St. Johann in Tirol

Geschichte

St. Johann in Tirol is a market town in Tyrol, Austria, in the Kitzbühel district. In the regional ductus, the last syllable of the name is stressed as "Sankt yo-Hahn'".HistorySt. Johann is situated in the Leukental, which extends from Jochberg to the Streichen close to the Bavarian border. This region was already settled in the 4th century BC by a Celtic tribe, the Ambisontiers, who pursued copper mining in the surrounding mountains.In 15 BC the Romans conquered the Eastern Alpine region and the Leukental became part of the Roman province of Noricum. Following the downfall of the West Roman Empire in 476 AD the region went to the Duchy of Bavaria in the 7th century in the wake of the European migrations and as result of the settlement of the Germanic tribe of the Bavarii.In the following centuries the nobles of the House of Liuchinger, after whom the Leukental is named, established a county in the valley. The Liuchingers lived at Leukenstein Castle, which is located at the foot of the Niederkaiser. The exact site of the castle, which was also the judicial seat for the county, is no longer known today, but is recalled by the farm name of Burgwiesen ("castle meadows"). Following the extinction of the Liuchingers around 1170, their county ended up in the hands of the Falkensteins, but this noble family also died out after just 70 years and the county in the Leukental was subsequently ruled by officials representing the Bavarian dukes.