The town of Rosenheim, not a district, is surrounded by the district of Rosenheim but is administratively independent. Towns not part of a district are usually medium-sized or large with populations of more than 100.000. Other towns that are not part of districts are, for example, Kempten and Munich. Rosenheim benefits from its very favourable location at the important crossroads in a north-south direction (between Passau/Regensburg and Brenner/North Italy) and in an east-west direction (between Augsburg/Munich and Salzburg). The town gained importance in the Middle Ages as a place where goods that were transported along the Inn were transshipped. A strong economic upswing also came with the third Bavarian salt mine in 1810 which was closed down in 1958. Nowadays the local economy is characterised by medium-sized businesses and Rosenheim's function as a cross-border shopping town.