Liebenau (Upper Austria)

market community Liebenau
coat of arms	Austria map
Basic data
Country:	Austria
State :	Upper Austria
Political District :	Free City
License plate :	FR
Surface:	76.31 km²
Coordinates :	48 ° 32 '  N , 14 ° 48'  E Coordinates: 48 ° 31 '56 "  N , 14 ° 48' 24"  E
Height :	970  m above sea level A.
Residents :	1,561 (January 1, 2020)
Population density :	20 inhabitants per km²
Postal code :	4252
Area code :	07953
Community code :	4 06 11
Address of the municipal administration:	Liebenau 41 4252 Liebenau
Website:	www.liebenau.at
politics
Mayor :	Erich Punz ( SPÖ )
Municipal Council : (2015) (19 members)	11 8th 11 8th  A total of 19 seats ÖVP : 11 SPÖ : 8
Location of Liebenau in the Freistadt district
Place view
Source: Municipal data from Statistics Austria

Liebenau is a market town in the Lower Mühlviertel in the Freistadt district in Upper Austria with 1561 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2020). The competent district court is located in Freistadt . With an altitude of 970  m above sea level. A. It has the highest town center in Upper Austria and, at around 76 km², is the largest municipality in the Mühlviertel in terms of area. It is particularly known for the " Natura 2000 " protected area Tannermoor .

geography

The place Liebenau is located on a high plateau in the Mühlviertel . The highest elevation in the municipality is the Brockenberg at 1058  m above sea level. A. , the lowest point is in the village of Monegg at the "stone mill" on the White Aist at 819  m above sea level. A.

The extension is from north to south 15.1 km, from west to east 11 km. The total area is 76.2 km². 44.0% of the area is forested, 30.7% of the area is used for agriculture.

Community structure

The municipality includes the following 16 localities (residents as of January 1, 2020):

• Eibenberg (43)
• Vulture loft (102) including Ruben
• Glassworks (8)
• Hirschau (35)
• Kienau (36)
• Komau (20)
• Leopoldstein (30)
• Liebenau (412)
• Liebenstein (182)
• Maxldorf (79)
• Monegg (24)
• Neustift (112)
• Horsemen (37)
• Schanz (93)
• Schöneben (159) including Klein-Schöneben
• Windhagmuehl (189)

The community consists of the cadastral communities Liebenau, Neustift and Windhagmühl.

Liebenau is a member of the Association for Regional and Tourism Development Mühlviertler Alm .

Neighboring communities

Sandl	Bad Großpertholz (Lower Austria)	Langschlag (Lower Austria)
Weitersfelden		Groß Gerungs (Lower Austria)
Kaltenberg	Unterweißbach	Arbesbach (Lower Austria) Königswiesen

history

Rubener pond in the Tannermoor

The first documentary evidence of the place name Liebenau can be found in 1400 in the Urbar zu Weissenbach (today: Unterweißbach ) as "Liebnaw". It is unclear whether the place existed before that. At the time of the Hussite Wars , earth walls were built to prevent penetration. In 1449 three farms are documented.

In the Thirty Years' War there was no fighting in today's municipality, but an economic decline followed. As a protective measure against the Swedes, blocking fortifications were built to be safe from attacks from the Waldviertel to the east . At the time of the second Turkish siege of Vienna , a scouting post was reached on the Wachtstein and the lock fortifications were repaired and provided with guards, today this is a landmark of the place. An attack on the locks did not take place.

The flourishing of local glass production led to a rapid rise in the community at the end of the 17th century. The parish church was built in 1754 and it was consecrated in 1755. At first the parish was subordinate to the church of Unterweißbach, since 1757 it has been independent. In 1756 a primary school was established.

With the decline of the glass industry around 1800, the Liebenau population became increasingly impoverished. In 1850 a primary school was built in Schöneben, and a post office followed in 1867. Between 1877 and 1912 four volunteer fire brigades were founded in Liebenau and the districts. In 1879 Neustift received an elementary school and in 1891 Liebenau was given a gendarmerie post. The Raiffeisenbank has been in the village since 1896, followed in 1910 by the establishment of the Beautification Association, today: Association for Homeland Care and Folk Art.

The First World War claimed 137 dead and missing (23%) out of 600 soldiers, who were memorialized in 1924. Since 1918 the place belongs to the federal state of Upper Austria. A severe economic setback followed in the 1920s, which ultimately led to Liebenau emergency money and further impoverishment of the population. After Austria was annexed to the German Reich on March 13, 1938, the place belonged to the "Gau Oberdonau". In 1942 the electric current was introduced. The Second World War claimed 112 deaths and 65 missing (27%) of 650 soldiers.

