Mellau

Mellau
coat of arms	Austria map
Basic data
Country:	Austria
State :	Vorarlberg
Political District :	Bregenz
License plate :	B.
Surface:	40.55 km²
Coordinates :	47 ° 21 '  N , 9 ° 53'  E Coordinates: 47 ° 21 '4 "  N , 9 ° 52' 55"  E
Height :	688  m above sea level A.
Residents :	1,297 (January 1, 2020)
Population density :	32 inhabitants per km²
Postal code :	6881
Area code :	05518
Community code :	8 02 27
Address of the municipal administration:	Place 292 6881 Mellau
Website:	www.mellau.at
politics
Mayor :	Tobias Bischofberger
Local council : (2015) (15 members)	15th 15th  A total of 15 seats General list of citizens of Mellau: 15
Location of Mellau in the Bregenz district
Mellau community, district
Source: Municipal data from Statistics Austria

Mellau is a municipality in Austria in Vorarlberg in the Bregenz district with 1297 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2020).

geography

Mellau is located in the Bregenz Forest , in the Bregenz district , at 688 meters above sea level on the Bregenz Ach . The Mellau basin is bordered by the Dornbirner First in the west and by the Gopfberg in the north . In the south are the Damüls mountains , the highest point in the municipality is the 2095 meter high Damülser Mittagsspitze . The most famous mountain of Mellau is the Kanisfluh in the southeast, which is at its highest point, the Holenke , 2044  m above sea level. A. is located. At this point the municipal areas of Mellau, Schnepfau and Au meet. With an area of ​​40.55 km², Mellau is one of the largest communities in the Bregenzerwald. 41.4% of this area is forested, 35.9% are Alps.

There are no other cadastral communities in Mellau.

Neighboring communities

The municipality of Mellau shares its municipal boundary with five other Vorarlberg municipalities. The four municipalities of Reuthe , Schnepfau, Au and Damüls are also located in the Bregenz district. In addition, Mellau shares the longest part of its municipality border with the capital of the Dornbirn district , the city of Dornbirn . (Clockwise, starting in the north)

history

The Habsburgs ruled the places in Vorarlberg alternately from Tyrol and Upper Austria (Freiburg im Breisgau). From 1805 to 1814 the place belonged to Bavaria, then again to Austria. For Austrian province of Vorarlberg Mellau belongs since its founding in 1861. The place was 1945-1955 part of the French zone of occupation in Austria.

In 1870 a major fire broke out in Mellau. In addition to the church, the rectory and the school, another 18 houses were destroyed by flames. In the avalanche disaster in 1954 , five people lost their lives in Mellau. The “flood of the century” in 2005 caused great damage. A house in the municipality of Mellau was swept away by the Bregenzer Ach .

In 1874, a steel bath (iron-containing mineral spring) was set up in the "Gasthof zum Bären" for a few decades.

Population development

In 2011 Mellau had 1,314 inhabitants, with a proportion of foreigners of 9.4%. The inhabitants were distributed among 495 private households, which resulted in an average household size of 2.65 people. 17.4% of the population of Mellau was under 15 years old, 15.7% over 65.

politics

The Mellau municipal council consists of 15 members, all of whom came from the Mellau general list of citizens after the 2015 municipal council election . Tobias Bischofberger has been mayor of the community since 2015.

mayor

In Mellau there have been nine different mayors and one woman mayor since 1945:

• 1945–1955: Anton Hänsler
• 1955–1960: Josef Anton Kaufmann
• 1960–1964: Wendelin Hager
• 1964–1965: Anton Hänsler
• 1965–1985: Walter Dietrich
• 1985–1995: Otto Natter
• 1995–2000: Hubert Hager
• 2000–2005: Johann Dorner (ÖVP)
• 2005–2015: Elisabeth Wicke (ÖVP)
• 2015–: 0000Tobias Bischofberger (ÖVP)

coat of arms

Blazon: Split; in front a green fir tree in red, behind in silver on a green mountain three black crosses.

The municipality's coat of arms comes from a design by the Mellau artist Hubert Dietrich and was awarded in 1962. The uprooted fir symbolizes belonging to the Bregenzerwald, the three black crosses are reminiscent of the plague of 1635.

