Grein

Borough

Grein

coat of arms

Austria map

Basic data

Country:

Austria

State :

Upper Austria

Political District :

Perg

License plate :

PE

Surface:

18.42 km²

Coordinates :

48 ° 14 ' N , 14 ° 51' E Coordinates: 48 ° 13 '41 " N , 14 ° 51' 2" E

Height :

239 m above sea level A.

Residents :

2,910 (January 1, 2020)

Population density :

158 inhabitants per km²

Postal code :

4360

Area code :

07268

Community code :

4 11 05

NUTS region

AT313

UN / LOCODE

AT GRN

Address of the
municipal administration:

Rathausgasse 1
4360 Grein

Website:

www.grein.ooe.gv.at

politics

Mayor :

Rainer Johannes Barth ( ÖVP )

Municipal Council : (2015)
(25 members)

14th

8th

3

14th 8th 3

A total of 25 seats

ÖVP : 14
SPÖ : 8
FPÖ : 3

Location of Grein in the Perg district

View of Grein with Greinburg Castle and the parish church of St. Giles

Source: Municipal data from Statistics Austria

Grein is an Upper Austrian municipality in the Lower Mühlviertel in the Perg district .

With an area of 18.42 square kilometers and 2910 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2020), Grein is the fifteenth largest municipality in terms of area and the seventh largest municipality in the district in terms of population. Grein has been the third oldest town in the Mühlviertel since 1491 and the capital of the Strudengau .

Until the end of 2002, the city was the location of the former Grein District Court, which was responsible for the ten municipalities of the Grein judicial district . Grein has been part of the judicial district of Perg since the beginning of 2003, and the responsible district court has been located in the district capital of Perg .

geography

Grein and Danube

The center of Grein is located 55 kilometers east of the provincial capital Linz in a small widening of the narrow Danube valley in this section. The city located directly on the Danube is the easternmost city in Upper Austria.

The municipal area covers an area of 18.42 square kilometers. The greatest expansion in east-west direction is 5.5 kilometers and in north-south direction 7.2 kilometers.

The highest point is to the northeast of the town center near Greiner Strasse and the Grubsteiner farm at around 534 m above sea level. A. and the deepest point on the border to the neighboring municipality of St. Nikola an der Donau at around 234 m above sea level. A. The center of Greins is located at 239 m above sea level. A. , making the city the lowest-lying city in Upper Austria.

Grein belongs to the granite and gneiss plateau , the Austrian part of the Bohemian mass . From a geological and geomorphological point of view, as well as from the point of view of spatial use, the northern, largest part of the municipality is located in the Upper Austrian spatial unit Aist-Naarn-Kuppenland , while the main settlement area along the Danube falls into the spatial unit Danube gorge and side valleys . In the west, the community has a small share of the southern Mühlviertel peripheral areas .

The subsoil of the community consists of Weinsberg granite, which is quarried in granite stone or gravel quarries.

In the 20th and 21st centuries, as in previous centuries, Grein was hit by flood disasters. A lot has been invested in flood protection in the last few decades. Further protective measures are being implemented as part of the Machland Nord flood protection project .

Noteworthy still water is a medium-sized pond in Lettental, otherwise there are only fish or fire-fighting ponds. The flowing waters are smaller streams that merge before they flow into the Danube. These include in particular the Kempbach with the Wolfsschlucht which forms the Kreuznerbach with the Schallahoferbach and the Rinnaubach.

In the east of the municipality is the Gießenbach , which forms the Stillensteinklamm in the lower reaches before it flows into the Danube. The distribution of land use shows that the agricultural and forestry areas make up 47% and 37.8% of the municipal area is forested.

City structure

structure

Cadastral communities	Locations in the municipality
Grein (3.52 km²) Lettental (6.24 km²) Panholz (8.65 km²)	Dornach (ZH) Grein (Stt) Greinburg (Stt) Herdmann (ZH) Lehen (ZH) Lettental (ZH) Oberbergen (ZH) Panholz (ZH) Ufer (Stt) Würzenberg (ZH)
Legend

Legend for the breakdown table

In the cadastral municipalities column , all cadastral municipalities of a municipality are listed. In the brackets the respective area is given in km².

All settlements recorded by Statistics Austria, which also have their own local area code, are listed in the Localities column . In the hierarchy level of the same column, indented to the right, only settlements that consist of at least several houses are shown.

