Zederhaus is a municipality of the

Tamsweg District Bezirk Tamsweg is an administrative district ('' Bezirk'') in the federal state of Salzburg, Austria. It is congruent with the Lungau region (). The administrative centre of the district is Tamsweg. Geography The area of the Lungau plateau is ...

in the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n state of

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

Geography

The Zederhaus Valley is located in the northwestern part of the Salzburg ''Lungau'' region, on the southern slopes of the

Lower Tauern The Lower TauernThe New Encyclopædia Britannica, Vol. 1, 2003, p. 86. or Niedere Tauern are a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps, in the Austrian states of Salzburg and Styria. For the etymology of the name, see Tauern. Geography The ...

mountain range, reaching up to Mt

Weißeck The Weißeck () is the highest mountain in the Radstadt Tauern range in Austria and is popular, both as a ski touring destination in winter and a climbing peak in summer. It gets its name (which means "white corner") from the mighty block of ligh ...

at . The crest of the

Radstadt Tauern The Radstadt Tauern () are a subrange of the Central Eastern Alps in Austria. Together with the Schladming Tauern, the Rottenmann and Wölz Tauern and the Seckau Tauern the Radstadt Tauern form the major range of mountains known as the Low Tauern ...

in the north separates it from the ''

Pongau The Bezirk St. Johann im Pongau is an administrative district (''Bezirk'') in the federal state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg, Austria, and congruent with the Pongau region. Area of the district is 1,755.37 km2, with a population of 77,872 ...

'' region. From the Rieding high valley, today a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

, the Zederhaus creek flows southeastwards, reaching the upper Mur River at neighbouring Sankt Michael. The smaller village stream passes several historic

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as mill (grinding), milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in ...

s. The sparsely settled municipal area, the largest in the Tamsweg District, comprises the cadastral communities of Lamm, Rothenwand, Wald, and Zederhaus proper. The valley today is characterised by the construction of the

Tauern Autobahn The Tauern Autobahn (A 10) is an autobahn (motorway) in Austria. It starts at the Salzburg junction with the West Autobahn (A1), runs southwards, crosses the Tauern mountain range on the main chain of the Alps and leads to the Süd Autobahn ...

in the 1970s, a major north-south road connection which is part of the

European route E55 European route E55 is an E-route. It starts in southern Sweden, crosses the Øresund strait to Denmark, and passes through more water (the western Baltic Sea) to reach continental Europe on Rostock, Germany. Thence it continues further southwar ...

. The south portal of the

Tauern Road Tunnel The Tauern Road Tunnel is located on the Tauern Autobahn (A10) in the Austrian federal state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg. The use is subject to a toll road, toll. With a length of (3.07 miles), the tunnel ranks as one of the longest frequently ...

, one of the longest in Austria, is located near the Zederhaus centre. A junction leads on the motorway in the

direction. Several attempts have been made to reduce emissions by the construction of extended

noise protection Noise is sound, chiefly unwanted, unintentional, or harmful sound considered unpleasant, loud, or disruptive to mental or hearing faculties. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibratio ...

walls; currently an overhead noise barrier is built along a section near the Zederhaus village centre.

History

Zederhaus shares the history of the rustic Lungau region, once part of the Roman ''

Noricum Noricum () is the Latin name for the kingdom or federation of tribes that included most of modern Austria and part of Slovenia. In the first century AD, it became a province of the Roman Empire. Its borders were the Danube to the north, R ...

'' province. The remote area possibly was not settled until the 14th century. For centuries, the estates belonged to the Prince-

Archbishopric of Salzburg The Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg (; ) was an ecclesiastical principality and state of the Holy Roman Empire. It comprised the secular territory ruled by the archbishops of Salzburg, as distinguished from the much larger Catholic diocese f ...

until its

secularisation In sociology, secularization () is a multilayered concept that generally denotes "a transition from a religious to a more worldly level." There are many types of secularization and most do not lead to atheism or irreligion, nor are they automatica ...

in 1803. A local chapel was first mentioned in a 1445 deed, then a filial of St Rupert Church in nearby

Weißpriach Weißpriach is a municipality in the district of Tamsweg in the state of Salzburg in Austria. It is located in a valley of the Niedere Tauern mountain range. History Weißpriach is known for the Romanesque church of Saint Rupert with its Byzan ...

. Since 1813

Saint John Saint John or St. John usually refers to either John the Baptist or John the Apostle. Saint John or St. John may also refer to: People Saints * John the Baptist ( – ), preacher, ascetic, and baptizer of Jesus Christ * John the Evangelis ...

's at Zederhaus is a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

in its own right. The local peasants relied on seasonal mountain pasture farming, while today many inhabitants are

commuter Commuting is periodically recurring travel between a place of residence and place of work or study, where the traveler, referred to as a commuter, leaves the boundary of their home community. By extension, it can sometimes be any regular o ...

employees. A local custom at least since the 17th century is the annual

procession A procession is an organized body of people walking in a formal or ceremonial manner. History Processions have in all peoples and at all times been a natural form of public celebration, as forming an orderly and impressive ceremony. Religious ...

with ''Prangstangen'', up to high wooden poles which are decorated with flowers and carried by local bachelors on St John's Day, June 24 into the church.

Politics

Seats in the municipal assembly (''Gemeinderat'') as of 2014 elections: *

Austrian People's Party The Austrian People's Party ( , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since January 2025, the party has been led by Christian Stocker (as an acting leader). It is currently the second-largest p ...

(ÖVP): 8 *

Freedom Party of Austria The Freedom Party of Austria (, FPÖ) is a political party in Austria, variously described as far-right, right-wing populist, national-conservative, and Eurosceptic. It has been led by Herbert Kickl since 2021. It is the largest of five part ...

(FPÖ): 4 *

Social Democratic Party of Austria The Social Democratic Party of Austria ( , SPÖ) is a social democratic political party in Austria. Founded in 1889 as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (, SDAPÖ) and later known as the Socialist Party of Austria () from 1945 unt ...

(SPÖ): 1

Notable people

Heimo Pfeifenberger Heimo Pfeifenberger (born 29 December 1966) is an Austrian professional football manager and a former player. He is the manager of SV Grödig. Club career On club level Pfeifenberger played for USV Zederhaus (youth career), Austria Salzburg, ...

(born 1966), football player

References

External links

Entry
on

Austria-Forum Austria-Forum is a freely accessible online collection of reference works on Austria in German, with some articles in English, initiated by TU Graz. As of 2022, Austria-Forum has been integrated with NID-Library (Netinteractive Document Library) ...

*
Zederhaus tourism
*
Rieding Valley nature park
{{authority control Cities and towns in Tamsweg District Radstadt Tauern