Helfenberg

The municipality of Helfenberg is located in the Rohrbach district in the upper Mühlviertel in Upper Austria with 1541 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2020). The community is located in the judicial district of Rohrbach and is the home community of the ÖVP politician and Vice Chancellor a. D. Reinhold Mitterlehner .

geography

Helfenberg lies at an altitude of 567 m above sea level. A. in the upper Mühlviertel near the Czech border. In terms of the nature conservation spatial structure, the majority of the municipality belongs to the southern Bohemian Forest foothills and the southeast of the municipality belongs to the Central Mühlviertel highlands . The extension is 2.9 km from north to south and 4.4 km from west to east. The total area is 22.67 km² and has 64 inhabitants per km².

In 2001, 36.1% of the old municipal area was covered with forest, 54.6% of the area was used for agriculture. In comparison with the federal state of Upper Austria, Helfenberg was slightly less forested than the regional average (Upper Austria: 38.3%) or there was slightly more agricultural land available (Upper Austria: 49.3%). The share of other uses (construction areas, gardens, bodies of water and others) was around 9.3%, slightly below the Upper Austrian average of 13.8%.

Geology and soils

The landscape of the municipality is part of the Bohemian Massif and belongs to the southeastern part of the Granite Highlands. The landscape slopes from north to south from the Bohemian Forest to the Danube and is characterized by deeply cut streams. The Bohemian mass goes back to a very old mountain range, which was created by the Variscan mountain formation in the Paleozoic ( Carboniferous ), with the formation of granites and gneisses . After the heavy erosion of the former high mountains, during the Alpidic mountain formation in the Tertiary the Bohemian mass was raised by several 100 meters, causing fractures and faults. Subsequently, sediments were deposited in the Tertiary and Quaternary periods . The predominant soil form is silicate brown earth (acidic brown and bleaching earth soils), which are located over more or less thick clay covers. The soils show an increasing podsolization with increasing height and experience a transformation into gley , moor or moor when waterlogged . If more soil is eroded, rock or flinz , a loamy-gritty layer of weathering, comes to light.

Landscape and vegetation

The municipality of Helfenberg is characterized by a gently undulating hilly landscape with various slopes and exposures . In addition, there are valley cuts in the area of rivers and streams. The forest areas of the municipality are dominated by spruce and species-poor, acid-loving undergrowth. These southernmost foothills of the Bohemian Forest are visibly loosened to the south and are penetrated by increasingly larger agricultural areas. Pure deciduous forest stands hardly play a role; the proportion of hardwood is mostly limited to the edges of the forest, with beeches dominating, but also common oak and, in more humid locations, ash, black alder and sycamore maple. The focus of agricultural use is on intensive grassland management, while arable farming is only sporadic. Extensive lean grassland usually only exists at the edges of forests and slopes. Structural elements are abundant, with orchards and rows of trees in the east, especially hedges in the area of former (reading) stone walls.

Waters

The main body of water in the municipality is the Steinerne Mühl, which also receives most of the rivers in the municipality. It initially runs along the northern municipal boundary, then flows through the main town of Helfenberg and then forms the southwestern municipal boundary over long stretches. In the west of the municipality there are two more streams, the Holzmühlbach and its feeder, the Rossdoppelbach. The Altenschläger Bach flows in the eastern municipality. Apart from the Steinerne Mühl, the streams are predominantly smaller forest or meadow streams, which apart from some local piping or barriers are largely natural. The Steinerne Mühl also only shows strong anthropogenic interference in the local area of Helfenberg. The flowing waters in the municipal area have predominantly accompanying riparian woodlands with a natural structure, some of which are continuous and have two banks. The standing waters, on the other hand, are ponds of different sizes and configurations with natural to natural character.

Community structure

Since 2019, the municipality has been divided into 20 localities (population in brackets as of January 1, 2020):

Maple (130)
Altenschlag (112)
Auhauser (34)
Dobring (53)
Helfenberg (432)
Kleintraberg (11)
Light meter (1)
Millwood (0)
Newbie (108)
New strike (20)
Oberbrunnwald (2)
Obertraberg (56)
Penning (9)
Piberstein (163)
Pressleithen (33)
Schallenberg (6)
Chipboard (116)
Thurnerschlag (112)
Sub-level (8)
Forest Houses (135)

The community comprises three cadastral communities (area as of December 31, 2019):

Maple (1,302.99 ha)
Helfenberg (929.68 ha)
Spanfeld (233.86 ha)

Neighboring communities

Neighboring communities are Vorderweißbach in the east (Urfahr-Umgebung district), St. Veit in the Mühlkreis in the southeast, St. Johann am Wimberg in the south, St. Peter am Wimberg in the southwest and St. Stefan-Afiesl in the west and north.

history

The place was first mentioned in a document at the beginning of the 13th century. During this time both were Helfenberg Castle and the Castle Piberstein built.

