A transhumance agricultural as well as a gold mining from ancient history to the Middle Ages, Heiligenblut was a stop on the bridle path and later Roman road leading to the Hochtor Pass across the Alps, probably already in use during the Hallstatt culture which followed on from the Late Bronze Age. In 1834 Archduke John of Austria had a first mountain hut built beneath the pass, and a driveway was constructed from 1875. The opening of the Grossglockner Road in 1935 decisively promoted the economy of Heiligenblut as a tourism and mountaineering resort.