Oberwart#

Oberwart, Burgenland, town in the district of Oberwart, alt. 315 m, pop. 6,319, area 36.47 km2, regional centre of commerce, education and trade in Pinkatal valley, in the southern part of Burgenland; in 1991 a 37 % minority (2,335 inhabitants) of the population were of Protestant origin; in 1991 about 25 %, 1,598 inhabitants of Hungarian origin; Romany settlement on the outskirts of the town. District Commission, district court, office of the provincial department of water management, district office of planning and building inspection, district office of the Chamber of Agriculture, employment services, revenue office, Office of Weights, Measures and Surveying; Sporckkaserne barracks of the Federal Armed Forces, hospital, Chamber of Commerce, southern Austrian branch of the Institute for Economic Development of the Vienna Chamber of Commerce, Chamber of Labour, Vocational Training Institute (BFI), Vocational Guidance Centre, regional health insurance office, adult education centre, community centre "Offenes Haus Oberwart", probation service, counselling centres, sports facility, waterworks, various school types such as selective secondary schools (Bundesgymnasium and Bundesrealgymnasium, bilingual education), commercial academy, advanced-level commercial school and school of fashion and dress-making, federal training institute for nursery-school teachers, School of Nursing, agricultural college, ballet school, Burgenland Messe (annually 4 public fairs and 2 technical trade fairs); service industry (71 % of 5,452 in the workforce in 1991, especially personal, social and public services, e.g. hospital, Burgenlaendische Elektrizitaetswerke AG provincial electrical power company (BEWAG), trade); textile and steel construction industries, building trade. Agriculture (in the area surrounding Oberwart), livestock auction facility (second-largest auction of Simmenthal cattle in Austria). - Founded as a settlement of Hungarian border guards, first documented mention in 1327, town status since 1939. Catholic parish church with parish centre (1967-1969); former Catholic parish church with Romanesque core; Protestant parish churches: Lutheran (1812-1815), Calvinist (1771-1773); local types of farmhouses such as Streckhof and Hakenhof with arcades.

Literature#