Interesting that you should bring this up, the matter of religion and ethnicity does matter, but it is only important about a millennium before the time period I'm discussing.

In the mountains starting about the 6th century AD, the pagan Germanic tribes arrived and brought with them some timber framing customs that were foreign to the region. The use of the lap dovetail braces is a Germanic influence.

A certain Germanic custom was labeled as the 'Heidenkreuz' and was attributed certain superstitious connotations until eventually being passed off as taboo centuries later.

But beyond this, there is no clear evidence of deliberate suppression of building styles and techniques in the region.