Defereggen valley
The Defereggental, or just Defereggen is the average of the three East Tyrol's alpine valleys with an east-west course. The parallel neighboring valleys are the Pusteria and the Virgen Valley. The Defereggental is accessed through the Defereggentalstraße. The name derives from the Celtic Dubar (black, dark) or from the Slavic doberman (good).
It is located in the Hohe Tauern National Park and is surrounded by mountains of Defereggengebirges, the Rieserfernergruppe, the Lasörlinggruppe and the Schober group. Is Bathed the valley of the Schwarzach. In the valley there are three communities Hopfgarten in Defereggen, St. Veit in Defereggen and St. Jakob in Defereggen.
The Defereggental has been inhabited since the 7th century over Stallersattel and Klammljoch, both transitions in today's South Tyrol. Even today, therefore, serves South Tyrol grazing rights in the upper Defereggental. The village of St. Jakob in Defereggen is the oldest settlement in East Tyrol. About the Staller Sattel takes you to the Antholz valley.
In the 17th century about half the population of the Defereggentals had turned away from the Catholic faith and had become Protestant. After they did not follow the request of the Archbishop of Salzburg to return, they were expelled from the valley in December 1684. Her children had to leave their belongings they could sell. The exiles settled mainly in the area of today's German states of Bavaria and Baden- Württemberg.
The Defereggental matters protected by the Hohe Tauern National Park, the most pristine high mountain valleys in the Alps and is one of the most sparsely populated areas in the Austrian Alps.