Sankt Lorenzen am Wechsel

Sankt Lorenzen am Wechsel
coat of arms	Austria map
Basic data
Country:	Austria
State :	Styria
Political District :	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
License plate :	HF (from 1.7.2013; old: HB)
Surface:	48.54 km²
Coordinates :	47 ° 27 '  N , 15 ° 57'  E Coordinates: 47 ° 26 '32 "  N , 15 ° 57' 13"  E
Height :	728  m above sea level A.
Residents :	1,454 (January 1, 2020)
Postcodes :	8242, 8234, 8251
Area code :	03331
Community code :	6 22 45
Address of the municipal administration:	Sankt Lorenzen am Wechsel 23 8242 Sankt Lorenzen am Wechsel
Website:	http://www.st-lorenzen-wechsel.at/
politics
Mayor :	Hermann Pferschy ( ÖVP )
Municipal Council : (2020) (15 members)	13 1 1 13 1 1  A total of 15 seats ÖVP : 13 SPÖ : 1 FPÖ : 1
Location of Sankt Lorenzen am Wechsel in the Hartberg-Fürstenfeld district
The parish church of St. Laurentius in St. Lorenzen am Wechsel
Source: Municipal data from Statistics Austria

St. Lorenzen (top center) around 1878 (recording sheet of the state survey )

Festenburg Castle

Aerosolium in St. Lorenzen

Sankt Lorenzen am Wechsel with 1,454 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2020) is a municipality in the judicial district of Fürstenfeld and in the political district of Hartberg-Fürstenfeld in Styria in Austria .

geography

Geographical location

Sankt Lorenzen am Wechsel is located at the foot of the Wechsel, approx. 17 km north of the district capital Hartberg . The municipality is bounded in the south by the Lafnitz and extends in the north to Niederwechsel ( 1669  m ) on the border to Lower Austria . In addition to the Niederwechsel, there are other peaks of the Wechselmassif on the eastern edge of the municipality : Irrbühel ( 1423  m ), Windhag ( 1395  m ), Lorenzkogel ( 1353  m ) and Hochkogel ( 1314  m ). The municipality is mainly drained by the Vorderen and Hinteren Waldbach, tributaries of the Lafnitz.

Community structure

The municipality of Sankt Lorenzen am Wechsel consists of three cadastral municipalities :

• Auerbach (941.57 ha) with the villages
  • Auerbach (125 inhabitants) with Dörfl
  • Riegl (195) with Haide
• Köppel (2,989.57 ha) with the localities
  • Festenburg (158) with Demmeldorf, Dorfstatt, Dreibach, Greith and Höfern
  • Köppel (294) with Bachern, Brandstatt, Bruck an der Lafnitz, Feichtern and Knappenreith
• St. Lorenzen am Wechsel (922.76 ha) with the localities
  • Sankt Lorenzen am Wechsel (526) with Sankt Lorenzen am Wechsel-Scattered Houses, Wilfing and Zehenthöf
  • Kronegg (156) with Hofers

(As of: residents January 1, 2020; area 2015)

Neighboring communities

Waldbach-Mönichwald	Aspangberg-Sankt Peter	Pinggau
Waldbach-Mönichwald		Dechantskirchen
Advance	Rohrbach an der Lafnitz	Rohrbach an der Lafnitz

history

The current municipal area was already settled in Roman times, as a Roman trade route ran through the area. This is confirmed by burial mounds and wheel furrows.

The settlement of the municipality took place in the 12th and 13th centuries mainly to build fortifications against the Eastern European peoples, as the Austrian eastern border ran in the immediate vicinity. Settlement was promoted especially after the Vorau Abbey was founded in 1163.

The first farm in the municipality was mentioned in 1250, and Sankt Lorenzen was mentioned in a document as early as 1266, so the church must have already existed. This was first mentioned in a document in 1306. Since a vicar of Sankt Lorenzen was named as early as 1344 , the village had to have many inhabitants.

The following centuries were marked by natural disasters and armed conflicts in the municipality, as the village was not far from the Hungarian border. In 1349/50, 1599 and 1679/80 the plague raged in Sankt Lorenzen, in 1478 and 1480 swarms of locusts caused a famine. The village was invaded several times by the Hungarians , Turks and Kuruc . Between 1529 and 1533 the Turks devastated the municipality and burned down the parish church. The Festenburg could not be taken. During this time, numerous fortifications were built, which is reflected in the naming of some of the Rotten .

