Klagenfurt (Celovec in Slovene)#

Klagenfurt, Carinthia, statutory town in the district of Klagenfurt, alt. 446 m, pop. 89,415 (in 1981: pop. 87,321), area 120.07 km2, provincial capital situated in the Klagenfurt Basin, with the River Glan flowing through the northeastern part of the town, economic, cultural and administrative centre and major traffic junction.

Districts: Innere Stadt (1-4), St. Veiter Vorstadt (5), Voelkermarkter Vorstadt (6), Viktringer Vorstadt (7), Villacher Vorstadt (8), Annabichl (9), St. Peter and Welzenegg (10), St. Ruprecht (11), St. Martin and Waidmannsdorf (12); since January 1, 1973 three new districts have been established by various incorporation schemes: Viktring (13, in the south), Woelfnitz (14, in the north), Hoertendorf (15, in the east).

Seat of the Provincial Government and the Landtag (provincial diet) of Carinthia; several provincial institutions and offices: school authorities, rural police headquarters, and forestry commission; provincial authorities for the disabled, provincial court, provincial prison, labour court, provincial tax authorities, job center, regional office of Post und Telekom Austria AG, federal police authority, federal environmental authorities (local office), bases and barracks of the armed forces: Carinthia military base, Khevenhueller, Laudon, Waisenhaus and Windisch Barracks, helicopter landing base and several departments of the armed forces (army medical corps, supply and munitions depot); water authorities.

Centre for educational research of the Ministry for Educational and Cultural affairs, federal agency for the promotion of adult education, federal research centre for bacteriology and serology, provincial authorities for veterinary medicine, research centre of agricultural and food chemistry, regional office of the Central Institute of Meteorology and Geodynamics, several health insurance agencies, many newspapers: ("Kaerntner Krone", "Kaerntner Tageszeitung", "Kleine Zeitung", etc.), counselling centres, several chambers and representative organisations of various professional groups, bishopric (ordinariate, Seminary of the Diocese of Gurk), various churches and religious communities: Protestant parish, Old Catholic Church, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, New Apostolic Church).

Institute of industrial medicine and psychology, provincial hospital, Elisabethine hospital, sanatorium, residential halls for girls and school children, Waldorf kindergarten, women´s refuge, hostel for the homeless, provincial centre for the handicapped, Caritas association, centre for music therapy, consulates general, provincial studio of the ORF (Austrian broadcasting corporation), Europahaus; Municipal Theatre (Stadttheater), Theatre in the Landhauskeller, Concert Hall (Konzerthaus) and Civic Centre, Provincial Art Gallery, Klagenfurt Town Gallery, Provincial Museum of Carinthia with park (Roman stones with relief and inscription), arts centre (Kuenstlerhaus), multi purpose hall, mining museum, Diocesan Museum, Ehrental castle agricultural museum, provincial archives, R.-Musil Literature Museum with a room dedicated to I. Bachmann, Koschat Museum, university cultural centre, 4 libraries, fair and exhibition grounds (Klagenfurt exhibition, leisure fair, gastronomy fair, lumber fair).

Europapark with leisure centre, planetarium and reptile zoo, botanical garden, Minimundus open-air museum, deer park, golf course, artificial ice rink; university, Fachhochschule, schools: 4 Bundesgymnasium (BG) and Bundesrealgymnasium (BRG) secondary schools: BG and BRG for Slovene speaking children, BG for working people, Bundes- Oberstufenrealgymnasium, Oberstufenrealgymnasium St. Ursula of the Diocese Gurk; Waldorf school, commercial academy (Handelsakademie, HAK), bilingual commercial academy, federal kindergarten teacher training institution (Bundeslehranstalt fuer Kindergartenpaedagogik), upper secondary school of agriculture and domestic science (Hoehere Lehranstalt fuer Land- und Hauswirtschaft), upper secondary schools for trade, fashion and dressmaking ( Hoehere Lehranstalt fuer wirtschaftliche Berufe und fuer Mode und Bekleidungstechnik), upper secondary school of engineering (Hoehere Technische Lehranstalt), fire brigade school, various specialized schools, 6 vocational schools, vocational centres for medical laboratory technicians and nursing care, specialised schools for severely handicapped and deaf people, Pedagogical Academy (Paedagogische Akademie) and federal institutes of pedagogy, academy for teachers of Religion and institutions of the Gurk Diocese, adult education centre.

