Ladin language
While the Puster Valley in the south was held by the Counts of Görz at Lienz, the Ladin language and culture in the Val Badia, due to the remote location, have been preserved up to today. Upon the extinction of the House of Görz in 1500, the estates were inherited by the Austrian House of Habsburg. The Sonnenburg monastery was secularised by order of Emperor Joseph II in 1785. The valley road, originally a bridle path, was rebuilt from 1885 onwards and opened in 1892.