Griffen#

Griffen, Carinthia, market town in the district of Voelkermarkt, alt. 484 m, pop. 3,707, area 74.75 km2, old fortified town between the Drau and the Lavant Valleys, north-east of Voelkermarkt. - Construction of prefab houses, shoes and powder-coated parts for the electronics industry, machine construction and moulding (tubes); manufacture of black porcelain souvenirs. - First documented in 822; castle ruin (before 1148-1759 property of the diocese of Bamberg); parish church (built in 1863), frescoes (2nd half of the 19th century), high altar (1911); former Praemonstratensian monastery (1236-1786) with Gothic fortified churchyard walls and red sandstone relief (13th century) in the cloister; parish church in Haslach (former collegiate church, mentioned in 1272), originally late Romanesque, some Baroque alterations, high altar (1776) and late Gothic stone Madonna (1520); Romanesque parish church (before 1250, Gothic alterations) with late Romanesque remains of frescoes. Fortified churches in Pustritz (1430-1500), Tschrietes (Gothic-Baroque), St. Leonhard (end of the 15th century), Woelfnitz (Romanesque-Gothic); late Gothic Maria Feicht church with Roman tomb relief. Numerous animal-bone fossils and some Stone-Age tools found in the cave on the castle hill. Lake Griffen nearby.

Literature#