Gröden owes its first valley road, which ran from Waidbruck to St. Ulrich and opened in 1856, to Johann Baptist Purger, merchant and mayor of St. Ulrich. In creating a link between the valley with the wider world, the road brough new opportunities for the sale of Gröden products and fostered the emergent tourism industry of the era.

In commemoration of Purger’s prescience and achievement, a wooden statue was erected on the Purger bridge at the entrance to the village in 1921. In the road’s centenary year, this statue was replaced with a bronze sculpture. 

Today’s Hotel Cavallino Bianco is one of the oldest hotels in the valley, and has been welcoming travellers since the far-back 16th century. The hotel is first mentioned by the name of “Weisses Rössl” in the mid-19th century, when it was purchased by Johann Peter Lardschneider.

Today’s Hotel Angelo Engel on the old valley road has always been a hotel, and its roots date back to the 16th century.  Also known as Dëur Dessot, the Beché or the Unteruhrwirt, it is one of the oldest hotels in the village.

In 1896, extensive renovations included the addition of a dining room, veranda and garden. The Demetz family took over in 1913, and upgraded it to hotel status in 1950. The restaurant remained open for many years until the renovations of 2004, when it closed its doors for the last time.

Most toys from Gröden were mass produced, yet there were also some carefully made unique items, like this post wagon with access door, double shafts, yellow varnishing and the writing 'K.K. Post'. As of 1856, post wagons accessed Gröden on the road through the valley, and in 1867 Gröden was joined up with the Brennerbahn railway via Waidbruck, which made doing business in the valley a lot easier.

The former stable at Panahof farm was extended by Johann Baptist Purger in 1854 for the purpose of packaging toys and, at a later date, altars, for export. A bridge over the Annabach stream was built at the same time to ease transport by sledge. Today, the packaging house is home to an eatery with a western façade consisting of porphyry stone blocks like the bridge, while its foundations are made of solid Gröden sandstone.

On the spot of the cultural centre there was once a multi-storey building constructed in 1854 in urban style by the manufacturer, Johann Baptist Purger, along with some council offices and doctor's surgery. It also served as a temporary warehouse for the toy manufacturer Anton Sotriffer. Both buildings influenced the character of Kirchplatz, until, in 1969, they had to make way for a congress hall for the 1970 Winter Olympics built at the turn of the century and bearing the name 'Kulturhaus Luis Trenker'.

Johann Baptist Purger started living in Haus Pana in 1832. He had the new road from Gröden to Waidbruck constructed in 1856, which played a significant role in the valley's economic boom. The building is on the original site of a farm at Kirchplatz that dates back in records to the 11th century and used to belong to the Lords of Freising. Its present appearance is an extension carried out in 1908 in the historical turn-of-the-century villa style.