Culture and sights

See also:  List of listed objects in Mellau

• Mellau parish church

Economy and Infrastructure

There are 85 companies located in Mellau, offering jobs to 583 people. The international textile company Mellau Teppich has been the largest employer for years . 13 of the 30 largest municipal taxpayers come from tourism, Mellau's most important industry. Around 40 farmers, 13 of them full-time, work here.

tourism

The Damüls Mellau ski area, merged in 2009, connects the two existing ski areas of Mellau and Damüls with a gondola lift and a ski tunnel. The result is a steady increase in overnight stays: Whereas in 2008/2009 there were 125,572 overnight stays, Mellau was able to record 145,668 overnight stays a year later - in the first year of the ski area connection. In the 2012/2013 tourism year there were already 158,039.

The Mellaubahn valley station is located on the south-eastern edge of the Mellau settlement area and the place is also the namesake for the cable car.

education

There is a primary school in the village with (as of 2018/19) 61 students. In Mellau there is also a kindergarten in a completely new modern building. In the past, a polytechnic course was also housed in the primary school building.

Personalities

Sons and daughters

• Norbert Bischofberger (biochemist) (* 1956), developer of the influenza therapeutic Tamiflu
• Helmut Dietrich (* 1957), architect
• Hubert Dietrich (1930–2006), painter and painting restorer
• Reinhard Haller (* 1951), psychologist
• Hermann Rützler (1883–1960), photographer and racing car driver
• Klara Schwendinger (1918–2007), dialect poet
• Günter Bischof (* 1953), Austrian-American historian and university professor

Known residents

• Alexander Marent (* 1969), former cross-country skier and Olympic participant
• Christian Greber (* 1972), former ski racer and Olympic participant
• Bartholomäus Natter (* 1984), trumpeter from the Holstuonarmusigbigbandclub (the place name Mellau is included in the title of the song Vo Mello to ge Schoppornou )
• Andreas Broger (* 1984), clarinetist and saxophonist from the Holstuonarmusigbigbandclub
• Johannes Gasser (* 1991), politician (NEOS), member of the Vorarlberg state parliament (since 2019)

Honorary citizen

Since 1945, two Mellauers have been given honorary citizenship. On the one hand, this was former mayor Anton Hänsler (1896–1972), who was made an honorary citizen in 1956 for his unselfish work for the community. On the other hand pastor Hermann Alge (1930–2009). He was a priest in Mellau for almost 45 years, making him the longest pastor in the Mellau parish. In his time the parish church and rectory were rebuilt. He was granted honorary citizenship in 2000.

literature

• Rosemarie Zöhrer (site survey), Markus Staudinger (report): Update of the biotope inventory Vorarlberg - Mellau municipality . In: Vorarlberger Landesregierung Environmental Protection Department [IVe], AVL Arge Vegetation Ecology and Landscape Planning (Ed.): Biotopinventar Vorarlberg . February 2009 ( vorarlberg.at [PDF]).

Web links

Commons : Mellau  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• 80227 - Mellau. Community data, Statistics Austria .
• Homepage of the community of Mellau
• Tourism website of the municipality of Mellau

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Christoph Vallaster: Kleines Vorarlberger Heilbäderbuch , S. 142.
2. ↑ Register census 2011: Vorarlberg municipal table. Statistics Austria, November 4, 2013, accessed on December 4, 2015 . 
3. ↑ New mayor in Mellau (May 26, 2015)
4. ↑ Lots of news in the Bregenzerwald - tourism balance 2008/2009. WIRTSCHAFTS | zeit, November 24, 2009, accessed March 30, 2014 . 
5. ↑ Tourism years since 1983/1984. (PDF) Office of the Vorarlberg State Government, pp. 276, 290, 329 , accessed on March 30, 2014 . 
6. ^ Vorarlberger Verlagsanstalt, Ges.mbH (ed.): Mellau - monograph of a Bregenzerwald community . Dornbirn 1965, p. 69 .
7. ↑ Mellau parish church. Mellau municipality, accessed on March 30, 2014 .