The following years until 1955 were under Soviet rule and refugees moved through the village, the elementary school served as accommodation. After the occupation there was a general economic upswing, which was mainly reflected in the expansion of the infrastructure. The traffic connections were improved, the electricity and telephone network expanded and the observation tower on Brockenberg rebuilt.

In 1962 a secondary school was set up and the Liebenau Sports Union was founded. In 1969 the first asphalting of a road followed and the municipal coat of arms was introduced. In 1975 Schöneben had to close the elementary school due to a lack of students. In recognition of the special economic, cultural and historical importance of the municipality, the Upper Austrian provincial government raised Liebenau to the market on June 13, 1983. In the same year the Tannermoor was declared a nature reserve. Due to austerity measures, the gendarmerie closed in 1992 and the post office in 2005. Falling student numbers led to the closure of the primary school in Liebenstein in 1998, followed by the primary school in Neustift in 2004. Until the end of 2002, the community belonged to the Unterweißbach judicial district and was assigned to the Freistadt judicial district on January 1, 2003 .

Population development

Population development
year	Residents		year	Residents
1869	2.154		1951	2,256
1880	2,313		1961	2,314
1890	2,398		1971	2,249
1900	2,345		1981	2,108
1910	2,378		1991	1,957
1923	2,352		2001	1,840
1934	2,496		2008	1,760
1939	2,415

In 1869, 2,154 people lived in the municipality. By 1934 the population had grown to 2,496 people, the highest level in history. Since then, the population has been shrinking and in 1981 was for the first time below the census result of 1869. In 1991, the municipality had 1957 inhabitants, at the 2001 census only 1840, which corresponds to a decrease of 6.3%. On January 1st, 2008 the community had 1760 inhabitants.

In the 2001 census, the proportion of residents who were 60 years of age and older was 21.5%; 20% were under 15 years old. The proportion of the female population was 49.3%.

Of the 1473 residents of Liebenau, who were over 15 years old in 2001, 2.9% had graduated from a university , technical college or academy . A further 5.3% had completed a Matura , 38.5% had completed an apprenticeship or a vocational middle school and 53.3% of all Liebenauer had compulsory school as the highest degree.

Origin and language

The German dialect, which is generally spoken in the Liebenau area and in Upper Austria, is Middle Bavarian . In 2001, 99.4% of Liebenau residents stated German as their colloquial language. Another 0.2% spoke Czech and the rest spoke other languages.

The proportion of Liebenau residents with foreign citizenship was 0.9% in 2001, well below the average in Upper Austria. 0.4% of the Liebenau population had citizenship of Germany , 0.5% were other citizens. In 2001, around 1.5% of Liebenau residents were born in a country other than Austria.

Community partnerships

Since June 9, 1991, Liebenau has maintained a ring partnership with the German towns of the same name:

• City of Liebenau in Hesse ,
• Liebenau in Lower Saxony and
• Liebenau in the Ore Mountains , district of Geising in Saxony .

coat of arms

Official Blazon : Split; on the right in silver on a black rock a black patriarchal cross with shamrock ends, on the left in green two silver, diagonally crossed glassmaker's pipes. The cross on the rock represents the community's task as a spy post in times of war. The glassmaker's pipes represent the production of glass in the place, which can be traced back to 1400. After its peak in the 17th and 18th centuries, the glass industry has disappeared to this day. The community colors are green and white.

The municipal coat of arms was awarded and the municipal colors were approved on June 25, 1967.

politics

From 1945 to 2003 the ÖVP always achieved an absolute majority in local council elections in Liebenau. The second strongest party was the SPÖ . All other parties have no significant influence in Liebenau and since 1967 only two parties have run the municipal council elections. In 2003, however, the SPÖ became the party with the strongest vote for the first time with 52.8% and ruled with an absolute majority for six years. In 2009 the result turned again in favor of the ÖVP, which is now represented again with an absolute majority in the municipal council. The SPÖ continues to provide the mayor.

The municipal council has 19 members.

