Thanks to a 5.2km tunnel through the Hohe Tauern ridge, this all-year round road has ended the isolation of the eastern Tyrol (Lienz), brought about by the 1919 frontier changes which effectively separated it from the northern Tyrol (Innsbruck). The panoramic route crosses the protected alpine landscape of the Hohe Tauern national park and gives access to the fine broad valleys of the Isel and its tributaries.