Reichenfels

Reichenfels is located in the Upper Lavant Valley between the Packalpe and the Seetal Alps . The state border with Styria runs north of the 87.21 km² municipal area .

Community structure

The municipality includes four localities, which are also cadastral municipalities (residents in brackets as of January 1, 2020):

Reichenfels (1060)
St. Peter im Lavanttal (286)
Sommerau (174)
Weitenbach (272)

Neighboring communities

	Shelter (municipality)
Mills Hüttenberg		Hirschegg
	Bad St. Leonhard in Lavanttal

history

The name Reichenfels (originally Castrum Richenvelse ) is derived from the gold and silver deposits that were mined in today's municipal area as early as Roman times. These mineral resources were also responsible for the medieval prosperity of the place.

Since the 11th century the area belonged to the Franconian diocese of Bamberg . Reichenfels Castle was first mentioned in 1227. The place was raised to the market in 1457. The area remained Bamberg until the 18th century, when Reichenfels only became Austrian in 1759 under Maria Theresa .

The community of Reichenfels was constituted in 1850. In 1958, the previously independent local community of St. Peter was attached to it.

Population development

The population decrease from 2001 to 2011 is due to emigration. The birth balance was positive at +45, but the migration balance was negative at −230. According to the 2001 census, Reichenfels had 2,083 inhabitants. 97.4% of them were Austrian citizens . 95.5% of the population supported the Roman Catholic and 1.5% the Evangelical Church. 1.0% were without religious beliefs.

Culture and sights

Reichenfels parish church

Parish church St. Peter in Lavanttal

Reichenfels Castle ruins : The ruins consist of a few remains.
Catholic parish church Reichenfels hl. James the Elder: The church, which rises in the center of the old market, was built in the 13th century in Romanesque style, but has been rebuilt and renewed several times over the years. The mighty east tower with the baroque onion helmet, a Gothic baptismal font, the baroque high altar and the Romanesque round barn in the old cemetery are worth seeing.
Catholic parish church St. Peter im Lavanttal Hll. Peter and Paul: Probably the oldest church in the Upper Lavant Valley. The church is mentioned in a document as early as 931. In 1480 the Romanesque church was destroyed by the Turks and then rebuilt in the Gothic style. In addition to the mighty west tower, an octagonal late Gothic baptismal font and the high altar from the 17th century are particularly worth seeing.
In the old mining area in the Sommerau, miners built a small church in the Middle Ages, which was consecrated to St. Oswald. It is the oldest Oswaldi church in Carinthia.

economy

The timber industry is economically dominant in the rural community. There is also summer tourism.

politics

Image wanted

The municipal council has 15 members.

With the municipal council and mayoral elections in Carinthia in 2003, the municipal council had the following distribution: 11 SPÖ, 6 ÖVP, and 2 FPÖ. (19 members)
With the municipal council and mayoral elections in Carinthia in 2009 , the municipal council had the following distribution: 7 ÖVP, 6 SPÖ, and 6 BZÖ.
With the municipal council and mayoral elections in Carinthia in 2015 , the municipal council has the following distribution: 6 ÖVP, 6 SPÖ, and 3 FPÖ.

mayor

until 2009 Horst Friedl (SPÖ)
since 2009 Manfred Führer (ÖVP)

coat of arms

Although Reichenfels has been a market since the middle of the 15th century, Bishop Georg von Bamberg only granted Reichenfels the right to use a seal on March 24, 1557 . This was not a formal award certificate, but merely the granting of the right of judges, councils and municipalities to sign civil purchase contracts about realities and birth certificates with this seal. The seal showed the parish patron, the apostle James the Elder , as a full figure with a pilgrim's staff and cloak, who held a coat of arms with a jagged rock and two scallops in his left hand .

Saint James also acted in more recent representations as a shield holder or (in a seal from 1595) even as the main character of the Reichenfels coat of arms. On the occasion of the formal certification or award of the coat of arms and flag in 1971, on the recommendation of the State Archives, only the "talking" inland shield with the old crystalline rock (the "rich rock") and the two silver scallops, which indicate the patron, remained.

The official blazon of the coat of arms reads: "In the blue shield there is a natural-colored, old-crystalline rock, the summit of which is covered by a silver scallop shell on the right and left."

The flag is blue and white with an incorporated coat of arms.

Parish partnership

A community partnership has existed since 1975 with Aurachtal in Middle Franconia ( Germany ).

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the church

Konrad Walcher (1871–1928), clergyman and politician of the CS

literature

Rosemarie Eichwalder: Reichenfels in Lavanttal. A local history of the market up to the sale of the Bamberg possessions in Carinthia to Maria Theresa. (Dissertation, Univ. Graz). Self-published printed edition, Wolfsberg 2008, without ISBN
Werner Thelian: Reichenfels - A market through the ages . Self-published, Bad St. Leonhard 1996, without ISBN

Web links

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

Wikisource: Reichenfelß in the Topographia Austriacarum (Matthäus Merian) - sources and full texts

Reichenfels market town
20912 - Reichenfels. Community data, Statistics Austria .

Individual evidence

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

↑ Reichenfels community, history of the community. Retrieved February 14, 2019 .

^ Statistics Austria, A look at the community of Reichenfels, population development. Retrieved February 14, 2019 .

↑ Municipal council election March 1, 2015. Accessed April 2, 2020 .

↑ Office of the Carinthian Provincial Government ( Memento of the original from April 13, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed March 17, 2009. @1@ 2

^ Quoted from Wilhelm Deuer: The Carinthian municipal coat of arms . Verlag des Kärntner Landesarchiv, Klagenfurt 2006, ISBN 3-900531-64-1 , p. 228

↑ Partner community - About the community - Reichenfels community. Retrieved April 2, 2020 .

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

[2] Reichenfels community, history of the community. Retrieved February 14, 2019 .

[3] Statistics Austria, A look at the community of Reichenfels, population development. Retrieved February 14, 2019 .

[4] Municipal council election March 1, 2015. Accessed April 2, 2020 .