St. Pölten#

St. Poelten, Lower Austria, statutory city in the district of St. Poelten, alt. 271 m, pop. 50,026, area 108.51 km2, capital of Lower Austria (according to the provincial assembly resolution on July 10, 1986), since 1997 seat of the Lower Austrian Provincial Government, situated on the River Traisen. Episcopal seat, industrial, school and garrison town, as well as a traffic junction in the Alpine Forelands. Since becoming the provincial capital St. Poelten has concentrated its efforts on developing into the business and cultural centre of Lower Austria. - Provincial court, seat of the Lower Austrian provincial government, Lower Austrian district agricultural authority, Lower Austrian regional building authority, Lower Austrian road construction department, federal building directorate (building administration), federal police directorate, Lower Austrian urban planning and building administration for the provincial capital, district commission, district court, Chamber of Agriculture, local police directorate, prison, ORF (Lower Austria provincial studio), Lower Austrian branch office of the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics, tax office, customs office, office of surveying, employment services, military headquarters for Lower Austria, Hesser- and Kopal-Kaserne barracks, Lower Austrian motorway administration, traffic safety board, labour inspectorate, Economic Chamber, Chamber of Labour, Federation of Trade Unions, Chamber of Agricultural Workers, Bar Association, local health insurance provider, hospital including the L. Boltzmann Institute for Gerostomatology, episcopal ordinariate, Caritas Catholic charity organisation, women´s' shelter, Kolpinghaus centre, Volkshaus centre of St. Poelten, St. Poelten-Spratzern; Volksheim centres: Viehofen, St. Georgen, Pottenbrunn, Wagram and Radlberg, Emmaus Community, Protestant youth home, federal boarding school, youth centre, municipal advice centres and diocesan family and marriage counselling centre, probation services, various aid, care and advice organisations, including the Volkshilfe, Austrian information service for Lower Austrian developmental policy, Medical Centre for Occupational and Social Health Care (AMZ), City Archives with library, Lower Austria provincial archives, Lower Austria library, Catholic diocesan educational centre, St. Hippolyte educational centre and retreat, Buehne im Hof theatre, Museum im Hof museum, city museum, multi-purpose complex, Stadttheater theatre, "Theater im Museum", cultural centres Nord and Sued, Lower Austrian Cultural Scene (KUSZ), city library, Lower Austrian press house (APA of Lower Austria, "Neue Niederoesterreichische Nachrichten"); Lower Austrian Provincial Academy, Fachhochschule, Bundesgymnasium and Bundesrealgymnasium secondary schools, Bundesrealgymnasium and Bundesoberstufenrealgymnasium secondary school, commercial academy, secondary school and Realgymnasium secondary school of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (English Ladies), advanced-level commercial school and school for social occupations, vocational school, upper secondary school of engineering, federal training institute for social workers, kindergarten teachers and caretakers, academy for social work, diocesan theological college and seminary, Lower Austrian provincial vocational school, Lower Austrian provincial sport school, Lower Austrian provincial nursing school, Caritas school for social services, music and ballet school, training institute for business occupations of the Lower Austrian Economic Chamber (with boarding school, hotel and catering school and seminar centre), vocational training institute, adult education centre, promotion and technology transfer centre of the Economic Chamber, Voeltendorf airfield for sports aeroplanes, recreational centre, Mega-Fun recreational park (on Lake Ratzersdorf), VAZ convention centre (seminars, cultural events and fairs, including the autumn, office and recreational fair), "St. Poeltner Kultur- und Festwochen" festival (held annually in May/June), district heating plants North (built 1958, 13.9 MW) and South (built 1968, 5.2 MW). The government quarter on the River Traisen was constructed 1993-1996; its most important buildings are the Landhaus with "Klangturm" (architect E. Hoffmann), Festspielhaus (K. Kada), provincial archives and provincial library (P. Katzberger), exhibition hall (Shed-Halle by H. Hollein) and provincial museum (under construction, planned termination 2003, architect H. Hollein). - Employment in the service sector predominates, with approximately 62 % of the 30,548 employed (1991), primarily personal, social and public services, wholesale and retail companies, Traisenpark business centre, several large markets, centre for the furniture business; in the production sector: manufacturing of machinery (paper machines, plant engineering), office furniture, paper and plastics, synthetic fibres (special fibres for tyres), wood industry, construction companies, brewery and beverage industry, two main workshops of the Austrian Federal Railways (OeBB), printing houses, Geschuetzte Werkstaette (sheltered workshop for the handicapped) Ges. m. b. H., increasing tourism (82,901 overnight stays in 1992). -

The centre of the old part of town was the location of the Roman town of Aelium Cetium from the 2nd to the 4th century, mentioned in a document as Treisma in 799, the settlement became a market town around 1050, a city in 1159; until 1494 under the diocese of Passau; the Benedictine monastery sponsored by the local ruler was built in 771, became a collegiate house of the Augustinian Canons in 1081; dissolved in 1784; the building (around 1650) has served as the episcopal residence since 1785, church (built in 1230-1270, finished in Gothic style) interior redone in the Baroque style in 1722-1745, frescoes by F. Gedon, altar paintings by T. Pock and D. Gran, library (now diocese museum and archive); Franciscan monastery (1455), from 1791 episcopal school and seminary; Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (English Ladies) (1706) with paintings by M. J. Schmidt, Baroque façade (1715-1718), church (1730 and 1767-1769) with frescoes by P. Troger and B. Altomonte,; former convent of the Carmelite nuns (1708-1782), revitalised as city museum and Documentation Centre for Modern Art in Lower Austria, church (1712, revitalised in 1934); Carmelite monastery (1709-1783), then transferred to the Franciscans (second city parish), church with altar paintings by M. J. Schmidt; city hall (1503, with Gothic core, additions built in 16th -18th century) with Renaissance and Baroque façade (J. Munggenast, 1727), mayor's office with "imperial ceiling" (1722); former citizens' hospital (1539, rebuilt in 1833), now an Old Catholic church; St. George's church (17th century), additions built in 1749 and 1934; Viehofen church (1898); Stattersdorf church (1857), expanded in 1937; Protestant church (1891/1892); Baroque column dedicated to the Holy Trinity (1767-1782), city theatre (1820, additions built in 1967-1969); burghers´ houses from the 18th /19th centuries; former synagogue (1913, today Institute for the History of Jews in Austria); St. Joseph's church (1925-1929); Our Lady of Lourdes parish church (1959-1961), St. John of Capistrano church (1971), church in Spratzern (1931/1932) and in Wagram (1937-1939); Ochsenburg Castle (17th /18th centuries), summer seat of the bishop, in the chapel are five paintings by M. J. Schmidt; Viehofen Castle (in disrepair since ca. 1950); Renaissance moated castle with tin figures at Pottenbrunn.

Literature#