Vorarlberg#

Vorarlberg: area 2,601.40 km2; pop. 331,472 population density: 127; capital: Bregenz; homes: 77,373; households: 112,786; 4 political districts, 6 court districts, 96 municipalities (including 5 towns and 8 market towns), Oberlandesgericht (Appeal Court of the Provinces Tirol and Vorarlberg) in Innsbruck, Provincial Court in Feldkirch.

Geographic Location: Vorarlberg is the westernmost and, in terms of both area and population, the second smallest province of Austria. Bordered to the east by Tirol (Arlberg Pass, Verwallgruppe Mountains), to the south by Switzerland (ridges of the Silvretta and Raetikon Mountains), to the west by Switzerland (Rhine River) and to the north by Bavaria (Bregenzerwald Mountain Region).

Geographic Features: Although Vorarlberg is a small province in terms of area, its landscape shows many different facets: over a linear distance of around 80 km, the land rises from Vorarlberg's lowest point, Lake Constance (alt. 396 m), to its highest point, Piz Buin Peak (Silvretta Mountains, alt. 3,312 m). It comprises the regions of the Rhine Valley Rhein, River), the Ill Valley with the Walgau Valley and the Montafon Valley, the region of the Arlberg Pass with the Klostertal Valley, the Bregenzerwald Mountain Region, the Kleinwalsertal Valley and the Grosses Walsertal Valley. Vorarlberg is in a way separated from the rest of Austria through the high mountain ranges throughout Vorarlberg and is open to the west toward Lake Constance, the capital Bregenz is near to the Austrian border to Switzerland and Germany.

Climate: The Arlberg Pass is a climatic divide and a watershed. Due to westerly winds from Lake Constance in the northwest the climate is mainly Atlantic, causing heavy precipitation in the northwest region (three times more than in inner-Alpine basins); the highest annual precipitation is recorded at Boedele in the Bregenzerwald Mountain Region (2,366 mm as compared with 1,493 mm at Dornbirn). The Atlantic west-winds guarantee large amounts of snow in winter and, partly due to Lake Constance, moderate differences in temperature: winters are mild, summers are rather cool. The warmest regions are the Rhine Valley and the Lake Constance region. The Lechtal Valley and the Montafon Valley are two of the sunniest regions of Austria in winter, the densely populated Rhine Valley is often covered with thick fog (frequent inversion). Another characteristic of the Vorarlberg climate is the Foehn, a warm wind blowing mainly through the Walgau and the Rhine Valleys.

Population: Vorarlberg is the only Austrian province where the population speaks Alemannic vernacular. Due to industrialisation many foreign workers, mainly from Italy, came to Vorarlberg at the end of the 19th  century, while in the 20th  century many foreign workers came from Alto Adige (South Tirol), the Sudeten and Turkey. The region from the Rhine Valley and the Ill River Valley to Bludenz is the main region of settlement, with about two thirds of the Vorarlberg population living in the Rhine Valley. The most densely populated political district is Bregenz (pop. 115,500; 34.8%). Population growth between 1981 and 1991 was 8.6%, the second sharpest in Austria after Salzburg. In the last decade, excess of births over deaths (6.9%) was the highest in all provinces (21,000 more births than deaths). Vorarlberg has the largest proportion of children: 20.5% are under the age of 15, while 17.4% of the Bregenz population are children, which is the average for Austrian towns.

82% of the population are Roman Catholic, which is more than the average of Austrian provinces (78%), 7,900 people in Vorarlberg (2.4%) are Protestants, (7,126 follow the Augsburg Confession and 802 the Helvetic Confession). The second largest religious community is the Islamic community (6.6%; mainly Turks), between 1981 and 1991 the Moslem community increased from 14,000 to 22,000; in the political district of Dornbirn 9.9% of the population are Moslems. 13.3% of the Vorarlberg population are not Austrians, the highest rate of non-Austrians in the whole of Austria (average 6.6%): 46.2% are of Turkish descent (20,300 persons), 32.7 % are from former Yugoslavia (14,400 persons), 10.1 % are Germans (4,500 persons).

