Due to the numerous industrial enterprises located here, the market town of Wattens belongs to the richest communities in Austria. In 1559 the first paper mill in Austria was founded here. The modern economic boom of the former rural village is closely linked with the Swarovski Company. Because of the number of people moving to Wattens, building land in the valley has become rare. In 1995 the Crystal Worlds opened in the jubilee year of the glass polishing factory of Swarovski. Today the Crystal Worlds have become one of the most important tourist sights in Austria. Prehistoric excavations of an early settlement in the region of "Himmelreich" are of archaeological importance. Excavations show that the fan, Wattens was built on, was already settled in pre-Roman times.