Mauthausen#

Mauthausen, Upper Austria, market town in the district of Perg, alt. 265 m, pop. 4,403, area 13.98 km2, situated on the north bank of the River Danube right opposite the confluence of the River Enns and the Danube, on the border to Lower Austria. Bridge crossing the Danube, landing stage for ships cruising the Danube. - District court, road works agency, transformer station at Reiferdorf, waterworks; plastics works, brickworks, construction of halls, timber processing, construction industry, branch of a large Austrian chain trading in agricultural products, machinery, building materials etc. (Lagerhaus), DIY store etc. Mauthausen constitutes a popular destination for day trippers. - During the early Middle Ages ships had to pay a toll for cruising the Danube at Mauthausen. Medieval centre for salt trading. During the period of the Nazi regime a Concentration Camp (1938-1945; 335,000 prisoners) was situated three kilometres north-west of Mauthausen. The camp has been opened to the public in order to document the horrors of the regime and commemorate ist victims. Italian war cemetery (for Italian soldiers who died during World War I); closed granite quarries (provided cobble-stones for some of the streets in Vienna). - Late Gothic parish church (1490-1500), hall church with a rib vaulting, high altar (1708) with an altar-piece painted by M. J. Schmidt (1796/97), Late Gothic crucifix (1520); Romanesque charnel house, St. Barbara Chapel, frescoes created during the first half of the 13th century; market fountain (1716); pillory (1583); Pragstein Palace, situated on a small island in the River Danube, construction began in 1491, rectangular building, keel-shaped on the side facing the Danube to prevent the water from crashing against the walls in case of floods, completed in the second half of the 16th century, now houses the Museum of Local History.

Literature#