The municipal area comprises the cadastral communities of Griffnerthal, Großenegg (Tolsti Vrh), Haberberg (Gabrje), Kaunz (Homec), Kleindörfl (Mala vas), Pustritz (Pustrica), Sankt Kollmann (Šentkolman), Wölfnitz (Golovica), and Wriesen (Brezje).

From the 7th century onwards, the Jauntal (Slovene: Podjuna) area was a centre of the Slavic settlement of the Eastern Alps and part of the early medieval principality of Carantania.

The settlement was first mentioned in an 822 deed, after Carantania had been incorporated into the Carolingian Empire and evolved to the Bavarian March of Carinthia.

From 1124 onwards Bishop Otto of Bamberg had Griffen Castle erected within the Carinthian possessions of the prince-bishopric, received from the hands of King Henry II of Germany in 1007.

Seats in the municipal assembly (Gemeinderat) as of 2009 local elections: The village of Altenmarkt (Stara vas) is the birthplace of Austrian writer Peter Handke, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature.