!!!Wels

Wels, Upper Austria, chartered town in the district of Wels, alt. 
317 m, pop. 52,594, area 45.92 km%%sup 2/%, second largest 
town of Upper Austria, traffic centre, trading and industrial town, 
popular for fairs and exhibitions, situated on the River Traun, at the 
edge of the  Welser Heide Plain. - District Commission, District 
Court, district building authorities, provincial court and prison, 
federal police headquarters, employment services, tax office, office 
of weights, measures and surveying, customs authorities and animal 
breeding authorities, labour inspectorate, chamber of labour, economic 
chamber, vocational training institute (BFI), district chamber of 
agriculture, Upper Austrian provincial chamber of veterinary medicine, 
regional health and social insurance agency with outpatients clinics, 
hospital, private hospital, psychiatric hospital, Hessen barracks, 
logistics centre of the Austrian Federal Railways (OeBB, Cargo Express 
department), public waste collection centre (e.g. bottle bank, paper 
bank etc.), incinerating plant, Puchberg education centre, family 
advice centre, probation centre, women´s refuge, counselling 
centre for alcoholics, families, young people and drug addicts, office 
of the school psychological service, several daycentres, Lichtenegg 
sports complex, ice-skating rink, indoor swimming pool, theme pool, 
camping, Bosch-Halle, Europa-Center, Stadthalle multi-purpose complex, 
Stadtmuseum (municipal museum), municipal theatre, municipal library, 
Puppenwelt doll museum, Caritas (counselling etc.), Kolpinghaus 
centre, Volkshilfe charity, department for the maintenance of roads, 
motorways and bridges, provincial contractors´ yard, 
hydroelectric power station, gas and district heating works, 
Traunleiten power station (built in 1901, 8.3 MW), weir power 
station, Breitenbach and Noitzmuehle power stations, airport, auction 
hall; Upper Austrian fruit trading centre, schools comprise two 
Bundesgymnasium (both also Bundesrealgymnasium) and one 
Bundesrealgymnasium secondary schools, secondary school for domestic 
science run by the School Sisters, commercial academy, upper secondary 
school of engineering, advanced-level commercial school, upper 
secondary school for food technology (cereals branch) and Upper 
Austrian school for millers, agricultural trade and vocational school, 
adult education centre, homes for students, Turkish mosque, Islamic 
culture centre; biennial International Agricultural Fair in September, 
alternately held in Wels with the "Welser Volksfest" (since 
1878) and in  Ried im Innkreis, also twenty annual trade fairs 
(fairgrounds and Wels Festival area, new fair centre); 34,989 people 
employed (1991), around 63 % of whom in the service sector 
(mostly personal, social and public services, retail and wholesale 
businesses, financial, haulage and freight businesses); the production 
sector largely consists of small and medium-sized enterprises: 
metal-processing industry (agricultural machines), textile industry as 
well as food and beverages industry, engine works, production of 
punches and stamps, tourism, especially fair visitors (139,977 
overnight stays in 1992). - Was an administrative centre, known as  
Ovilava, in Roman times and one of the most significant Roman 
settlements on Austrian soil (rich finds in the Stadtmuseum), 
documented mention as "castrum Uueles" in 776, trading place 
in the Middle Ages; some of the old town buildings have been 
preserved, such as the Ledererturm tower, Polheim palace (documented 
mention in 1280) and the former imperial castle. The Baroque 
Stadtplatz main square (the styles of the façades range from 
Gothic to Jugendstil, town hall 1748) is one of the most beautiful 
main squares in Austria, next to it is a Romanesque/late-Gothic parish 
church (documented mention in 888), Romanesque pier basilica with west 
portal (second half of the 12%%sup th/%  century), altered in Gothic 
style in the 14%%sup th/%  century, glass paintings (second half of 
the 14%%sup th/%  century; some of the best examples of this kind in 
Austria), several grave monuments (16%%sup th/%  -19%%sup th/%  
centuries); Kremsmuenstererhof complex (16%%sup th/%  century); 
secularised Minorite church (1283), one of the earliest Gothic 
buildings in Austria, with late-Gothic frescoes in the chapel of 
St. Barbara; secularised hospital church, built according to 
plans by J. M. Prunner from 1712-1714; Calvary church (1715/16); 
Puchberg Palace (1612, altered in the 18%%sup th/%  century); 
Lichtenegg Palace(16%%sup th/%  century); Pernau Palace (1610); Burg 
Wels cultural centre (town history, room where Emperor 
Maximilian I died), museum of agriculture and Austrian museum of 
bakery, Krackowizer Biedermeier art collection, 
Heimatvertriebenenmuseum (dedicated to the culture of German-speaking 
expellees from Eastern Europe).

!Literature
Oesterreichisches Staedtebuch, vol. I, Die Staedte 
Oberoesterreichs, 1968; H. Grassner, Die Messestadt Wels und ihre 
Umgebung, 1976; W. Aspernig, Wels (cultural guide), 1984; K. Holter 
and G. Trathnigg, Wels von der Urzeit bis zur Gegenwart, 
%%sup 2/%1986; K. Holter (ed.), Quellen und Darstellungen zur 
Geschichte von Wels, vol. 1, 1988.


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