The most important of the abbreviations used are:

M = capital of the municipality
Stt = district
R = Rotte
W = hamlet
D = village
ZH = scattered houses
Sdlg = settlement
Hgr = group of houses
E = single farmstead (only if you have your own local area code)

The complete list of Statistics Austria is in: Topographical settlement identification according to STAT

It should be noted that some places can have different spellings. Thus, cadastral communities can spell themselves differently than localities or communities of the same name.

Source: Statistics Austria -

The city of Grein consists of the three cadastral communities Grein, Lettental and Panholz.

The municipality is divided into the districts (population in brackets as of January 1, 2020):

Dornach (61)
Grein (2081)
Greinburg (128)
Herdmann (68)
Fiefdom (101)
Lettental (156)
Oberbergen (57)
Panwood (89)
Shore (155)
Würzenberg (14)

Neighboring communities

	Bad crosses
		St. Nikola on the Danube
Saxen	Ardagger (Lower Austria)	Neustadtl (Lower Austria)

history

Grein flourished under the Babenbergs thanks to the brisk shipping traffic on the Danube. The downstream stream made Grein an important Danube town. Grein had certified guides and sworn pilots . From 1220 to 1240, Grein ( Grine , Griene ) was the seat of the Babenberg bailiff and thus sovereign, around 1250 this office was transferred to “Burg Werfenstein im Machlande”, and Grein was subject to the nearby Werfenstein lordship until it was handed over to the Prueschenken in 1489 .

Kosenburg Castle existed in the 14th and 15th centuries .

The Bohemian Wars, which destroyed Waldhausen im Strudengau and Klam , among others , also threatened Grein. In 1476 Grein went up in flames in the victorious battle of Bernhard von Scherffenberg . The war with King Matthias Corvinus damaged Grein, and since the castle was not yet in place at that time, the parish church was made defensible. The place was not completely rebuilt around 1490, but construction of the Greinburg started and the valuable Greiner market book was commissioned. In 1491, Emperor Friedrich III. the market to the city. However, this did not change the actual situation of Grein, which remained subject to the lords of the castle.

Copper engraving by Georg Matthäus Vischer (around 1674)

The later governor of Upper Austria and lord of the castle of Grein, Jakob Löbl (1592–1602), vigorously carried out the Counter-Reformation. Most of the citizens were then Lutheran and in 1599 citizens had to leave the city because of their religion. The town hall built by Kurz and Canaval was finished around 1563, the octagonal stone fountain on the town hall square was completed around 1600 (Kaspar Alexandrin from Trient).

The peasant riots passed Grein lightly. The Franciscan monastery was founded in 1622 by the lord of the castle, Count Meggau , and in 1642 a great fire ravaged Grein. As a passage for troops, Grein suffered repeated damage, including a. in the time when the Ysper border was against Hungary, furthermore during the Turkish and French wars . The famous patrol corps of Lieutenant Colonel Scheibler against the French in 1809 was stationed in Grein and carried out the daring raids from here. The name of the city is derived from "grin" - shouting - either from the noise of the eddy and eddy or from the cries for help from endangered shipmen.

Since 1918 the place belongs to the federal state of Upper Austria. After the annexation of Austria to the German Reich on March 13, 1938, the place belonged to the Gau Oberdonau . In 1944 and February 1945 there was a satellite camp of the Mauthausen concentration camp in the Lettentalkeller in Grein , in which around 120 concentration camp prisoners were called in for various construction and manufacturing activities. After 1945 the restoration of Upper Austria took place. In 1945 Grein was briefly in the American zone and from May 9, 1945 to 1955 in the Soviet zone .

Population development

In 1783 Grein had 1,338 inhabitants in around 240 houses. In 1809 the number of inhabitants was given as 1439.

In 1869, 1919 people lived in the municipality. Until 1939 the population rose only slightly to 2,185. Between 1939 and 1951, the number of inhabitants rose sharply to more than 2500 inhabitants due to incorporations. Steady growth was recorded until 2008, and the number of inhabitants has been falling since then. In the 2001 census , Grein had 3,109 inhabitants and in 2008 the highest level was reached with 3,144.

In the 2001 census, the proportion of residents aged 60 and over was 23.4%, while 18.3% were under 15 years old. The proportion of the female population was 51.3%.

Of the 2541 residents of Greins, who were older than 15 years in 2001, 5% had graduated from a university , technical college or academy and 9.2% had passed a Matura . 46.7% had an apprenticeship qualification or a qualification from a vocational middle school . 39.1% of the relevant population group had compulsory school as the highest degree.