Originally located in the eastern part of the Duchy of Bavaria , the place belonged to the Duchy of Austria since the 12th century . Since 1490 it has been assigned to the Principality of Austria ob der Enns . During the Napoleonic Wars , the place was occupied several times. 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 . After 1945 the restoration of Upper Austria took place.

Helfenberg has always been known as a place for textile production and weaving. In the course of industrialization , the Simonetta brothers from Milan built a linen weaving factory in 1843, which employed 1200 people at weddings.

After the village of Waldhäuser was incorporated into the then still existing community of Afiesl in October 2018 , the community received the area of the dissolved community of Ahorn in 2019 .

population

Population structure

In 2013, 955 people lived in the old community of Helfenberg, placing Helfenberg in the lower mid-range of the 42 communities in the district. At the end of 2001, 96.8% of the population were Austrian citizens (Upper Austria 92.8%, Rohrbach district 96.9%), by the beginning of 2013 the value fell slightly to 95.6% (Upper Austria 91.1%, Rohrbach district 96, 9%).

A total of 42 foreigners were counted in the old community in 2013 , 98% of whom came from Europe. The proportion of EU foreigners was comparatively low at 31%; more than half of the foreigners came from Turkey. A total of 57 people with a foreign country of birth lived in Helfenberg in 2013, 49% of whom were born in Turkey. In 2001, 96.3% of the population (Upper Austria: 88.6%) professed to be a member of the Roman Catholic Church , 1.4% were without religion, 1.9% were of the Islamic faith and 0.3% were Protestants.

The average age of the community population in 2001 was largely the national average. 19.8% of the inhabitants of Helfenberg were younger than 15 years (Upper Austria: 18.8%), 57.5% between 15 and 59 years old (Upper Austria: 61.6%). The proportion of residents over 59 years of age was 22.7%, just above the national average of 20.2%. As a result, the average age of the population of Helfenberg changed, especially in the first two segments. The proportion of people under the age of 15 fell sharply to 12.8% on January 1, 2013, while the proportion of people between 15 and 59 years of age increased significantly to 64.6%. The proportion of people over 59 years of age stagnated at 22.6%. According to marital status, 47.2% of the residents of Helfenberg were single, 45.3% married, 6.4% widowed and 1.1% divorced in 2001.

Population growth of the municipality until 2018

The population of the old community of Helfenberg shrank by 25 percent between 1869 and 2013. In 1869 there were still 1,270 people living in the municipality (area status 2018), in 2013 there were only 955. Initially, the number of inhabitants fell almost continuously from the highest level recorded in 1869 to 1923 to around 1000 inhabitants, with the population loss around this half century Was 20 percent. Then the population recovered and fluctuated between 1,100 and 1,200 inhabitants until 1971. In the 1970s, however, a shrinking process finally set in that lasted until the end. The main reason for the population loss since the 1970s is the high level of emigration. Since 1971 the community has lost around 100 inhabitants per decade due to emigration. The birth surplus was only able to curb the population loss, as it was sometimes only half as high as the migration deficit. Population loss has accelerated since the turn of the millennium, as emigration remained high and the birth balance was only just positive.

Culture and sights

Catholic parish church Helfenberg hl. Erhard: The baroque church was built by J. M. Prunner around 1712, there are still Gothic remains in it: Several sculptures by Philipp Rambler (1714), two relief tombstones and a bell with a Madonna relief in a halo from 1500 are worth seeing.
The townscape is significantly influenced by a textile factory built in 1840 .
The century loom , which has been producing a carpet fully automatically for over 100 years since 2000, is a testament to the old craftsmanship on the local square .
The Helfenberg castle was first mentioned in 1224 and rebuilt in the early 17th century by Christian von Oedt. Formerly the seat of jurisdiction, it has been owned by the Revertera family since 1893 and towers over Helfenberg in the north.
The Maria Rast forest cross chapel dates from around 1700. There are many legends and myths about its creation. Cup stones , stone circles from prehistoric times and the legend of healing water attract countless pilgrims every year.
Piberstein Castle is located between Ahorn and Helfenberg and was built by the Piber family at the end of the 13th century. It was the protection of salt and amber traders on the way between the Salzkammergut and the Baltic Sea . Besieged by the Hussites in the 15th century, it came into the possession of the Schallenbergers for a long time. Today it is a popular venue.

Economy and Infrastructure

In the Middle Ages, flax cultivation, in addition to agriculture and wood use, laid the foundation for the development of the place as a linen weaving place. The textile industry has shaped the townscape significantly since the 19th century . Several factories have specialized in products such as linen, trousers and towels. Other companies deal with the construction of wooden stairs. A private power station ( Afiesl municipality ) covers around 70% of Helfenberg's electricity needs.

