Eggenburg#

Eggenburg, Lower Austria, town in the district of Horn, alt. 329 m, pop. 3,625, area 23.52 km2, on the river Schmida, at the northeastern edge of Manhartsberg hill, on the border between the regions of Waldviertel and Weinviertel. - District court, Chamber of Agricultural and Allied Workers. - Fire-brigade headquarters, branch of the provincial government of Lower Austria (building and construction department), office of weights and measures, special hospital, Krahuletz Museum (established 1902, named after the gunsmith J. Krahuletz; documents the prehistoric period and folklore of the Eggenburg region), Technological and Motorcycle Museum, multi-purpose complex, "Lindenhof" apprentices´ home of the City of Vienna, media and communications centre of northern Lower Austria, multi-purpose hall; professional school for car mechanics, adult education centre; services are dominant, especially the personal, social and public service sectors (apprentices´ home, hospital); of a total of 1,817 people employed in E. in 1991, service sector employment accounted for 58%, large-scale forwarding agency; industries include metal processing (special-purpose locks and keys, wire mesh), electronics (telecommunications) and synthetic materials, large butchery, pasta factory and sawmill.

Ancient area of settlement (Palaeolithic age, Hallstatt period), first documented mention 1125, castle town; late Gothic town parish church: hall church with three naves, high Gothic choir (around 1340), 2 Romanesque towers (12th  century), winged altar-piece (1521) and stone pulpit (1515), which resembles the stone pulpit carved by A. Pilgram in St. Stephen´s Cathedral in Vienna; Franciscan monastery (1460-1787), since 1833 Redemptorist monastery and church (Gothic nucleus), citizens´ hospital with Gothic chapel (Stone Museum); medieval town fortification mainly preserved (walls with a height up to 8 m with towers from the 15th century, former moat); former castle; main square with medieval foundation elements ("Bemaltes Haus" - "painted house" built 1547), Baroque carved columns (Zogelsdorf sandstone); Calvary east of Eggenburg at Vitusberg (Stations of the Cross, 1725-1729).

Literature#