Oberes Gericht is an area in the southwest of
Austria and one of 36
microregions of the federal state of
Tirol. The area located in the
Landeck District reaches from Pontlatzbrücke to Finstermünzpass. It borders
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
in the southwest and
Italy in the south. According to data from January 2016, the area counts 12,787 inhabitants. Most of the settlements in the area are located among the river
Inn and form part of the
Inntal. In addition the area compromises another side valley of the Inntal called
Kaunertal
The Kaunertal is a municipality and alpine valley in the Landeck district in the Austrian state of Tyrol. The municipality is located about southeast of Landeck at the upper course of the Inn river.
The Kaunertal valley is 28 km (17 m ...
.
Geography
The southern frontier of Oberes Gericht is
Reschen Pass which forms the Austrian frontier to Italy. The northern frontier of Oberes Gericht is formed by the municipality of
Fliess.
The area forms part of the
Central Eastern Alps and compromises large parts of the
Ötztal Alps and in the west contains parts of the
Samnaun Alps
The Samnaun Alps are a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps, named after the Swiss municipality of Samnaun. They are located at the border of the Austrian state of Tyrol and the Graubünden canton of Switzerland.
The Samnaun Alps are separ ...
. The intersection of the rivers Inn and Faggenbach forms the widest point of the Inntal in Oberes Gericht.
History
First settlements in the area started during the
Bronze Age. The area became part of the
Roman Empire in 15 BC and formed part of the province
Raetia. With
Rhaeto-Romance a
Romance language
The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European languages, I ...
was spoken in the area during the middle age and remained spoken in the south of Oberes Gericht until the 17th century. The
Ancient Romans built the
Via Claudia Augusta through the area, which was the most important street crossing the Alpes from Italy to modern day Southern Germany. The area became part of the county Tirol in the thirteen century. Later on the area formed an administrative entity and the castle Schloss Sigmundsried became the center of the administration from 1550 onwards. The castle became home to the seat of the regional tribunal and the name Oberes Gericht derives from the tribunal located in the castle.
Economy and infrastructure
The area is home to some of Austria's most significant hydroelectric power stations. Further on high-quality intensive agriculture and tourism are important economic sectors.
References
{{coord, 47.0692, N, 10.6625, E, source:wikidata, display=title
Landeck District
Geography of Tyrol (state)