Workplaces and employees

In 2001 the old community housed a company with 20 or more employees. The census of workplaces carried out as part of the population census revealed a total of 42 workplaces with 271 employees (excluding agriculture), 76% of which were employees. The number of workplaces remained practically the same as in 1991 (+2%), while the number of employees fell by 42 people (−13%).

The most important branch of industry in 2001 was the manufacturing sector with ten companies and 102 employees (38% of all employees), followed by teaching with three workplaces with 43 employees (16%) and trade with eight workplaces and 28 employees (10%). 45% of the employees in Helfenberg were employees or civil servants, 36% blue-collar workers and 12% business owners.

Of the 498 economically active persons living in Helfenberg in 2010, 3.4% were unemployed. Of the 481 employed, 87 were employed in manufacturing (23%), 59 in trade (12%) and 45 in health and social services (9%). Other important sectors were public administration with 9%, education and instruction with 8% and agriculture and forestry with 6%. Of the 470 employed people in Helfenberg (excluding residents temporarily absent from work), only 135 people were employed in Helfenberg in 2010. 335 or 71% had to commute to work. Of the out-commuters, 44% had their place of work in the state capital Linz, 23 in the Rohrbach district and 15% in the Urfahr-Umgebung district. The most important out-commuter community next to Linz was the district capital Rohrbach. In return, 151 people commuted to Helfenberg, 70% of whom came from the Rohrbach district.

tourism

In recent years many new offers have been created , especially in the tourism sector . The place became particularly well known for its varied and well-developed network of hiking trails.

education

Educational institutions are the elementary school as well as the NMS Helfenberg and a kindergarten.

politics

Municipal council

The municipal council as the highest body of the municipality has 13 seats and is elected every six years in the course of Upper Austria-wide municipal council elections. The municipal board consists of three members, with the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) being represented on the municipal board after the 2015 municipal council election with the mayor, the vice mayor and one other member.

The strongest faction in the municipality of Helfenberg has always been the ÖVP, which from 1973 onwards always achieved an absolute majority of votes and mandates and largely even had a two-thirds majority. The ÖVP achieved between 55.5 and 78.1% in this period, with its best result since 1973 in the 1973 election and its worst result in 1991. The second strongest party in the municipality of Helfenberg has always been the SPÖ, which has achieved election results between 21.9% (1973) and 29.9% (1985) since 1973. The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) has run only three times since 1973 and achieved 17.7% in 1991 and 11.2% in 1997. After that, the FPÖ did not run again until 2015, reached 17.83% and thus displaced the SPÖ to third place for the first time with 17.10%.

In the municipal council elections in 2009, the ÖVP won 73.6% or ten seats, the SPÖ won 26.34% or three seats. In the 2015 municipal council election, the ÖVP won 65.07% or nine seats, the FPÖ achieved 17.83% or two seats, and the SPÖ achieved 17.10% or two seats.

mayor

The mayor has been determined by direct election since 1997 , with no absolute majority for a candidate in a runoff election . The ÖVP candidate won the first direct mayor election with 68.8% against the SPÖ candidate. In 2002 Stefan Hölzl (ÖVP) replaced the previous mayor, Otto Kitzmüller. He was confirmed in office in 2003 with 81.8%, in 2009 he was confirmed in office with 79.9% and in 2015 with 79.2% and was in office until the beginning of 2019.

The former Mayor of Ahorn, Josef Hintenberger, achieved 66.6% yes-votes in the 2019 mayoral election in the municipality of Helfenberg.

Other options

As in municipal council elections, the ÖVP also dominates regional elections in the municipality, although the dominance of the People's Party has decreased somewhat. Nevertheless, in the period from 1973 onwards, the ÖVP was always able to become the party with the highest number of votes, and before 1991 it even had a two-thirds majority. The ÖVP achieved its best result between 1973 and 2009 in 1973 with 76.4%, since then it has almost gradually lost its share of the votes, whereby in 2015 it achieved its lowest result to date with 46.1%. The second strongest party in state elections was always the SPÖ, with election results between 11.6 and 27.6%. The SPÖ had its best result in 2003, its worst in 2015. The third strongest party until 1997 was the FPÖ, which achieved between 1.1 and 12.9% in the period from 1973 onwards. In 2003, however, the FPÖ was briefly replaced by the Greens as the third-strongest party in state elections, with the Greens reaching 7.9%. However, the FPÖ had its best result in 2015, where it even ousted the SPÖ to third place for the first time.

In the state elections in 2009, the ÖVP came first with 60.8%, although this was the second worst result. The SPÖ only got 16.8% and had to give up more than 10% of its share of the vote. The FPÖ was able to overtake the Greens again and came to 10.2%, the Greens achieved their best result so far with 9.0%.

