St. Johann in Tirol

St. Johann in Tyrol is located in the center of the Leukental in the Tyrolean Unterland. The municipality is situated in a wide glacial cirque, intersected by the Leukental in a broadly north-south direction. Northwest of St. Johann are the Wilder Kaiser, the southern range of the Kaisergebirge in the Northern Limestone Alps. To the east is the mountain group of the Loferer and Leoganger Steinberge. Extending to the southeast is the valley of the Fieberbrunner-Ache. In the south is the Kitzbüheler Horn, a nearly 2,000 m (6,600 ft) mountain that sits at the centre of the Kitzbühel district and is part of the Kitzbühel Alps.

Due to its location in a valley basin, St. Johann in Tyrol is largely spared from the Alpenföhn storms that plague the Inntal to the east-northeast, but gets extremely abundant snowfalls due to its location on the southern, windward side of the Wilder Kaiser. The town center sits at an altitude of 660 m (2,170 ft) above sea level. The municipal area covers an area of 5,915 hectares (22.84 sq mi) and the highest elevation within the municipality is the Maukspitze in the Wilder Kaiser with a height of 2,231 m (7,320 ft) above sea level.

The Großache, the principal river of the Leukental, flows through the center of St. Johann in Tirol; the section flowing north from Kitzbühel to St. Johann is known as the Kitzbüheler Ache. Several tributaries join the Großache within the municipality of St. Johann: the Reither Ache (called the Aschauer Ache in its upper course) joins the main stream south of the town proper and the Fieberbrunner Ache joins to the north of the town centre. The Großache ultimately empties into the Chiemsee in Bavaria as the Tiroler Achen.

The town’s train station serves as a regional transport hub and several federal highways (Bundesstraßen) intersect in the municipality. The Loferer Straße (B 178) runs from west to northeast through the municipality. Traveling west from St. Johann, the Loferer Straße leads into the Sölllandl valley and region via Going am Wilden Kaiser and, traveling northeast, it continues through the Leukental towards Kirchdorf in Tirol. The Kössener Straße (B 176) branches from the Loferer Straße to extend north of St. Johann into the Kohlental towards Schwendt via the Huberhöhe mountain pass. Following along the Fieberbrunner Ache, the Hochkönigstraße (B 164) branches from the Loferer Straße to run southeast from St. Johann towards Fieberbrunn.

St. Johann is situated in the Leukental, which extends from Jochberg to the Streichen close to the Bavarian border. This region was already settled in the 4th century BC by a Celtic tribe, the Ambisontiers, who pursued copper mining in the surrounding mountains.

In 15 BC the Romans conquered the Eastern Alpine region and the Leukental became part of the Roman province of Noricum. Following the downfall of the West Roman Empire in 476 AD the region went to the Duchy of Bavaria in the 7th century in the wake of the European migrations and as result of the settlement of the Germanic tribe of the Bavarii.

In the following centuries the nobles of the House of Liuchinger, after whom the Leukental is named, established a county in the valley. The Liuchingers lived at Leukenstein Castle, which is located at the foot of the Niederkaiser. The exact site of the castle, which was also the judicial seat for the county, is no longer known today, but is recalled by the farm name of Burgwiesen ("castle meadows"). Following the extinction of the Liuchingers around 1170, their county ended up in the hands of the Falkensteins, but this noble family also died out after just 70 years and the county in the Leukental was subsequently ruled by officials representing the Bavarian dukes.

In the 8th century (probably before 738), the missionaries built a Catholic church in the region of St. Johann, which was dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, from which the town's name was derived. The church of St. Johannes was first mentioned in a document in the year 1150.

In 1446, the bishops of Chiemsee were given the responsibility of the parish of St. Johann, from which time onwards it became their summer residence.

Engraving of St. Johann in Tirol in 1750

The opening of the copper and silver mines in 1540 increased the wealth of St. Johann. The mines were located in the small hills, known as Rerobichl close to Oberndorf, which belonged to St. Johann. In the 17th century the Heilig-Geist-Schacht ("Holy Ghost Shaft") was the deepest shaft in the world, over 780 metres (2,559 ft) deep.

