- Lesachtal
Infobox Town AT
name=Lesachtal
name_local=
image_coa = Wappen at lesachtal.png
state = Carinthia
regbzk =
district =Hermagor
population =1492
population_as_of = 2005
population_ref =
pop_dens = 8
area = 190.69
elevation = 1044
lat_deg=46
lat_min=42
lat_hem=N
lon_deg=12
lon_min=49
lon_hem=E
postal_code = 9653
area_code =
mayor = Franz Guggenberger
website = [http://www.lesachtal.com/home/]The Lesachtal (Slovenian: "Holz") valley is located in the Austrian state of
Carinthia . It is the uppermost part of the valley formed by the Gail River, and stretches from the border betweenEast Tyrol and Carinthia to Kötschach-Mauthen (alt. 705 m).In East Tyrol the valley dug by the Gail River is called the Tilliach valley. The Lesachtal valley borders the Lienzer Dolomite mountains and the Gailtal Alps to the north, and the Karnisch Alps to the south. Most settlements and paths are over 300 meters above the bottom of the valley.
The Lesachtal valley is located in the administrative district of
Hermagor . The municipality of Lesachtal (area 19.62 km², pop. 1,665) comprises the villages of Liesing, Maria Luggau, and Sankt Lorenzen im Lesachtal.History
The Lesachtal was inhabited by Slavs in 600 A.D. It was one of the first Carinthian valleys to be Germanised.
The Landgericht Lesach (District Court of Lesach) was conferred to Burg Pittersberg in 1380 and was since then only an office of this Herrschaft. It belonged to the Counts of the
County of Gorizia and, after their decease, to the Landesfürsten and, finally, together with Goldenstein, to theGrafschaft Ortenburg .With the creation of the municipalities (Ortsgemeinden) in 1850, the three municipalities Luggau, St. Lorenzen and Liesing were constituted. The localities (Katastralgemeinden) Kornach and Strajach merged with the municipality of Mauthen, but obtained in 1882 independent status as the municipality of Unterlesach. Ten years later the two localities Birnbaum and St. Jakob became independent municipalities too.With the Carinthian local government reform in 1973, the eastern municipality St. Jakob merged with
Kötschach-Mauthen , while the four western municipalities were merged into the present municipality of Lesachtal.During
World War I the frontline betweenAustria-Hungary andItaly was located on the ridge of theCarnic Alps . Many old positions and fortifications bear witness to the War in the mountains (see:War of the Mountains 1915–1918 ).
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