The remote and densely forested area of the upper Gurk Valley was settled by
Celtic colonists when the region was part of the
Noricum kingdom, which in 15 BC was incorporated as a province of the
Roman Empire. From about 590
Alpine Slavs immigrated into the lower parts of the valley, followed by
Bavarian settlers in the 10th century. In the High Middle Ages, when the area was part of the
Duchy of Carinthia, the valley belonged to the estates of
Millstatt Abbey. From about 1300 the
Benedictine monks had large parts of the woodland cleared. The village of
Reichenau (possibly derived from , "smoke" referring to
slash-and-burn agriculture) was first mentioned in a 1332 deed. A chapel in the neighbouring village of Sankt Lorenzen at a height of (today the highest situated parish church in Carinthia) was already documented in 1216. A
Protestant prayer house (
Toleranzbethaus) in Wiedweg was first mentioned in 1787. About 16% of the local population confess to the Protestant Church. ==Politics==