• With the municipal council and mayoral elections in Upper Austria in 2003, the municipal council had the following distribution: 10 SPÖ and 9 ÖVP.
• With the municipal council and mayoral elections in Upper Austria in 2009, the municipal council had the following distribution: 10 ÖVP, and 9 SPÖ.
• With the municipal council and mayor elections in Upper Austria in 2015 , the municipal council has the following distribution: 11 ÖVP and 8 SPÖ.

mayor

• since 2003 Erich Punz (SPÖ)

Culture and sights

Parish Church of Liebenau

See also:  List of listed objects in Liebenau (Upper Austria)

• Catholic parish church Liebenau hl. Josef: The church was built in 1754/1755 and expanded into a six-bay nave in 1833. The church has vault paintings in the nave and stained glass in the choir. The high altar dates from 1887. The side altars around 1680 are older. The parapet organ was built by Leopold Breinbauer in 1893/1894 .
• Local chapel Schöneben : The mighty chapel from 1904 has a pointed barrel vault, a retracted choir and a roof turret.
• Tannermoor : The highest forest moor in Austria.

economy

Eight business people in the community offer around 250 jobs. In addition, Liebenau is involved in the INKOBA region Freistadt.

traffic

• Road: The Koblberg Pass is the highest pass in Upper Austria at 1044 meters above sea level. It connects the villages of Liebenau and Liebenstein.
• Hiking trails: Liebenau is a stage stop on the north-south long-distance hiking trail from the nearby Nebelstein to Eibiswald .

education

In the center there is a kindergarten , a primary school , a secondary school and a music school . There is also a public indoor swimming pool in the school center.

safety

There is a volunteer fire brigade each in the villages of Liebenau, Liebenstein, Ruben and Schöneben .

Furthermore, a local Red Cross office is operated in Liebenau . This was founded in 1971 on the initiative of the gendarmerie post commander Stefan Jahn and mayor Walter Neulinger due to the comparatively large distance to the nearest hospital. District inspector Stefan Jahn, who had taken on the function of the first head of the local branch, expanded it into an important element of the local infrastructure by 1977. In the 1980s the Liebenau branch had the highest number of members in the Freistadt district .

Personalities

Honorary citizen

• 2020: Josef Postlmayr, pastor of Liebenau 1975–2013

Sons and daughters of the church

• Leopold Kiesling (1770–1827), sculptor
• Anton Mitmannsgruber (1895–1986), businessman and local researcher

literature

• Historical bibliography on Upper Austria history
• Karl Haider: Ski operation in Liebenau more than 60 years ago . In: Mühlviertler Heimatblätter. 1962, issue 11/12, pages 32–34, online (PDF) in the forum OoeGeschichte.at
• Anton Mitmannsgruber: Glassworks around Liebenau . In: Oberösterreichische Heimatblätter, 1967, issue 1/2, pages 17–36, online (PDF) in the forum OoeGeschichte.at
• Anton Mitmannsgruber: Liebenau - Liebenecker. A study of the history of the name . In: Upper Austrian homeland sheets. 1971, issue 3/4, pages 41–49, online (PDF) in the forum OoeGeschichte.at
• Anton Mitmannsgruber, Hausmann Friedrich: Liebenau. Its yards and houses. Sources and explanations on the settlement, economic and family history of a farming community in the lower Mühlviertel . Liebenau, 1961.

Web links

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

• Official community website
• Liebenau Tourism
• Further information about the municipality of Liebenau (Upper Austria) on the geo-information system of the federal state of Upper Austria .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Article on austria.info
2. ↑ Statistics Austria: Population on January 1st, 2020 by locality (area status on January 1st, 2020) , ( CSV )
3. ↑ Changes to the community from 1945 (associations, partitions, name and status changes). Statistics Austria, p. 173 , accessed on February 16, 2019 . 
4. ↑ ^{a b} Statistics Austria: Population and components of population development (download as pdf; 35 kB)
5. ↑ ^{a b c} 2001 census: demographic data (download as pdf; 10 kB)
6. ^ Community Liebenau: Partnerships , accessed on November 6, 2008
7. ^ Province of Upper Austria, regional history: coat of arms of the municipality of Liebenau (accessed on October 27, 2008)
8. ↑ Municipal council elections Percentages: Liebenau municipal elections  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed October 27, 2008)  
9. ↑ http://wahl.land-oberoesterreich.gv.at/whlp/WHLPErgebnisEingelangtNEU.jsp?BezirksListe=6&GemeindeListe=40611&cmdAktualisieren=&bezirkAlt=6&wahlKreisAlt=&wahlNameKurz=G09&gemeindeNummerLink=  ( page no longer available , searching web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
10. ^ Austrian Red Cross: Red Cross Upper Austria: The story. In: www.roteskreuz.at. Retrieved October 18, 2016 . 
11. ↑ https://www.mein Bezirk.at/freistadt/c-lokales/ehemaliger-pfarrer-zum-ehrenbuerger-ernannt_a3914004 , accessed on June 12, 2020.