Obervellach

This article applies to the municipality of Obervellach in Mölltal. For the village in the Gailtal see Hermagor .

market community Obervellach
coat of arms	Austria map
Basic data
Country:	Austria
State :	Carinthia
Political District :	Spittal an der Drau
License plate :	SP
Surface:	104.4 km²
Coordinates :	46 ° 56 '  N , 13 ° 12'  E Coordinates: 46 ° 55 '55 "  N , 13 ° 12' 8"  E
Height :	688  m above sea level A.
Residents :	2,171 (January 1, 2020)
Postal code :	9821
Area code :	04782
Community code :	2 06 27
Address of the municipal administration:	Obervellach 21 9821 Obervellach
Website:	www.obervellach.gv.at
politics
Mayor :	Anita Gössnitzer ( ÖVP )
Municipal Council : ( 2015 ) (19 members)	7th 7th 3 2 7th 7th 3 2  A total of 19 seats ÖVP : 7 COURAGE : 7 SPÖ : 3 FPÖ : 2
Location of Obervellach in the Spittal an der Drau district
Source: Municipal data from Statistics Austria

Obervellach is a market town with 2171 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2020) in the south of Austria in the Spittal an der Drau district in Carinthia .

Obervellach is a legally recognized health resort .

geography

The community is located in the Möll valley south of the Tauern main ridge . Part of the community is located in the Hohe Tauern National Park .

Community structure

The municipality of Obervellach is divided into the four cadastral municipalities of Obervellach, Pfaffenberg , Lassach and Söbriach. The municipality includes the following 19 localities (population in brackets as of January 1, 2020):

Obervellach from Zwenberg seen from

Main square in Obervellach

Groppenstein Castle

Niederfalkenstein Castle

Maria Tax branch church in Stallhofen

The cable car to the former train station in July 1970

• Dürnvellach (178)
• Kaponig (8)
• Lassach shady side (39)
• Lassach sunny side (26)
• Leutschach (7)
• Obergratschach (10)
• Obervellach (647)
• Obervellach-West (79)
• Oberwolliggen (5)
• Pfaffenberg (60)
• Scuffle (6)
• Rauflach (296)
• Semslach (298)
• Sobriach (142)
• Stallhofen (177)
• Stamp (8)
• Untergratschach (129)
• Undercarriage (45)
• Unterwolliggen (11)

history

A "Velach" was first mentioned in the 10th century in a document from Bishop Abraham von Freising , who ruled between 957 and 993. The name is likely to be derived from the Slovenian bel ( white ) (cf. Vellach ). In the 12th century, a Görz ministerial family in Obervellach acquired the rights of the count and received an area from the diocese of Freising , which also includes today's municipality. The Counts of Görz made Oberfalkenstein Castle their seat in 1164 , and in 1256 Obervellach was first mentioned in a document as the market settlement of the Counts of Görz-Tirol. In 1460 the market came under princely Habsburg rule.

Obervellach is a traditional mining town, in the late Middle Ages silver coins were also made from the silver obtained in Obervellach, and in 1313 an Obervellach mint master was named. The mining of gold and silver reached its most important phase in the 16th century, when Emperor Maximilian I designated the Vellach market in 1509 as the seat of the chief miners' office in Inner Austria . With the decline of precious metal mining in the 17th century, the market became impoverished, and there were floods and mudslides from the Kaponigbach . After the discovery of copper in 1689 in Großfragant, the place recovered economically.

In August 1825, the Viennese alpinist and court chamber official Josef Kyselak (1798–1831) also visited Obervellach on his Austrian hike. He was positively surprised to find that this 61-house market, although significantly reduced compared to its former value, is the asylum of travelers and the pride of the area. Here you not only meet houses with storeys, but also cellars that deliver enjoyable wine and landlords who deliver well-prepared dishes. The residents are good-natured, and what is most noticeable in such an ice corner - not curious! Their moderate agriculture, cultivation of the local copper mine, as well as cattle breeding, which offers the best profit on the numerous alpine pastures, captivate them too much so as not to criticize others' actions. In the following, he describes the footpath through Dürnwellach to Mallnitz.

In 1849 Obervellach became the seat of a district court, and in the following year the large community of Obervellach was established, which at that time also included Mallnitz , Penk and Flattach , but which became independent local communities in 1896. In Obervellach there is a high pressure hydropower plant of the Austrian Federal Railways (commissioned in 1929). Three Pelton turbines provide 16 MW with a head of 323 m.

population

According to the 2001 census, Obervellach had 2,540 inhabitants, 94.8% of whom were Austrian and 2.8% German citizens. 87.4% of the population confessed to the Roman Catholic Church , 7.6% to the Protestant Church and 1.0% were of Islamic faith, 3.5% without religious belief.

Culture and sights

See also:  List of listed objects in Obervellach

• Parish Church of St. Martin with the Frangipani Altar
• Defense cemetery , the only one of its kind in Carinthia
• Trabuschgen Castle
• Former chief miner office, Hauptplatz No. 58
• Maria Tax branch church in Stallhofen with the Stampfer Chapel
• Groppenstein Castle
• Groppenstein Gorge
• Oberfalkenstein Castle
• Falkenstein Castle ( Niederfalkenstein Castle )

Economy and Infrastructure

traffic

Obervellach is located on the Tauern Railway , which runs above the village. The next train station is Mallnitz-Obervellach today . Until 1999 there was a Kaponig station , formerly Obervellach (D-Zug stop), which could be reached with its own cable car until the end of 1975 . There is a bus connection to the train station in Mallnitz.

education

In addition to the kindergarten , the national park elementary school and the new middle school , the market town also houses the Mölltal music school. Here pupils can get singing lessons but also learn different instruments: brass instruments, woodwind instruments, percussion instruments, Styrian harmonica, string, keyboard and plucked instruments.

