Weitensfeld in the Gurktal

Weitensfeld im Gurktal is an Austrian market town with 2032 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2020) in the Sankt Veit an der Glan district in Carinthia .

geography

Weitensfeld is located in the Gurktal , the community area of around 96 km² extends over an altitude of 700 to 1700 m into the Wimitz Mountains to the south and the Gurktal Alps to the north .

The community is divided into seven cadastral communities (Altenmarkt, Braunsberg, Linder, Thurnhof, Weitensfeld, Wullroß, Zweinitz) in which the following 41 localities are located (population in brackets as of January 1, 2020):

Ading (12)
Aich (64)
Altenmarkt (27)
Bach (Zweinitz) (1)
Braunsberg (41)
Brunn (Zweinitz) (20)
Dalling (6)
Dielach (2)
Dolz (31)
Edling (57)
Engelsdorf (29)
Digested (46)
Grua (14)
Hafendorf (70)
Hardernitzen (64)
Hundsdorf (16)
Kaindorf (157)
Kleinglödnitz (1)
Kötschendorf (70)
Kraßnitz (12)
Lind (21)
Massive (0)
Mödring (14)
Mödritsch (2)
Nassing (9)
Niederwurz (0)
Oberort (42)
Planitz (49)
Pbe (26)
Reinsberg (13)
Sadin (24)
St. Andrä (64)
Steindorf (8)
Traming (17)
Tschriet (13)
Weitensfeld (559)
Wullroß (2)
Root (2)
Zammelsberg (75)
Bevel (9)
Zweinitz (343)

Neighboring communities of Weitensfeld are:

Glödnitz	Metnitz	Strasbourg
German handles		Cucumber
Albeck	Steuerberg	Frauenstein

climate

Average monthly temperatures and precipitation for Weitensfeld

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Max. Temperature ( ° C )	0.8	4.5	9.1	13.8	19.1	22.2	24.4	23.6	19.2	13.6	6.1	1.0	O	13.2
Min. Temperature (° C)	-8.3	-6.9	-3.0	0.8	5.8	9.2	11.0	10.9	7.3	3.5	-1.8	-6.3	O	1.9
Temperature (° C)	-4.6	-2.5	1.7	6.2	11.7	15.0	16.8	16.0	11.8	7.2	1.2	-3.4	O	6.5

Precipitation ( mm )	20th	23	39	53	85	118	131	126	93	80	67	36	Σ	871

Humidity ( % )	68.4	53.0	48.2	46.5	48.2	51.1	50.6	53.4	55.6	61.5	69.0	75.1	O	56.8

T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r

0.8

-8.3

4.5

-6.9

9.1

-3.0

13.8

0.8

19.1

5.8

22.2

9.2

24.4

11.0

23.6

10.9

19.2

7.3

13.6

3.5

6.1

-1.8

1.0

-6.3

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Source: ZAMG average climate values 1981 - 2010

history

Parish Church of St. John Ev. in Weitensfeld

Altenmarkt fortified church

Thurnhof Castle in Zweinitz

Fortified church Zweinitz

Stone Jungfrau von Thurnhof on the Weitensfeld main square

View into the museum of customs

For a long time, the Gurktal was covered by thick forests and unpopulated. Only when the country was occupied by the Romans and they laid a connecting road through the Gurktal to Salzburg did the first settlements emerge , and so the Beliandrum post office was built in Altenmarkt . By the 9th century at the latest, the outskirts of the Wimitz Mountains and the Mödringberg were also settled.

Between 1050 and 1065 immigration from Bavaria resulted in a settlement on the Zammelsberg ( Zumoltiperg ). The village of Weitensfeld was first mentioned in 1131. In 1192 the property, which had been in Styria until then, fell to the Babenbergs , who gave it to the cathedral monastery of Gurk in 1202 . In 1203 the place received market rights.

In 1476 and 1478 it was destroyed during the Turkish invasions . In the summer of 1478 Weitensfeld was looted and burned down like many other places. On April 17, 1814, a major fire destroyed 45 houses and farm buildings. The damage was estimated at 185,432 guilders . The cause of the fire was flying sparks from a bonfire at a celebration on the occasion of the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte in the Battle of Leipzig .

After the formation of the local community in 1850, Weitensfeld was joined to the cadastral communities of Thurnhof and Zweinitz (previously part of Gurk ) in 1871 . From 1973 on, Weitensfeld became part of the large community of Weitensfeld-Flattnitz as part of the Carinthian community reform . After a referendum, the communities Deutsch-Griffen , Glödnitz and Weitensfeld became independent again in 1991, part of Flattnitz initially remained with Weitensfeld, but was separated with effect from January 1, 1994 and joined the community of Glödnitz. Since then, the municipality has existed within its current boundaries, and since January 1st 1995 the municipality has been called Weitensfeld im Gurktal.

Floods on the Gurk occur again and again. In autumn 2019 the Gurk dug a new creek bed around two meters deep and 40 meters wide at Kleinglödnitz over 300 meters.

population

According to the 2001 census, Weitensfeld has 2,474 inhabitants, 97.8% of whom are Austrian citizens. 91.0% of the population profess to the Roman Catholic and 3.6% to the Protestant Church, 2.7% of the residents are without religious belief.