The Arlberg Pass (the watershed between the Danube and the Rhine) also forms a border with regard to the vernacular and folk culture, which is similar to that of eastern Switzerland and the region of Lake Constance. The custom of Fasnacht (similar to Shrove Tuesday), the Funkenfeuer (custom of burning a huge pile of wood) on the first Sunday of Lent and the customs practised at the time when the cattle are led up to the alpine pastures at the beginning of summer and led down at the beginning of autumn) are typical of Vorarlberg. The Einhof farm is the dominant farmhouse type in Vorarlberg ( Farmhouse Types, Bregenzerwaelderhaus), except in the Walsertal Valleys, where the house and the stable are separated on account of the steep terrain and form Paarhof farmsteads.

Economy: Vorarlberg is an alpine region, only about 20 % of the land is valley area. Due to a shortage of natural resources, Vorarlberg has neither workable raw material deposits nor favourable conditions for agriculture, industry developed very early, at the beginning of the 19th  century and Vorarlberg is the second most industrialised province in Austria, as well as the most export-oriented one (export quota of industrial production about 70 %). The Vorarlberg industry still focuses on the textile industry (centred on Dornbirn), and accounts for 35 % of Austria's total textile capacity. The textile industry developed at the beginning of the 19th  century and had its origins in the traditional production of linen. It benefited not only from the excellent taste of the Vorarlberg population but also from the utilization of the abundant water power. In the 19th  century the cotton industry developed with spinning mills and weaving mills as well as finishing works (F. M. Haemmerle, J. M. Fussenegger, C. G. Getzner etc.) and the embroidery industry. Around 1900 the first knitting factories were established, machine knitting was introduced and lace and wool factories were opened, followed after 1945 by clothing and hosiery factories (Huber, Benedikt Maeser, Wolff, Baeumler, Kunert, Wolford). Of the 28,000 (1994) people who work in industry (of which 8,700 foreign workers), 37 % are employed in the textile and clothing industry.

The metal industry (furniture fittings, cable-operated excavators and cranes, cableways and ski-lifts, aluminium sections, bent pipes, boilers, plate distributors, hammer drills, pistons and piston rings etc.), electrical industry (lamps, TV retransmitters and TV broadcasting systems etc.), food industry (chocolate, fruit juices, cheese, special pastries, instant meals, etc.) and wood processing industry (skis, building components made from wood, etc.) are mainly situated in Bregenz- Nenzing, Hoechst, Rankweil, Dornbirn, Schwarzach, Wolfurt and Kennelbach, the paper processing industry is situated in Frastanz, brickworks in Goetzis, limeworks and a quarry in Goetzis and Hohenems, cement works in Loruens. In Dornbirn an industrial fair mainly oriented on the regional market takes place annually and every third year there is the Intertech Bodensee international fair.

Electricity for the province of Vorarlberg is almost exclusively generated through hydroelectric power. The centre of power production is the Ill Valley, the most important electricity producer of Vorarlberg is the Illwerke AG, Vorarlberger (VIW), which was established in 1924 and produces about three fourths of Vorarlberg's total electricity output.

Agriculture: The importance of agriculture and forestry is insignificant compared to other provinces and with regards to Vorarlberg's topographic and climatic conditions. 3,660 of the 6,552 agricultural enterprises and forestries (1990) were situated in handicapped zones (zones 1-4), almost 50 % (3,179) can be found in the district of Bregenz. Vorarlberg ranks second after Vienna in having the lowest rate of employed persons in agriculture and forestry (1993: 1.9 %). In 1990 just 0.95 % of Vorarlberg was arable land (mainly in the Rheintal Valley and Walgau Valley). The large proportion of meadows (15.5 %), alpine pastures and high-lying meadows (33,6 %) favours highly developed alpine animal husbandry: more than 50 % of the cattle, about 35,800, are on the 600 alpine pastures during the summer. Vorarlberg has the second lowest number of cattle of all Austrian provinces, but the Montafoner Rind (breed of cattle in the Montafon Valley) produces an annual average of 4,680 kg milk per cow and thus has the best yield of all breeds. 3,200 dairy farmers produce 83,000 t milk per year, i.e. 3.8 % of the Austrian total. More than 60 % is made into Emmentaler cheese, Bergkaese cheese and Voralberger Camembert cheese in about 30 cheeseries. Vorarlberg is traditionally known for its hard cheeses, "Vorarlberger Bergkaese" being a renowned quality cheese. 4.58 million kg Emmentaler cheese and Bergkaese cheese were produced in 1988.

