East Tirol

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History

The remains at Aguntum (5km/3mi east of Lienz) bear witness to the Roman occupation of this area. In the early medieval period the eastern Tirol was settled by Slavs. Thereafter it became part of Carinthia, and was long attached to the county of Görz (Gorizia), with which it passed to Austria in 1500. In 1805 it became Bavarian, and from 1809-14 it was French. The cession of South Tirol to Italy in 1919 separated the eastern and northern parts geographically, but administratively they were still joined together. During the Nazi period East Tirol was incorporated in Carinthia, and between 1945-55 it was in the British occupation zone of Austria. Since then, as part of the Land of Tirol, it has shared the destinies of the rest of Austria.

Art

In the much ramified Alpine valleys of East Tirol, particularly in the Defereggental and Virgental, the art of woodcarving has been practiced for many centuries. Among the artists of East Tirol two painters have established a reputation extending beyond the boundaries of their homeland - Franz von Defregger and Albin Egger-Lienz. Franz von Defregger (1835-1921) painted charming, often idealized, pictures of peasant and popular life and scenes from local history. Albin Egger-Lienz (1868-1926) painted stark and stylized pictures showing the frugal existence led by the peasants. In the field of folk art, East Tirol has maintained the tradition of folk plays.