Amber (Burgenland)

market community

Amber

coat of arms

Austria map

Basic data

Country:

Austria

State :

Burgenland

Political District :

Oberwart

License plate :

OW

Surface:

38.96 km²

Coordinates :

47 ° 24 ' N , 16 ° 15' E Coordinates: 47 ° 24 '18 " N , 16 ° 15' 20" E

Height :

619 m above sea level A.

Residents :

2,092 (January 1, 2020)

Population density :

54 inhabitants per km²

Postcodes :

2852, 7434

Community code :

1 09 02

NUTS region

AT113

Address of the
municipal administration:

Hauptstrasse 68
7434 Bernstein

Website:

www.bernstein.gv.at

politics

Mayoress :

Renate Habetler ( SPÖ )

Municipal Council : ( 2017 )
(23 members)

14th

6th

3

14th 6th 3

A total of 23 seats

SPÖ : 14
ÖVP : 6
FPÖ : 3

Location of Bernstein in the Oberwart district

Aerial view of Bernstein Castle

Source: Municipal data from Statistics Austria

Bernstein is a market town in the Oberwart district in Burgenland in Austria . The name of the place is derived from the Amber Road, from which a branch called "Via Magna" led past in the diving valley. The Hungarian place name of the municipality is Borostyánkő .

The place is best known for its castle and the green noble serpentine that can be found there .

geography

Geographical location

Bernstein (bottom right) around 1878 (recording sheet of the state survey )

View of the town of Redlschlag

The community is located in southern Burgenland at 619 meters above sea level.

Community structure

The municipality includes the following five localities (population in brackets as of January 1, 2020):

Amber (958)
Three huts (120)
Redlschlag (356)
Rettenbach (286)
Parlor (372)

The community consists of the cadastral communities Bernstein, Dreihütten , Redlschlag , Rettenbach and Stuben.

German place name	Hungarian place name	Place name in Romani
Amber	Borostyánkő	Boroshchaya
Three huts	Háromsátor	-
Redlschlag	Újvörösvágás	-
Rettenbach	Mencsér	-
Parlors	Edeháza	Schtumo

Bernstein's landmark is Bernstein Castle , first mentioned in the 14th century ; it is the highest castle in Burgenland.

Incorporations

In 1971 the communities of Dreihütten, Redlschlag, Rettenbach and Stuben were merged with Bernstein.

climate

Average monthly temperatures for amber

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Max. Temperature ( ° C )	2.0	4.0	8.2	13.6	18.6	21.4	23.8	23.3	18.5	13.1	6.6	2.5	O	13
Min. Temperature (° C)	-3.8	-2.7	0.7	5.0	9.7	12.6	14.8	14.7	10.8	6.3	1.1	-2.8	O	5.6
Temperature (° C)	-2.0	-0.8	3.2	8.1	13.3	16.0	18.3	17.9	13.5	8.8	3.2	-0.9	O	8.3

Humidity ( % )	71.1	61.8	57.9	52.7	55.7	58.0	55.1	56.5	61.0	66.6	73.7	74.8	O	62.1

T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r

2.0

-3.8

4.0

-2.7

8.2

0.7

13.6

5.0

18.6

9.7

21.4

12.6

23.8

14.8

23.3

14.7

18.5

10.8

13.1

6.3

6.6

1.1

2.5

-2.8

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Source: ZAMG average climate values 1981 - 2010

history

The area of and around Bernstein was inhabited by Celtic tribes centuries before the birth of Christ. In the area of Bernstein there are around 40 Noric-Pannonian barrows from the 1st and 2nd centuries AD (Ried Bienenhiate, Braunriegel, Hohentann-Langleiten, Hirschwiese, Kreuzriegel, Lange Risten, Pechgraben, Siebenholz).

The place was first mentioned in 1388 as a village under the Porostyan Castle . Mining has been practiced since the 12th century. At first only iron was mined, from the 16th century also sulfur , copper , vitriol , silver and even gold . The coat of arms of amber comes from this time; it shows a Hauerbrunnen (mining shaft) with two miners. Mining came to an end at the beginning of the 19th century.

Amber is where the light to dark green noble serpentine was found , a particularly pure variety that is used here to make jewelry and other art objects. The wood turner Josef Höfer and Pastor Ratz discovered in 1860 that the precious serpentine enclosed in the veins of the common serpentinite - according to the Mohs hardness scale , this has a hardness of around 2.5 to 3.5 - can be easily worked. From this a new handicraft developed in the following time, the tradition of which has been preserved to the present day. For the extraction of one cubic meter of noble serpentine, around 2000 cubic meters of common serpentinite, which is used in road construction and in the artificial stone industry, has to be extracted.

