!!!Gars am Kamp Gars am Kamp, Lower Austria, market town in the district of Horn, alt. 256 m, pop. 3,458, area 50.47 km%%sup 2/%, situated on the left bank of the River Kamp, south of Horn. - Lower Austrian agricultural district authority, recreation park, Waldviertel workshops (local office), youth hostel (Oesterreichisches Kolpingwerk, Catholic apprentices' organisation), in 1985 the Kamptalhof (built 1913/14) was converted into the Dungl health centre (since 1986: Bio-Trainingszentrum Gars Hotel GesmbH, mud baths); plate glass factory, production of construction materials, printed circuit boards, windows, doors and blinds, mills, tourism (44,197 overnight stays). Museum of Trade; Baroque parish church (1724-1727), presbytery (1595), former Redemptionist convent (17%%sup th/% century), Renaissance houses on the main square, town hall (1593-1603), former country house of Franz von Suppe with memorial, museum of local history and culture. - At Thunau, pre-historic fortifications ("Schanze"), dating back to the late urnfield culture; Slavonic fortress surrounded by ramparts and church from the 9%%sup th/% /10%%sup th/% century, destroyed in 1041 by the Babenbergs, who erected a high fortress, which became the residence of Leopold II (1075-1095). The castle was expanded in the 12%%sup th/% and13%%sup th/% centuries, its residential tract was enlarged from the 14%%sup th/% to the 16%%sup th/% century, but after a fire in 1809 it fell into disuse (1973 renovated, used for open-air opera performances since 1990). St. Gertrud church south of the castle, surrounded by churchyard and former charnel house, has a Romanesque-Gothic tripartite nave with 3 Gothic apses, chapel added in the south (after 1395) and west tower; painted glass (1330), frescos (mid-14%%sup th/% century), late-Gothic statues and Baroque altars; burial monuments (16%%sup th/% - 18%%sup th/% centuries); Schimmelsprung ruin (first documented mention 1196), gradual dilapidation since the 15%%sup th/% century. !Literature H. Heppenheimer, E. Mayr and H. Voglhuber, Festschrift 700 Jahre Gars am Kamp 1279-1979, 1979; J. Kienast, Chronik des Marktes Gars in Niederoesterreich, 1920. %%language [Back to the Austrian Version|AEIOU/Gars_am_Kamp|class='wikipage austrian'] %% [{FreezeArticle author='AEIOU' template='Lexikon_1995_englisch'}] [{ALLOW view All}][{ALLOW comment All}][{ALLOW edit FreezeAdmin}]