Origin and language

The German dialect, which is generally spoken in the Grein area and in most of Upper Austria, is East Central Bavarian . In 2001, 93.8% of Greiner said German as a colloquial language. 0.9% spoke Croatian and 0.5% Turkish or Hungarian , the rest other languages.

The proportion of Greiner with foreign citizenship in 2001 was 5% below the average in Upper Austria. 0.7% of the Greiner population had citizenship from Bosnia and Herzegovina , 0.4% from Germany or Croatia and 3.5% from other countries in the world. In 2001 around 6.4% of Greiner were born abroad.

religion

In the 2001 census, 2,833 people (91.1%) stated Roman Catholic as their religion, 46 (1.5%) Orthodox , 33 (1.1%) Protestant , 30 (1%) Islamic and 80 other denominations. 87 (2.8%) Greiner have not professed any religion.

The Roman Catholic parish Grein belongs to the deanery Grein, covers approximately the area of the political community and has 2939 believers. The members of the Protestant Church belong to the parish of Enns .

politics

The municipal council has 25 members.

With the municipal council and mayor elections in Upper Austria in 2003, the municipal council had the following distribution: 12 SPÖ, 11 ÖVP, 1 FPÖ, and 1 BLG (Grein citizens' list).
With the municipal council and mayoral elections in Upper Austria in 2009, the municipal council had the following distribution: 12 SPÖ, 10 ÖVP, and 3 BLG.
With the municipal council and mayoral elections in Upper Austria in 2015 , the municipal council has the following distribution: 14 ÖVP, 8 SPÖ, and 3 FPÖ.

mayor

until 2008 Rupert Lehner (SPÖ)
2008–2015 Manfred Michlmayr (SPÖ)
since 2015 Rainer Barth (ÖVP)

Town twinning

Neckarsteinach / Bergstrasse district , Hesse (D)
Frauenberg / Hluboka , South Bohemia near Budweis (Czech Republic)

coat of arms

Blazon (official): In silver between five black rocks on blue waves a natural-colored (yellow-brown) "Hohenauerin"; two boatmen standing at Gransel and Stoier (bow and stern) in medieval red and green clothes row the klobzille through the stream obstacles according to the instructions of the Naufergen standing on the roof of the ship and pointing with outstretched arms.

The community colors are green and red.

Culture and sights

Greinburg Castle

Old town hall and city theater

Town square and St. Aegidius

Greinburg Castle received its current closed form in the early 17th century. The harmonious three-storey arcade courtyard, the state rooms, the chapel with the marble altar and the stone theater Sala terrena are well worth seeing . The “Upper Austrian Maritime Museum” is also located in the castle.
Parish Church Grein : late Gothic, but heavily renovated hall church. Baroque high altar from 1749 with a painting by Bartolomeo Altomonte .
Old town hall (1563), preserved to this day in its original form. Originally a granary, the building was converted into a citizens' theater (today: city theater) in 1791. Performances continue to take place regularly as part of the Greiner Summer Festival
Town center: an ensemble of houses from the 16th and 17th centuries, with predominantly baroque facades.
Stadttheater Grein : Rococo building from 1791, oldest originally preserved civic theater in Austria. It also hosts a theatrical exhibition.
The Blumenstrüßl coffee brewery is located in one of the oldest houses, with interior furnishings in the Biedermeier style
Gobelwarte , viewing platform
Railway viaduct of the Donauuferbahn with seven arches over the Gießenbach at the entrance to the Stillensteinklamm

Museum im Schloss Greinburg: Upper Austrian Maritime Museum , the museum gives an overview of the development of shipping on the Danube.

nature

Forest landscape of the Danube with its narrowing at the entrance of the Strudengau

Stillensteinklamm on Gießenbach , a 200 meter deep gorge with impressive rock formations 2 km east of the town center.

The Marienstein in Grein and an oak in Kaiser-Friedrich-Straße are listed as natural monuments in the nature protection book of the Upper Austrian provincial government .

Regular events

In addition to the annual summer plays, the Grein City Theater also hosts spoken theater, song recitals, concerts and poetry readings.
The Greinburg is a fixed event taking place since 1995 Donaufestwochen Strudengau.
Austria's only video art festival, danubeVIDEOARTfestival , has been taking place in the Grein Stadtkino since 2011 .
The organic Christmas market takes place on and around the historic town square and in the town theater.

economy

The average gross income of working in Grein employment amounted in 2006 to EUR 1,716 per month, which was slightly below the Upper Austrian average. In a district comparison, Grein came 11th. While the male employees earned 2,836 euros, the female workers earned less than 1,000 euros. Including commuters, the Upper Austrian average income of around 1761 euros is achieved. In a district comparison, men were in fifth place, while women were in 13th place.