Culture and sights

Parish Church of St. John Ev. in Weitensfeld: First mentioned in a document in 1285, former water fortified church with a round fortified tower from the beginning of the 16th century
Filial church St. Magdalena in Weitensfeld: The oldest surviving glass painting in Austria comes from this church , the Romanesque Magdalenenscheibe , created around 1170 (there is a replica in the church, the original in the Diocesan Museum in Klagenfurt)
Altenmarkt fortified church
Fortified church Zweinitz
Zammelsberg fortified church
Thurnhof Castle in Zweinitz
Customs Museum

Regular events

Wreath riding : The wreath riding that takes place on the Whitsun holidays is one of the oldest traditional festivals in Carinthia. According to legend, this custom is based on a fact at the time of the plague , when almost the entire population was killed and the three remaining bourgeois sons are said to have fought over a noblewoman, for whom the three young men ultimately competed. At the folk festival, the winner can kiss the stone maiden, a living one every 25 years (most recently in 1997). Was recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage in Austria in 2016.

Karl May Festival : took place every year from the end of June to the beginning of September (1995 to 2013)

Speckkirchtag: takes place at the beginning of May

Ball hitting in and Zweinitz Nassing: held annually on Easter Sunday

Economy and Infrastructure

The economy is characterized by agriculture and forestry as well as small businesses. These include a drug manufacturer and a larch resin refinery.

There is a secondary school, four elementary schools, a kindergarten, a post office and three volunteer fire departments in the community.

traffic

Weitensfeld was on the Gurktalbahn and is on the Gurktalstrasse .

politics

City council and mayor

The municipal council of Weitensfeld has 19 members and has been composed of mandataries from the following parties since the 2015 municipal council election :

11 ÖVP
5 FPÖ
3 SPÖ

The directly elected mayor is Franz Sabitzer (ÖVP).

coat of arms

The Weitensfeld market was given its own coat of arms by Emperor Ferdinand II on October 4, 1629 : “A red shield with a stag inside it in the green field between four willow trees to jump against the right side.” The red-white-green flag with incorporated coat of arms has been proven since the 18th century. The coat of arms and flag award certificate was renewed on February 1, 1974 with the following blazon : "Deer leaping to the right in red over green ground between four willow trees."

The choice of motif of the jumping deer is probably based on two folk etymological variants of the origin of the place name: On the one hand, a "pasture field", on the other hand a saying "deer, jump far into the field!" Is the origin of today's place and community name explained. According to Kranzmayer (place name book 1959), however, Weitensfeld is to be interpreted according to the developed personal name "Witin".

Parish partnership

Ragogna , Italy (since 2003)

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the church

Wilhelm Gorton (1864–1922), large landowner and politician, member of the Carinthian state parliament 1899–1914
Gertrude Lübbe-Wolff (* 1953), judge

Web links

Commons : Weitensfeld im Gurktal - collection of images, videos and audio files

Market town of Weitensfeld in the Gurktal
20531 - Weitensfeld in the Gurktal. Community data, Statistics Austria .

Individual evidence

↑ Statistics Austria: Population on January 1st, 2020 by locality (area status on January 1st, 2020) , ( CSV )
^ Joseph Mitterdorfer: Continuation of the Turkish invasions in Carinthia. In: Carinthia . 5th year, no. 31 . Publishers of the history society for Carinthia, Klagenfurt 1815 ( ÖNB digital p. 150 ).
^ Joseph Mitterdorfer: Public thanks [for the support after the fire of Weitensfeld in 1814] . In: Carinthia . 6th year, no. 8 . Verlag des Geschichtsverein für Kärnten, Klagenfurt 1815 ( ÖNB digital p. 33 ff. ).
↑ Werner Sabitzer: Land of Hemma. The Gurktal. History and stories. Styria Regional Carinthia, Vienna / Graz / Klagenfurt 2013, ISBN 978-3-7012-0100-6 , p. 175 f . (223 pp.).
↑ Gurk dug a new creek bed. The crisis team in the St. Veit district identified an urgent need for action in Kleinglödnitz today. Österreichischer Rundfunk , November 21, 2019, accessed on November 21, 2019 .

[Metadaten_Einwohnerzahl_AT_Ortschaft_QUELLE-1] Statistics Austria: Population on January 1st, 2020 by locality (area status on January 1st, 2020) , ( CSV )

[2] Joseph Mitterdorfer: Continuation of the Turkish invasions in Carinthia. In: Carinthia . 5th year, no. 31 . Publishers of the history society for Carinthia, Klagenfurt 1815 ( ÖNB digital p. 150 ).

[3] Joseph Mitterdorfer: Public thanks [for the support after the fire of Weitensfeld in 1814] . In: Carinthia . 6th year, no. 8 . Verlag des Geschichtsverein für Kärnten, Klagenfurt 1815 ( ÖNB digital p. 33 ff. ).

[4] Werner Sabitzer: Land of Hemma. The Gurktal. History and stories. Styria Regional Carinthia, Vienna / Graz / Klagenfurt 2013, ISBN 978-3-7012-0100-6 , p. 175 f . (223 pp.).

[5] Gurk dug a new creek bed. The crisis team in the St. Veit district identified an urgent need for action in Kleinglödnitz today. Österreichischer Rundfunk , November 21, 2019, accessed on November 21, 2019 .