Defereggen Valley

Its name is derived from the Celtic word dubar (black, dark) or from the Slavic dober (good).

The Defereggen Valley has been settled since the 7th century by settlers who entered it over the Staller Saddle and the Klammljoch, both crossings into the present day South Tyrol.

The main village of St. Jakob im Defereggental is the oldest settlement in East Tyrol.

In the 17th century about half the population of the Defereggen Valley left the Roman Catholic church and became Protestants.

[2] These emigrants settled mainly in the area of the present-day German states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.