Tourism: Due to excellent winter sports facilities Vorarlberg has become a number one tourist destination in the last decades (8.8 million overnight stays in 1992). In the 1980s overnight stays in summer declined, but the small difference between overnight stays in winter (1991/92: 4.5 million) and in summer (1992: 4.3 million) revealed the growing tendency of guests to come to Vorarlberg for their summer holidays in the 1990s. In 1992, 90.3 % were guests from foreign countries (66.6 % Germans). In 1992 the places with the most overnight stays were Mittelberg in the Kleinwalsertal Valley (1.85 million overnight stays, number 4 in Austria), Lech am Arlberg (1.01 million), Sankt Gallenkirch (0.5 million), Schruns (0.46 million) and Gaschurn (0.42 million) in the Montafon Valley. The Arlberg, Brandner Tal Valley, Bregenzerwald Mountain Regions, the Grosses Walsertal Valley and Kleinwalsertal Valley, Klostertal Valley, Laternser Tal Valley and Montafon Valley are traditional regions for winter sports, with internationally renowned skiing areas such as Lech, Zuers and Silvretta Nova. In summer the Rhine Valley and the Lake Constance region with its Bregenz Festival are also favourite tourist destinations.

Traffic: As regards traffic, Vorarlberg is favourably situated in the central Alpine region and is connected with the European traffic network: Bregenz is situated on the E 60 (Chagny- Salzburg) and the E 43 (Milan- Munich) European highways and on the international railway lines Vienna- Basle and Munich- Geneva. 24 road border points connect Vorarlberg with neighbouring countries, while there are only one railway and three road crossing points connecting the province with Tirol (to the Lech Valley, the Paznaun Valley and the Stanzer Valley). The main road from Vorarlberg to Tirol is the Arlberg-Schnellstrasse (S 16) with the Arlberg Tunnel (13,972 m). On the Arlberg Pass road, the Flexenstrasse branches off the Arlberg road at Stuben into the Lechtal Valley. The busiest road in Vorarlberg is the Rheintal autobahn A 14 between Bludenz and Hoerbranz. From Schroecken in the upper Bregenzerwald Mountain Region the Hochtannberg Road leads to the Lechtal Valley. The Silvretta Alpine Road connects the upper Montafon Valley with the Paznaun Valley. The Kleinwalsertal Valley, since 1891 a member of the Deutscher Zollverband (German Customs Association), can only be reached via passes from Vorarlberg, while there is a direct road from Germany to the Kleinwalsertal Valley.

The railway network has a length of 122 km, the main railway line goes along the Rheintal autobahn and the Arlberg-Schnellstrasse. Regional trains run between Bregenz, Feldkirch and Bludenz. From Feldkirch via Liechtenstein a line branches off to Buchs (Switzerland), another one goes from Lauterach to Sankt Margrethen (Switzerland). A 12.9 km long standard-gauge railway from Bludenz to Schruns is privately run by the Montafonerbahn AG. Lake Constance, as well as Lake Untersee and Lake Seerhein, are extensively used for commercial shipping traffic.

Culture and the Arts: From Roman times and the Middle Ages onward Vorarlberg's culture and arts have strongly been influenced by western (France, Switzerland, south west Germany) and southern Europe (Italy); while Bregenz and the Bregenzerwald Mountain Region have had close links with Swabia and Bavaria. In order to control access from the south to the Lake Constance region (Bregenz, Feldkirch, Altems and Neuburg), many castles with bulwarks were built in the Rheintal Valley; the castles in the Walgau Valley (mostly without keep) were mainly for residential use and were the seat of the administration of justice.

The development of church architecture was influenced by the fact that Vorarlberg was long subordinated to Chur and Konstanz as far as ecclesiastical administration was concerned, it was influenced by the Swabian church style (the oldest building is the chancel tower of the church of Sankt Peter in Rankweil) and by Tirol. Vorarlberg has never been an episcopal centre, which is why there have never been any big monasteries. Church architecture was mainly influenced by the architectural style and culture of towns.

The most important monuments from Romanesque times are the Romanesque processional cross in Bartholomaeberg with champleve decoration (12th  century) and the bas-relief "miracle-working cross" in Rankweil (around 1230). In Gothic sculpture, which was initially influenced by foreign styles, a rustic style developed in the middle of the 15th  century, showing obvious traces of Swabian art. The first documented Vorarlberg artist was U. Gneser (1491-1499 in Bregenz). The most important late Gothic work is the "Erbaermde-Gruppe" (pietà) in Tosters (probably by a Swabian master). Gothic winged altars can be found in Frommengersch (1481 and 1516), Roens (1508), Brederis, Satteins (1508) and Bludesch. Gothic wall paintings still exist in Bludesch, in the St. Martin's Chapel in Bregenz (1362), in the parish church of Levis, in Viktorsberg (after 1383) and in the former chapel of Schattenburg Castle (16th  century). A leading representative of stained glass art was T. Neidhart in Feldkirch (d. in 1597). The most significant Gothic church in Vorarlberg is the parish church in Feldkirch (1478) The fame of the painter W. Huber, an important representative of the Danube School spread far beyond Vorarlberg.