Health, care and support

In the health sector, Obervellach offers its population several general practitioners and a dentist. The Austrian Red Cross operates a local rescue center, and a pharmacy is also available. The Schroth cure has existed in Obervellach since 1826 . In addition to the fasting cure, which goes back to the farmer Johann Schroth, burnout weeks, back and joint weeks and vegetarian weeks are also offered today.

Haus Michael, run by the Carinthian Caritas Association , offers 35 single rooms and 6 double rooms for people in need of care from the area.

Recreational facilities

The following leisure facilities are available to locals and guests all year round:

• the Obervellach adventure pool with indoor pool, outdoor pool, sauna and massages,
• an adventure playground on the Möll,
• a motor skills park with over 28 stations where you can train your fitness and motor skills
• a high ropes course.

politics

Municipal council

The municipal council of Obervellach has 19 members and has been composed as follows since the municipal council election in 2015 :

• 7 ÖVP
• 7 Courage for Obervellach Together, independently, and energetically
• 3 SPÖ
• 2 FPÖ

The directly elected mayor has been Anita Gössnitzer (ÖVP) since a runoff election on April 17, 2016, after the previous incumbent Wilhelm Pacher (ÖVP) resigned in January 2016 for health reasons.

coat of arms

On February 29, 1560, Emperor Ferdinand I gave the market a coat of arms with rocky mountains (Zaguten and Gröneck) above a wavy ribbon symbolizing the Möll. The meaning of the three stars is unclear. On the occasion of the 1000th anniversary, the municipality had the coat of arms redesigned in 1963, but the certificate of the use of the coat of arms by the Carinthian provincial government, which also includes the right to carry a flag, was only issued in July 2001.

The blazon of the coat of arms reads:

"In red on a low blue wavy bar, two rocky silvery, green mountains running diagonally to the right at the foot, with three golden stars in the head of the shield."

The flag is blue and white with an incorporated coat of arms. The tinctures blue and silver do not appear in the coat of arms, but with this color scheme the municipality wanted to express the historical reference to the Hochstift Freising and Bavaria.

Town twinning

• Budapest , 15th district, Hungary since 1997
• Dilbeek , Belgium since 1973
• Freising , Germany since 1963
• Hemer , Germany since 1985
• Kreuzau , Germany since 1987
• Muggia , Italy since 1984
• Seltz , France , Alsace region , since 1979
• Škofja Loka , Slovenia since 1997

Personalities

Honorary citizen

• Josef Mölschl (1929–2019), politician ( ÖVP ) and teacher, Mayor of Obervellach 1964–2002

Sons and daughters of the church

• Carl Gussenbauer (1842–1903), surgeon
• Leopold Wenger (1874–1953), legal historian
• Alfred R. Stevenson (* 1973), composer and conductor

literature

• Chronicle of the market town of Obervellach (3 volumes), market town of Obervellach im Mölltal (ed.), [2011], without ISBN
• Matthias Maierbrugger : Obervellach holiday companion. Hiking routes - history - culture . Verlag Johannes Heyn, Klagenfurt 1986, ISBN 3-85366-466-0

Web links

Commons : Obervellach  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Market town of Obervellach
• 20627 - Obervellach. Community data, Statistics Austria .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Legally recognized climatic health resorts in Austria , at www.oehkv.at, accessed on June 7, 2015
2. ↑ Statistics Austria: Population on January 1st, 2020 by locality (area status on January 1st, 2020) , ( CSV )
3. ↑ Oberwellach In: Goffriller, Gabriele (ed.): Kyselak. Sketches of a foot trip through Austria. Salzburg, 2009. pp. 132-133.
4. ↑ http://www.oebb.at/infrastructure/de/_p_3_0_fuer_Kunden_Partner/3_6_Bahnstromversorgung/3_6_1_Energieversorgungsanlagen/Kraft-_und_Umformerwerke/Werksgruppe_Mitte.jsp
5. ↑ Obervellach municipality, infrastructure, education and culture. Retrieved March 29, 2019 . 
6. ↑ Mölltal Music School, specialist groups. Retrieved March 29, 2019 . 
7. ↑ Obervellach municipality, infrastructure, safety and health. Retrieved March 29, 2019 . 
8. ^ Schroth cure, offers. Retrieved March 29, 2019 . 
9. ^ Caritas Association Carinthia, Care and Maintenance, House Michael. Retrieved March 29, 2019 . 
10. ^ Municipality of Obervellach, Sport and Leisure. Retrieved March 29, 2019 . 
11. ↑ Municipal Office - Obervellach Municipality - http://www.obervellach.gv.at/verwaltung.html
12. ^ Quoted from Wilhelm Deuer: The Carinthian municipal coat of arms . Verlag des Kärntner Landesarchivs, Klagenfurt 2006, ISBN 3-900531-64-1 , p. 210