Municipal utility company with Lake Woerthersee and Lend canal shipping and communications authorities, district heating plant (established in 1949), Klagenfurt-Annabichl airport; headquarters of the KELAG and Oesterreichische Draukraftwerke AG power utilities, of Kaerntner Bergbahnen and Bergstrassen GmbH and other companies in the energy and transport sector.

Economy: Highly developed service sector: (in 1991 around 76 % of the 56,504 gainfully employed people were working in the social and public service sector, in banks or insurance agencies.) Industrial facilities: electrical and electronical industry, metal working, mechanical engineering (steel working): textile printing presses and cutting machines, printing presses for banks of issue, drink dispensers); luxury food industries (breweries, fruit juices, rum, large bakeries, nutrients), leather manufacturing (watch straps), chemical and pharmaceutical industries, plastics and ceramics industry, software firms, technology estate, European design centre; main industrial facilities have been transferred to an industrial area south of Klagenfurt; smaller enterprises mostly in the northern part of the town.

History: Celtic and Roman finds on Spitalberg hill, in Untergoritschitzen and in what used to be the suburb of St. Veit give evidence of early settlements. Duke Hermann of Carinthia (1161-1181) founded a settlement to the north near Spitalberg hill on the Glan River; first documented mention as market town in 1193. In 1250 Duke Bernhard of the Sponheim family founded the town further south (town charter documented in 1320), at the intersection of the road junctions Voelkermarkt - Villach and Friesach - St. Veit - Loibl Pass (near today´s Old Square). There used to be a castle in front of the fortified gate outside the town walls.

In 1518 the Provincial Estates of Carinthia petitioned Emperor Maximilian I to grant them possession of the town, which had been destroyed by fire, (remained in their possession until 1849) and Klagenfurt was made provincial capital (formerly it had been St. Veit an der Glan). In 1534-1594 the town was enlarged according to plans by D. de Lalio; (in 1809/10 the fortifications were destroyed by the French, the remains of the Villach Gate and the town moat can still be seen). In 1527/1528 the Lend canal was constructed as a link between Klagenfurt and Lake Woerthersee.

The centre of the new town was moved to the rectangular "New Square" (to the south of the Old Square) with the Dragon Fountain (Lindwurm) as a stone symbol of the Coat of Arms and the emblem of the town. The streets were built in straight lines. In 1529 Klagenfurt was given the right of coinage. In the Reformation period it was a stronghold of the Protestant Estates, who built a Protestant church (today Cathedral), a school for the nobility ("Landschaftsschule", which later became the seat of the counts of the Estates) and between 1574 and 1594 the most imposing secular building of the town, the Landhaus, where the Carinthian Landtag still holds its meetings.

During the Counter-Reformation from 1600 the Protestant noble families and burghers had to leave the town, which led to an economic decline of the province in the 17th century (precious metal mining was abandoned). After the rise of Triest, Klagenfurt became the economic centre of the Monarchy. In 1787 the prince-bishop transferred his seat from Strassburg (Poeckstein Castle) to Klagenfurt. In 1848/1849 Klagenfurt was the political centre of the crownland of Carinthia, and in 1850 it became a statutory town.

The second half of the 19th century was marked by Klagenfurt's development into a modern town: 1869 the railway line to St.Veit went into operation, later the Karawankenbahn railway to Salzburg, the town moats were partially filled up, the town expanded mainly to the east, then also to the west towards Lake Woerthersee, an urban water pipeline and modern infrastructure were created (provincial hospital, 1895; provincial museum, town theatre, electric tram).

World War I halted urban development of the town since it was located in the area of war; Yugoslav troops occupied K. from June 6 to July 31,1919. The Interallied Plebiscite Commission for Carinthia had their headquarters in K. from July 21,1920 and on account of the plebiscite in Zone A on October 10, 1920, Zone B, which included Klagenfurt, remained with Austria without a plebiscite having been held there ( Carinthian plebiscite).

In the First Republic tourism was fostered through the foundation of sports festivals on Lake Woerthersee. After the Austria´s Anschluss to the German Reich Klagenfurt became "Gross-Klagenfurt" after the incorporation of numerous neighbouring communities, urban development was marked by new council flats and the construction of buildings proclaiming the prestige of the National Socialist regime ( e.g. Lendorf SS barracks); on January 16, 1944 air bombardment of K. by the Allied Forces began, in which 500 civilians were killed and 60% of homes were destroyed or damaged. On May 8,1945 K. was occupied by British troops.