Renaissance art influenced the architecture of the Hohenemser Hof Castle, while at roughly the same time local rustic style characteristics developed in the Baroque period. The most important sculptor of this time was E. Kern, who ran a big workshop in Feldkirch in the 17th  century. Although Vorarlberg does not have a single significant Baroque building, the Vorarlberg School influenced the region of Lake Constance very strongly and developed its own stylistic elements (the Beer, Moosbrugger, Thumb and Specht families).

Angelika Kauffmann was a representative of early classicist painting; classicist tendencies are found in the churches in Haselstauden (1792) and Oberdorf (1828), the church of Sankt Martin in Dornbirn (1830) and the parish churches in Satteins und Lustenau (by A. Negrelli, the civil engineer who drafted the plans for the Suez Canal). In the middle of the 19th  century the influence of Vienna began to be dominant.

Early Vorarlberg poets were, in the 13th  century, the writer of courtly epics, Rudolf von Ems and, more than one hundred years later, Hugo von Montfort. Humanist scholars included H. Muenzer, G. Joachim ( Rheticus), J. Mennel and U. Fabri, the ideas of the Reformation were promoted by the scholars J. Doelsch (1485-1523) and the brothers B. and J. Bernhardi. One of the most important Austrian poets of the Baroque was the Vorarlberg poet Laurentius von Schnifis. A. Friz (1711-1790) was a master of the Jesuit drama, who originated in the Klostertal Valley; the folklorist F. J. Vonbun was born at Laz (near Nueziders), the narrative writer F. M. Felder came from the Bregenzerwald Mountain Region, the teacher and narrative writer J. Wichner originated in Bludenz, while R. Byr and A. Ebenhoch came from Bregenz. Important representatives of modern literature are F. M. Willam, P. Ludwig, A. Welte, R. Beitl, the poet and dramatist E. Andergassen, N. Beer and dialect poet A. Diem, while contemporary literature is represented by M. Riccabona, M. Koehlmeier, M. Helfer, U. Laengle, R. Schneider, and others.

After 1945 the provincial government of Vorarlberg established the provincial theatre ("Theater fuer Vorarlberg") as a touring theatre, which has since been transformed into a private enterprise and receives subsidies from the provincial government. Since 1946 the Bregenz Festival has been held every year; it is one of the two most important events of this kind in Austria, the other being the Salzburg Festival. The Vorarlberger Landesmuseum was established in Bregenz in 1857, while the Vorarlberger Naturschau in Dornbirn was founded in 1925, followed by the open-air museum "Freilichtmuseum Roemische Villa" in Rankweil (1954) and the Jewish Museum in Hohenems (1991).

History: Vorarlberg's history has mostly been determined by its geographic location west of the main European watershed, the Arlberg Pass, and of the pass roads leading to Italy. Evidence from the Old Stone Age can be found in caves in the Rhine Valley, i.e. the caves Wildkirchli, Drachenloch and Wildenmannlisloch and in the caves Moenchshoehle and Rinderhoehle ob Ebnit. A settlement of the Middle Stone Age was in the Krinne near Koblach, settlements of the New Stone Age mainly in the region of the Inselberge Mountains, i.e. the Kummenberg Mountain, the Liebfrauenberg Mountain and the Schellenberg Mountain. Settlements of the Early Bronze Age show the influence of the Straubing culture with its copper mining in Tirol and Salzburg.

From around 400 B.C. onward the Celts immigrated into Vorarlberg. In 15 B.C. the land was conquered by the Romans and it was incorporated into the province of Retia. During the more than 400 year long Roman rule the population was romanised ( Rhaeto-romans) and Brigantium was established as a Municipium. At the end of the 5th  century Alemanni settled in the Unterland (lower land); in the Oberland (upper land) south of Dornbirn (Vorderland, Walgau Valley, Montafon Valley) the Romanised population was still dominant over centuries and was slowly introduced to the Alemannic culture (11th to 17th  century). At the beginning of the 7th  century Kolumban and Gallus christianised the region around Lake Constance. Around 1310 the immigration of the Walser people began, who settled one fourth of the land.

