Ratten history
Town name “Ratten“
In old rent-rolls (= stately tax statistics), the area around the upper Feistritz was known as in Roeten in 1340, in Roetten in 1343, in Ratn in 1394, in Raten in 1396, in Roten in1400, in Roeten in 1403, in Raten in 1443.
"Roten" meant clearing in Middle High German, "rod" meant new ground. From the 12 Century onwards, the place name "in der Roten" described the newly populated area on the upper Feistritz.
Over the centuries, the original names changed and finally came to be the place name "Ratten" in today's municipal area. These initial names are sometimes still used in dialect form, particularly the place name "Rodn".
Settlement
The region of the upper Feistritz was first settled after 1200. The Feistritz river and the Fischbacher Alps were important control, legal and administrative boundaries for centuries.
The senior civil servant and village magistrate judge had his office in 1426, for the first time alluded to as Taczhof (Tacz = tax). The Tatzhof, today Krainer hotel, is the oldest secular buildings in Ratten. According to old stories, there was a subterranean passage leading to the Rosary chapel as an escape route.
Inhabitants
For centuries, the inhabitants of Ratten were predominantly farmers and a smaller part craftsman.
The approximate constant population size from 1770 (first record) to 1920, of around 800-900 people, rose in the early '20s due to coal mining, glass works, the wood industry and rail connections, as well as the immigration of glass trade workers from the Sudeten territories (Bohemia).
In 1951, Ratten had 1,522 inhabitants, as a consequence of the closure of the mine in 1960 the population decreased again and stabilised in recent years. 1991 Census: 1,320 inhabitants in 2001: 1,282 inhabitants.
The-commercial emphasis in the town of Ratten has been in the economic sectors, tourism, service and agriculture and forestry for several years.