The mining of copper and silver continued until the 18th century. In 1875, the construction of the Gisela Railway linked St. Johann to the international railway network, with the result that the economy boomed and tourism began to take hold.

Tourism and the restaurant trade are amongst the most important branches of the economy in the area. With approximately 520,000 overnight stays per year, roughly evenly split between summer and winter, St. Johann is one of the major tourist resorts in the Tyrol. Its holiday infrastructure ranges from hotels to campsites and from restaurants to discothèques.

In recent decades, St. Johann has experienced an economic boom in trade, services and light industry and it has become the shopping centre for the district of Kitzbühel. Many new firms have settled here, especially along the B 178 federal road, where they benefit from its central location. In addition, the opening of a pedestrian zone in the 1990s has improved the town centre, which receives an average of 20,000 visitors per day.

Several firms are based in St. Johann, such as the headquarters of the Fritz Egger GmbH & Co, one of the best-known chip board manufacturers in Europe.

Today, the region around St. Johann in Tirol is one of the agricultural centres of Tyrol, despite its harsh climate and heavy precipitation. Agriculture in the wide basin of the St. Johann bowl has a great tradition as the former breadbasket of Tyrol and, even today, farming continues to play an important role.

A relatively large number (for the Tyrol) of farms are established in the wide, level basin and on its fairly gently (with a few exceptions) slopes. According to Statistik Austria about a third of the farms form the main source of income. These primary income farms use rather more than half the agricultural and forested land in the municipality.

St. Johann in Tirol is an important tourist centre with impressive ski-slopes and related facilities. The ski resorts are especially populous starting after Christmas into early January. It is also popular in summer, especially with British, Irish and German tourists. Located near the Wilder Kaiser (Wild Emperor) mountains, the Kitzbühler Horn dominates the town. It is well served by ski lifts and cable car.

There are many sports facilities for locals and visitors alike:

• Indoor and outdoor swimming pool with sauna and steam bath
• Tennis courts, indoor and outdoor
• Crazy golf
• Mountainbike routes
• Cycle and walking paths
• Archery, low calibre rifle shooting range, pistol shooting range, air gun shooting range
• Circuit training exercise path
• Football stadium (Koasastadion)
• Riding hall, bridleway, horse-trotting course
• Kayaking and rafting
• 60 kilometres (37 mi) of ski runs, 48 km (half) with artificial snow making facilities; gondola, chairlift, draglifts and children's lifts
• Cross country circuit

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Timetrial-MastersWM

Since 2004 St. Johann has a modern event hall: the Kaisersaal. The term is derived from the mountain chain "Der Wilde Kaiser". There are many events such as lectures, corporate events and pop or rock concerts in this hall.

• Koasalauf - one of the biggest cross-country races held in January
• summer night festival "Jaggasn" held in July
• UCI cycling race of the seniors held in August
• a festival celebrating dumplings held in September

View of St. Johann in Tirol from the Harschbichl (1604 m); Tirol; Austria

• Edmund Angerer (b. May 24, 1740 in St. Johann in Tirol; d. 1774 in Fiecht), composer of a children's symphony
• Emma Hellenstainer (b. April 23, 1817 in St. Johann in Tirol; d. March 9, 1904 in Meran), pioneer of Tyrolean catering trade
• Axel Theimer (b. March 10, 1946 in St. Johann in Tirol), choir conductor, composer, singer and professor living in Minnesota
• DJ Ötzi (real name: Gerhard Friedle, b. January 7, 1971 in St. Johann in Tirol), Austrian singer and entertainer
• Andreas Widhölzl (b. October 14, 1976 in St. Johann in Tirol), Austrian ski jumper

Wikimedia Commons has media related to St. Johann in Tirol.

• Statistik Austria/Marktgemeinde St. Johann in Tirol
• Map of Tyrol
• Town Plan
• Digital Town Plan
• Tourist Board
• St. Johann in Tirol Gigapixel Panorama (11.300 Megapixel)