Like the whole of Burgenland, the place belonged to Hungary until 1921 . After the end of the First World War , western Hungary was assigned to Austria in the Treaties of St. Germain and Trianon and, in autumn 1921, incorporated into the newly founded federal state of Burgenland (see also the history of Burgenland ).

Bernstein has been a market town since 1973 (passed on through "VO 5", market rights since 1602).

Population development

Amber Castle

Culture and sights

Evangelical parish church

Catholic parish church

Bernstein Castle : first mentioned in the 13th century
Evangelical parish church
Catholic parish church
Rock museum
Noble serpentine grinding shops
Madonnenschlössl ('Trutzschlössl'): The Madonnenschlössl is a building built around the turn of the century, which is located in the middle of a park. From here you have a good view. The ground floor is made of serpentine. The two upper floors are separated by a wooden beam construction, which shows elaborate carvings. There are two gargoyles on the roof.
pillory
Noric-Pannonian barrows with a display grave
Planet trail

politics

Municipal council

Municipal council elections

%

60

50

40

30th

20th

10

0

58.46%
(-1.03 % p )

25.41%
(-7.51 % p )

16.14%
(+ 8.55 % p )

SPÖ

ÖVP

FPÖ

2012

2017

The council comprises a total of 23 members based on the number of eligible voters.

Results of the municipal council elections since 1997
Political party	2017			2012			2007			2002			1997
Political party	Sti.	%	M.	Sti.	%	M.	Sti.	%	M.	Sti.	%	M.	Sti.	%	M.
SPÖ	902	58.46	14th	956	59.49	14th	896	53.56	12	977	58.71	14th	968	62.82	15th
ÖVP	392	25.41	6th	529	32.92	8th	704	42.08	10	633	38.04	9	492	31.93	7th
FPÖ	249	16.14	3	122	7.59	1	73	4.36	1	54	3.25		81	5.26	1
Eligible voters	2066			2146			2169			2184			2068
voter turnout	83.79%			82.71%			82.85%			84.89%			86.07%

Parish council

In addition to Mayor Renate Habetler (SPÖ) and Deputy Mayor Gerhard Böhm (SPÖ), the executive councils Wilhelm Böhm (SPÖ), Alexander Laschober (SPÖ), Gerald Derkits (ÖVP), Adolf Fürst (ÖVP) and Karl Kager (FPÖ) also belong to the community council on.

Thomas Baldauf (SPÖ) was elected to the environmental council.

Wilhelm Böhm (SPÖ, for Redlschlag), Petra Katona (SPÖ, for Dreihütten), Gerhard Böhm (SPÖ, for Rettenbach) and Alexander Laschober (SPÖ, for parlors) were appointed as mayors.

mayor

Mayor is Renate Habetler (SPÖ). At the end of 2011 she succeeded Robert Marth (SPÖ), who had held the office since 2002. After Marth prevailed in the direct mayor election in 2007 with 50.64% against Franz Kummer (ÖVP), Habetler was elected as his successor by the local council. In the 2012 election she won the first ballot with 66.20%. Markus Zettl (ÖVP) came to 28.37% and Karl Kager (FPÖ) to 5.43%. In the mayoral election on October 1, 2017, Habetler prevailed again with 62.10%. Markus Zettl (21.59%) stood again for the ÖVP and Herbert Adelmann for the FPÖ, who achieved 16.31%.

In the constituent meeting of the municipal council, Gerhard Böhm (SPÖ) was elected Vice Mayor.

Uwe Marth is in charge of the municipal office.

coat of arms

Blazon : " In blue over black rock a silver Hauer fountain, accompanied by two silver miners. It represents the mining industry at that time. "

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the church

Jenö von Egan-Krieger (* 1886 at Bernstein Castle, † 1965 in Cologne), officer and politician
László Ede Almásy (* 1895 at Bernstein Castle, † 1951 in Salzburg), Sahara researcher and pilot ( The English Patient )
Helmut Bieler (* 1952), politician
Manfred Sauer (* 1960), Lutheran theologian

People related to the community

Eric W. Gritsch (1931–2012), American Lutheran theologian and author, grew up in Bernstein

Picture sheet

Amber rock museum
Sculpture made of noble serpentine
In this quarry not only the common serpentine but also the coveted noble serpentine is mined.
Old stone arch bridge in the Amber Forest