!!!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 km%%sup 2/%, 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 17%%sup th/%  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 19%%sup th/%  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 (14%%sup th/% 
 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 (16%%sup th/%  
century). Old Square: Old Town Hall (around 1600) with Renaissance 
portal; late Baroque Goëss Palace (before 1738). Gurk 
Chapterhouse with (16%%sup th/%  century) with late Gothic carved 
altar and Romanesque portable altar (12%%sup th/%  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
K. Torggler, Stadtrecht und Stadtgericht in Klagenfurt, 
1937; A. Steiner, Klagenfurt, 1949; Klagenfurt, die Gartenstadt am 
Woerther See, 1954; H. Strutz, Klagenfurt, 1959; H. and O. Rudan, Das 
Stadttheater in Klagenfurt, 1960; Magistrat der Landeshauptstadt 
Klagenfurt (ed.), 450 Jahre Landeshauptstadt Klagenfurt, 1967; G. Moro 
(ed.), Die Landeshauptstadt Klagenfurt. Aus ihrer Vergangenheit und 
Gegenwart, 2 vols., 1970; S. Hartwagner, Klagenfurt-Stadt, ihre 
Kunstwerke, historische Lebens- und Siedlungsformen, 1980; Magistrat 
der Stadt Klagenfurt (ed.), Perspektiven 2000: Stadtentwicklungsplan 
Klagenfurt, 1989; L. Krainer, Klagenfurt, 1990; W. Deuer, Das Landhaus 
zu Klagenfurt, 1994; idem (ed.), 800 Jahre Klagenfurt, 1996.


%%language
[Back to the Austrian Version|AEIOU/Klagenfurt|class='wikipage austrian']\\
[Slovene version|https://www.austria.info/si/destinacije/mesta/celovec]
%%

[{FreezeArticle author='AEIOU' template='Lexikon_1995_englisch'}]
[{ALLOW view All}][{ALLOW comment All}][{ALLOW edit FreezeAdmin}]