!!!Bludenz

Bludenz, Vorarlberg, town in the district of Bregenz, alt. 570 m, pop. 
13,369, area 29.96 km%%sup 2/%, traffic junction on the River Ill 
situated at the eastern end of the Walgau area, where the Klostertal 
Valley, the Brandner Valley and the Montafon meet. Bludenz is the seat 
of many institutions, service and production companies and therefore 
the centre of the Montafon, the Inner Walgau up to Nenzing, the 
Klostertal, Brandnertal, and Grosse Walsertal Valleys. - District 
commission, district court, district gendarmerie command, Employment 
Service, Transport and Land Surveying Office, town museum and 
archives, hospital, media house of Vorarlberg, film academy, Institute 
of Economic Development of the Economic Chamber, Chamber of Labour, 
Chamber of Civil Engineers for the Tyrol and Vorarlberg, consulate 
(Netherlands), youth club, stadium (1975), Bundesgymnasium (secondary 
school), higher-level secondary commercial college (HAK), vocational 
colleges (commercial and trade subjects, domestic science college), 
higher-level secondary college for tourism (HLA fuer Tourismus), adult 
education centre, cable railway to Muttersberg (alt. 1,402 m), 
Montafon railway line from Bludenz to Schruns (steam locomotives in 
the summer). Roughly 56% of the workforce are employed in the service 
sector (esp. personal, social and public services, transport), wood 
and metal processing (tank construction, machine and metal 
construction), concrete and window construction, textile industry, 
plastic production, chocolate and confectionery production (Suchard), 
brewery (Fohrenburg), tourism (74,956 overnight stays).

\\
Ancient settlement area (finds from the Bronze Age, the La Tène 
period and Roman times), first documented mention around 842 as 
"Pludeno", mentioned as a town in 1296; was bought by Austria in 1394, 
industrialization began in 1817 (textiles industry). Remains of 
medieval fortification: 2 portals (1491, oldest buildings in the town, 
museum of local history), parts of the city walls, magazine. The tower 
(1670) of the old parish church (around 1514) dominates the skyline of 
Bludenz; Dominican convent of St. Peter (founded in 1286, building 
from 1707/1709), church (1721-1730); Capuchin monastery (1645-1651); 
hospital church (new building from 1682-1686); town parish church of 
Heiligkreuz (1932-1934); chapel of St. Anton at Rungelin (1668); town 
hall (1640). Today's historical town centre with its old patrician 
houses dates from the reconstruction of the town after the fire of 
1682. Baroque castle of Gayenhofen (1228, rebuilt from 1745-1752, seat 
of the district commission). Industrial estate of Klarenbrunn.

!Literature
Oesterr. Staedtebuch, vol. III, Vorarlberg, 1973; K. Kist, 
Stadtgeographie von Bludenz, doctoral thesis, Graz 1977.


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