Settlement at Kežmarok dates back to the Upper Stone Age. In the 13th
century the region contained a community of Saxons, a Slovak fishing village, a
Hungarian border post and a Carpathian German settlement. Its Latin name was
first mentioned in 1251 as Villa (Saxonum apud Ecclesiam) Sancte Elisabeth.
In 1269 Kežmarok received its town charter. It also had the right to organize a
cheese market (hence the German name Kesmark ("Käsemarkt" -
"cheese market"). The terms Nobilissimus (most noble) and