After the overthrow of the Alemanni by the Carolingians in 746, the fortress Bregenz fell to the Udalrichinger counts and became the centre of a domain. After the division of the House of the Udalrichinger into the lines of Buchhorn and Bregenz (1043), the latter reigned over almost the entire region of today's Vorarlberg and in 1097 founded the Benedictine Monastery of Mehrerau. Around 1160 Hugo von Tuebingen, son-in-law of the last Count of Bregenz, took over the rule of the land, his sons transferred their residence to Feldkirch and his younger son Hugo changed his name to Count of Montfort around 1206. The coat of arms of the Tuebingen-Montfort dynasty became Vorarlberg's provincial coat of arms. The Montforts established settlements and developed roads throughout the land (road across the Arlberg Pass). In 1309-1314 the Habsburgs acquired Gutenberg Castle, the entrance to Vorarlberg from the south, and gradually bought up Vorarlberg: in 1363 the territory of Neuburg am Rhein, in 1379 the county of Feldkirch, the core territory of Vorarlberg, in 1394 Bludenz and the Montafon Valley, in 1397 Jagdberg, in 1451 the southern half of the county of Bregenz and in 1474 Sonnenberg, in 1523 the other half of Bregenz, in 1765 Hohenems-Ebnit, in 1804 Blumenegg and Sankt Gerold and in 1814 Lustenau. The Habsburgs were represented by a Vogt (steward) in each territory.

During the Appenzell War the "Bund ob dem See" (association above the lake) was founded under the leadership of the town Feldkirch. In 1647 the Vorarlberg people defended their land against the Swedes, in 1704, in 1744 and between 1799 and 1809 they had to defend it against the French. In 1809 Vorarlberg fought with Tirol in Tirol's Fight for Freedom against the Bavarians and French. Until 1752 Vorarlberg's administration was subject to the gubernium of Innsbruck, until 1782 to Freiburg im Breisgau ( Vorderoesterreich (Austrian Forelands)), which was directly subordinated to Vienna, later it was again administered by Innsbruck. Between 1805 and 1814 Vorarlberg and Tirol were under Bavarian rule.

By the 14th  century a kind of democracy of provincial Estates had developed out of the co-operation of free peasantry and the burghers to the exclusion of the clergy and the aristocracy. By the 16th  century, the Vorarlberg Estates had been firmly established, which encouraged the growth of a Vorarlberg identity. The Vorarlberg Landtag (provincial diet) was established in 1861, and 6 district courts and 3 district commissions were set up between 1850 and 1868. In 1918 Vorarlberg separated its administration from Tirol and became a province in its own right, with its own provincial government. On March 14, 1919 a provisional provincial assembly decided on Vorarlberg's constitution, which was adopted on September 17, 1923 and is still valid today (amended in 1984). In 1919/20 a strong movement wanted to join Switzerland. In World War II Vorarlberg was united with Tirol, between 1945 and 1955 Vorarlberg formed part of the French occupation zone.

Vorarlberg is the only Austrian province calling itself a "Staat" (state); its Landeshauptmann-Stellvertreter (vice provincial governor) has the title "Statthalter". The provisions of the provincial constitution include the holding of Referendums and Popular Initiatives. Vorarlberg is also the only province where voting is obligatory in elections to the provincial diet and in plebiscites. Elections of the 36 members of the Landtag take place every 5 years and are based on proportional representation. Vorarlberg has 6 seats in the Nationalrat (National Council) and 3 seats in the Bundesrat (Provincial Council). The provincial government (1995: 6 OeVP (Austrian People's Party) and 1 FPOe (Austrian Freedom Party)) is the only government in Austria which is elected by majority vote.

Until 1816, the uppermost part of the Lech valley and the Ill region north of the Breitach brook belonged to the diocese of Augsburg, the Oberland region to the diocese of Chur, the Unterland region to the diocese of Constance. Until 1921 Vorarlberg was a general vicariate subordinate to the diocese of Brixen/Bressanone, later it became part of the Apostolic Administration of Innsbruck-Feldkirch. Between 1964 and 1968 it was part of the diocese of Innsbruck (general vicariate in Feldkirch with 7 deaneries). Since 1968 it has formed the diocese of Feldkirch.

Literature#