In the last state election in 2015, the ÖVP came first with 46.1%, although this was the worst result. The SPÖ only got 11.6%, which was also the worst result since 1973. The FPÖ was even able to overtake the SPÖ this time, with 28.4% and thus achieved their best result since 1973, the Greens achieved 8.9%, their second-best result so far.

coat of arms

Coats of arms of the previous municipalities
maple
Helfenberg

Due to the municipality merger, the municipality coats of arms of Ahorn and Helfenberg lost their validity. The coat of arms of Helfenberg had the following blazon (coat of arms description):

“In silver a red bar, inside a golden shuttle with coiled, silver thread; above a black, growing, red-tongued and armored beaver, below a blue ball. "

A new community coat of arms for the merged community was made by the announcement of the Upper Austria. State government effective June 28, 2019. With the green maple leaf, an element of the maple coat of arms was integrated into it. The new blazon reads:

“In silver a blue wavy bar, on it a golden shuttle with coiled silver thread; above a growing, red-tongued and red-armed black beaver, below a green maple leaf. "

The community colors are red and white.

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the place

Reinhold Mitterlehner (* 1955), politician of the ÖVP, ehm. Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister a. D. for business, science and research.

Web links

Commons : Helfenberg, Upper Austria - Collection of images, videos and audio files

41345 - Helfenberg. Community data, Statistics Austria .
Further information about the community of Helfenberg can be found on the geographic information system of the federal state of Upper Austria .
www.helfenberg.at Website of the community of Helfenberg
Background information on the story
Regional database Helfenberg

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Province of Upper Austria: Mapping of natural areas in Upper Austria. Landscape survey of the community of Helfenberg. Final report. Kirchdorf an der Krems, Uttendorf 2008

↑ Statistics Austria: Population on January 1st, 2020 by locality (area status on January 1st, 2020) , ( CSV )

↑ Regionalinformation , bev.gv.at (1,094 kB); accessed on January 10, 2020.

↑ Provincial Law Gazette for Upper Austria No. 69/2018

↑ Provincial Law Gazette for Upper Austria No. 83/2018

↑ ^a ^b State of Upper Austria ( Memento from November 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Population levels in Upper Austria in comparison by citizenship

↑ Statistics Austria: Population by religion and federal states 1951 to 2001 , accessed on October 2, 2013.

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Statistics Austria , municipality data from Helfenberg.

↑ ^a ^b Province of Upper Austria ( Memento from October 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Resident population in Upper Austria compared by age group

^ Community of Helfenberg: local council . In: Helfenberg . ( HELENBERG.at [accessed December 9, 2016]).

^ State of Upper Austria municipal council elections in Helfenberg from 1973.

^ Province of Upper Austria election results in mayoral elections in Helfenberg.

↑ Hintenberger wins clearly in Helfenberg, SPÖ surprisingly strong , tips total, regional, on April 7, 2019.

^ State of Upper Austria State election results in Helfenberg from 1973.

↑ Announcement of the Upper Austria. State government on the granting of the right to use a municipal coat of arms to the municipality of Helfenberg , LGBl Upper Austria, year 2019, No. 51, June 28, 2019 (www.ris.bka.gv.at).

[Naturraum-1] Province of Upper Austria: Mapping of natural areas in Upper Austria. Landscape survey of the community of Helfenberg. Final report. Kirchdorf an der Krems, Uttendorf 2008

[Metadaten_Einwohnerzahl_AT_Ortschaft_QUELLE-2] Statistics Austria: Population on January 1st, 2020 by locality (area status on January 1st, 2020) , ( CSV )

[3] Regionalinformation , bev.gv.at (1,094 kB); accessed on January 10, 2020.

[4] Provincial Law Gazette for Upper Austria No. 69/2018

[5] Provincial Law Gazette for Upper Austria No. 83/2018

[OÖ-6] State of Upper Austria ( Memento from November 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Population levels in Upper Austria in comparison by citizenship

[7] Statistics Austria: Population by religion and federal states 1951 to 2001 , accessed on October 2, 2013.

[statistik-8] Statistics Austria , municipality data from Helfenberg.

[OÖ2-9] Province of Upper Austria ( Memento from October 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Resident population in Upper Austria compared by age group

[10] Community of Helfenberg: local council . In: Helfenberg . ( HELENBERG.at [accessed December 9, 2016]).

[11] State of Upper Austria municipal council elections in Helfenberg from 1973.

[12] Province of Upper Austria election results in mayoral elections in Helfenberg.

[13] Hintenberger wins clearly in Helfenberg, SPÖ surprisingly strong , tips total, regional, on April 7, 2019.

[14] State of Upper Austria State election results in Helfenberg from 1973.