction of compulsory schooling, schools were built in Kappl
and Langesthei. Around 1800 so-called emergency schools were added
in Sinsen, Perpat and Holdernach.
19th century
In 1809 the
riflemen had to support the Landecker riflemen and occupy the posts
at the Zeinis-Joch and in Gföll-Wiesberg. On November 24, 1809 the
Gigglertoblerschlacht took place at the valley entrance. The
Paznauners had to fight against a predominance of French and
Bavarians. They captured a Bavarian war flag, which is still owned
by the Kappl rifle company. This flag, which is now 200 years old,
still proudly accompanies the Kappl rifle company during the
deployment.
The victory cheers only lasted a few hours,
because the next day they learned that Tyrol had been thrown down.
General Raglovich, as the Bavarian commander in charge, was
extremely gentle with the townspeople because he did not want to
provoke any new unrest.
The elevation to the parish took
place in the year 1891. Again and again the inhabitants were
afflicted by disasters. Avalanches, mudslides, floods, fires, plague
and cattle epidemics made life difficult for people.
20th century
On May 23, 1915, a company, composed of the
parishes of the Paznaune, moved to the southern front under Captain
Gottlieb Jehle von Kappl Egg. The Tyrolean riflemen held their
positions until the end of the war, but the municipality of Kappl
alone had 66 casualties to complain about. After the war, the rural
population was also extremely poor. Rapid inflation made the then
wealthy poor and the poor even poorer. In 1938 Austria was annexed
to National Socialist Germany. After the outbreak of the Second
World War (1939), numerous men from Kappl had to enter, 82 of whom
lost their lives.
At the end of April 1945 the German troops
came into the valley on their retreat, and on May 6, 1945 the
Americans took over the occupation, which were later replaced by
French troops.
2005 flood
In August 2005 an unprecedented
flood disaster occurred in Paznaun. Over 30% of the streets have
been washed away or spilled. For a week, the valley or Kappl could
only be reached via an airlift organized by the Austrian army.