After World War II new homes were created through the construction of Satellitenstadt Ost; 1947-1949 Austria´s first district heating plant was built in K. From the beginning of the 1950s the education system was greatly expanded (1957 Bundesgymnasium for Slovenes, 1970 laying of the foundation for today´s university). K.´s attraction as recreational and tourist center flourished after the first pedestrian zone in Austria was opened there in 1961, Lake Woerthersee was cleaned up ("drinking water quality") and the Europapark and Minimundus parks were opened. Klagenfurt reached its current size after the urban expansion of 1973. Restoration of the historic center has been underway since the 1970s (Europa-Nostra diploma in 1981, 1984, 1995), the I.-Bachmann Prize has been awarded in K. (birth place of I. Bachmann) since 1977. K. has had a beltway since 1996.

Buildings: Building of the Cathedral was commissioned in 1578 (with a citizens´ hospital, from 1604 Jesuit College, from 1775-1945 military barracks, torn down in 1964, restoration of the citizen´s hospital 1613-1616 further east) and finally erected between 1582-1591 by the Protestant Estates. The Cathedral is one of the most important church buildings of the Reformation period. In 1604 owned by the Jesuits, rebuilt in 1723 after a fire, Cathedral since 1787: pier church with stucco-work, Baroque wall paintings (1928 by S. Lobisser), high altar (1752) with 2 paintings by D. Gran, side altar painting by P. Troger, Baroque pulpit (1726) and pews, Rococo lattice. Parish church (1692-1697) with tower (91.7 m, finished in 1709), ceiling paintings by J. A. Moelk (1761) and J. F. Fromiller and modern glass paintings.; church of the Citizens´ Hospital with high altar painting by J. F. Fromiller (1738). Elisabethine church (1730) with crucifixion group made of lead in the crypt (probably by B. F. Moll). Kreuzberglkirche (consecrated 1742) with mortuary chapel and wall paintings by J. F. Fromiller; at the lower end of the church is a Calvary, Priesterhaus chapel built by J. G. Hagenauer in 1768, destroyed. Heiligengeistkirche ( Holy Spirit Church) designed in Gothic and Baroque styles (14th  century, 1630) with Rococo pulpit (1776). St. Mary´s Church of the Jesuit Order (1613-1624) with altar painting by J. F. Fromiller.

The Landhaus is an impressive building erected between 1574 and 1594 by the Carinthian Estates: it has 2 towers and a pergola; (the old castle mentioned in 1252 was destroyed by fire in 1535); façade re-designed in Baroque style in 1739; large and small Heraldic Halls with wall paintings by J. F. Fromiller (1739-1760), in the meeting hall of the Carinthian Diet, fresco by S. Lobisser (1928, Carinthian resistance).

New Square: Rosenberg palace (1581/82, re-built by the Rosenberg family from 1650)), Town Hall since 1918; Porcia Palace (16th century). Old Square: Old Town Hall (around 1600) with Renaissance portal; late Baroque Goëss Palace (before 1738). Gurk Chapterhouse with (16th  century) with late Gothic carved altar and Romanesque portable altar (12th  century) in the chapel. Christalnigg Palace (1787) with Biedermeier façade (1839). Classicist Bishop´s residence built between 1769-1776 by N. Pacassi for Archduchess Maria Anna (d. 1789, daughter of Maria Theresia). Municipal Theatre (Stadttheater, 1908-1910) by F. Fellner the Younger and H. Helmer, designed in Jugendstil (renovated 1996-1998 and extended by G. Domenig) and the Kuenstlerhaus building (1914) in Secession style by F. Baumgartner. In the station hall frescoes by G. Hoke (1956).

Monuments: Lindwurm Fountain (commissioned from U. Vogelsang in 1582, finished after 1590, Hercules (1636) by M. Hoenel; Stone Fisher (1606); Trinity column (1680); Floriani column (1781); obelisk (1807); monument to Maria Theresia (designed in1765 by B. Moll, not preserved, today´s monument was completed in 1870); Sponheim Fountain (1948). - Bathing facilities and port on Lake Woerthersee; Minimundus (open air museum of miniature models of famous international buildings).

Literature#