Weitra#

Weitra, Lower Austria, town in the district of Gmuend, alt. 562 m, pop. 2,925, area 52.53 km2, on the River Lainsitz, in the north-west of the Waldviertel Region. - District chamber of agriculture, Kuenringer barracks, recreation centre and golf course; wood processing, brewery, summer tourism; "Alte Textilfabrik" (old textile mill) Museum, palace museum, beer museum, exhibitions, theatre performances. - Documented mention in 1182, as "Witrah" (village of Altweitra) around 1190, built as fortified town by Hadmar II von Kuenring between 1201 and 1208; the medieval defensive structure with circular towers has largely been preserved; parish church (originally in Romanesque style, late-Gothic additions) with frescoes (around 1470), Rococo side altar with altar painting (1747) by J. G. Schmidt, relief depicting the Mount of Olives (around 1500) and tombstones (16th - 18th centuries); Gothic and Baroque hospital church of the Holy Spirit with Gothic frescoes (14th century) and verse inscriptions in the choir walls; Renaissance palace (1590-1606) with rows of arcades and historicist palace theatre (built in 1885); Waldviertel half-timbered houses with beautiful façades (one with sgraffito paintings, around 1580); column dedicated to the Holy Trinity (1748).

Literature#