Grein is the location of numerous specialist shops and service companies. The city offers jobs for numerous commuters from neighboring communities.

traffic

Street: Grein is located on Donau Straße (B 3) and on the Donauuferbahn . The closest junction to the West Autobahn is to the south at Amstetten West , and the journey time for the 15-kilometer route is around 20 minutes.
Shipping: Shipping on the Danube is also important for the city .

Public facilities

Grein is the seat of a police station and was also the seat of a district court from 1850 to 2002 . On January 1, 2005, the Grein judicial district was merged with that of Perg. The regional road maintenance department is responsible for the former federal roads as well as the state and district roads.

The Grein volunteer fire brigade , founded in 1871, provides fire protection and general help in the municipality .

education

Grein has a primary and secondary school as well as a polytechnic school in the compulsory school sector . The Hauptschule specializes in information technology.

Facilities for adult education ( adult education center, Catholic educational institution) and a regional music school complete the educational offer. The parish public library is available to all citizens.

media

The daily newspapers in Upper Austria report on the local events, in particular the Upper Austrian News and the Upper Austria edition of the Kronenzeitung .

With the Perger TIPS a free regional newspaper appears weekly . It belongs to Tips Zeitungs GmbH & Co KG and 100% of J. Wimmer GmbH, which has a majority stake in the daily newspaper Oberösterreichische Nachrichten. Since the beginning of 2009, the small-format free newspaper Bezirksrundschau has been published as the successor to the large-format weekly newspaper Perger Rundschau .

The Official Gazette of the Municipality of Grein is published quarterly.

The regional television station Grein.TV, based in the city of Grein, reports weekly on current economic, cultural and political events in the Strudengau region.

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the church

Johannes Tichtel (* around 1445/50; † around 1503/06 in Vienna): Austrian doctor and humanist
Franz Xaver Amand Berghofer (* 1745; † 1825): Austrian writer, educator and philosopher, was temporarily supported financially by a Masonic lodge and named "Philosopher in Helenental" and "Austrian Rousseau ", among others
Johann Gürtler (* 1868; † 1936): Mayor of Grein (1897 to 1934) and member of the National Council (1919 to 1934), honorary citizen of Grein and holder of the Golden Cross of Merit and holder of the silver medal for services to the Republic of Austria.
Hans Wunder (* 1886; † 1962): pedagogue, painter and graphic artist
Karl Mostböck (* 1921 in Grein; † 2013): lived in Steyr; technical graphic artist in the Steyr works and one of the most important Austrian informal painters with works in domestic and foreign collections; Honorary citizen of Steyr .
Josef Waidhofer (* 1923 in Grein; † 1986): Austrian civil servant and politician
Karl Hohensinner (* 1967): Germanist and historian

Honorary citizen of the community

Leopold Höller (retired deputy mayor, retired cultural advisor)
Rupert Lehner (retired mayor)
Friedrich Kloibhofer (retired deputy mayor)
Dean Berthold Müller (pastor a. D.)

Honorary ring bearer of the community

Anton Pfeiffer (retired city office manager, retired fire brigade commander)
Michael Gert (Head of the Summer Games)
Karl Diwold (Chairman GV Liederkranz Grein)
Christine Geirhofer (principal of the Greiner dilettantes)

People related to the community

Ducal family of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha : Owners of Greinburg Castle , which their ancestor Duke Ernst I acquired as a private property in 1823
Victoria Adelheid Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (* 1885, † 1970, at Greinburg Castle): German princess and member of the British royal family by marriage
Johann Leopold von Sachsen-Coburg and Gotha (* 1906, † 1972): German nobleman, died at Greinburg Castle
Friedrich Josias of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (* 1918; † 1998): German businessman, head of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; Honorary citizen of the city of Grein since November 23, 1988 for services in the restoration of Greinburg Castle;

literature

Hertha Awecker : Grein during the French Wars. In: Oberösterreichische Heimatblätter, 9 (1955) 2-3, pp. 147–158, digitized version (PDF; 698 kB) in the forum OoeGeschichte.at
Federal Monuments Office Austria (Ed.): Dehio - Upper Austria Mühlviertel . Berger Verlag, Horn / Vienna 2003, ISBN 978-3-85028-362-5 .
Historical bibliography for Grein in the forum OoeGeschichte.at
Leopold Riegler, Herbert Frank (with pictures by Karl Kaser): Grein on the Danube in Strudengau . Self-published by the municipality of Grein, 2005.