The current parish church was rebuilt after it was destroyed by the Turks in 1684. It was created at the same time as part of the fortification. A little later - at the beginning of the 18th century - the Festenburg came to Vorau Abbey and was converted into a monastery.

Up until 1902 there were no paved roads to Sankt Lorenzen am Wechsel. In that year the construction of a road began, in 1907 the community received its own post office.

During the Second World War , the municipality was again the center of fighting between the Wehrmacht and the Red Army . There are numerous memorials to the victims of the two world wars in the municipality. Thanks to the efforts of the population, the community was able to be quickly rebuilt.

Population development

Culture and sights

Festenburg Castle

Parish church Sankt Lorenzen am Wechsel

See also:  List of listed objects in Sankt Lorenzen am Wechsel

• Festenburg Castle is located on the western edge of the municipality and was built by the Stubenbergers around 1200 . After frequently changing rulers, the castle came to the Vorau Abbey in 1616 and was converted into a monastery castle around 1700. The picturesque design of the Katharinenkirche (former knight's hall) and the six chapels was carried out by Johann Cyriak Hackhofer . The castle can be visited.
• Catholic parish church Sankt Lorenzen am Wechsel : The church was built in 1700 and is the third in town after its predecessors were destroyed in enemy attacks.
• At the village square is a monument to Franz Andreas Weißenbäck , who was born in Sankt Lorenzen.
• In Sankt Lorenzen am Wechsel there is a military cemetery from the Second World War .
• The Styrian Flower Road runs through the municipality.

Economy and Infrastructure

traffic

Sankt Lorenzen am Wechsel is away from the main roads. The state road from Rohrbach an der Lafnitz to Sankt Jakob im Walde runs through the south of the municipality . The change road B 54 from Wiener Neustadt to Hartberg is approx. 7 km away. The distance to the south A 2 motorway from Vienna to Graz is approx. 16 km. It can be reached via the Friedberg / Pinggau junction (95).

The community does not have its own railway connection. The nearest train station is in Dechantskirchen about eight kilometers away. It offers access to the Thermenbahn with two-hour regional train connections to Vienna and Hartberg.

The Graz Airport and the airport Wien-Schwechat are 110 km away.

education

There is a primary school each in Sankt Lorenzen am Wechsel and Festenburg .

politics

City council election 2020

 %

90

80

70

60

50

40

30th

20th

10

0

80.68
(-0.23)

10.23
(-8.86)

7.95
( n. K. )

1.14
( n. K. )

ÖVP

SPÖ

FPÖ

HLLF ^{[[#WD 2020 d | d]]}

2015



2020



Remarks:

^d Heimat-Liste-Lorenzen-Festenbrg

Municipal office of St. Lorenzen

mayor

Mayor is Hermann Pferschy (ÖVP).

Deputy Mayor Helmut Schantl (ÖVP) and the community treasurer Anton Milchrahm (ÖVP) also belong to the community board.

Municipal council

The municipal council consists of 15 members. According to the result of the 2015 municipal council election , it is composed as follows:

• 12 mandates ÖVP
• 03 mandates SPÖ

The last municipal council elections brought the following results:

Political party	2020			2015			2010			2005			2000			1995			1990
	be right	%	Mandates	be right	%	Mandates	St.	%	M.	St.	%	M.	St.	%	M.	St.	%	M.	St.	%	M.
ÖVP	639	80.68	13	801	81	12	844	77	12	660	63	10	664	62	10	705	66	10	740	69	11
SPÖ	81	10.23	01	189	19th	03	250	23	03	335	32	05	242	23	03	206	19th	03	332	31	04th
FPÖ	063	07.95	01	not running			not running			060	06th	00	064	06th	01	not running			not running
Heimat-Liste-Lorenzen-Festenbrg	09	01.14	00	not running			not running			not running			not running			not running			not running
Free-Independent Home List	not running			not running			not running			not running			102	10	01	151	14th	02	not running
Eligible voters	1,263			1,308			1,352			1,363			1,315
voter turnout	64.05%			78%			82%			80%			83%			86%			90%

coat of arms

The Styrian state government has given the municipality the right to use its own coat of arms with effect from August 1, 1991.

Blazon :

"In a blue shield with eight golden snow crystals in two rows (5: 3) above and a golden ray of sunshine below, a bar-shaped red underlaid golden grate, decorated with lilies at the corners."

The symbol of St. Laurentius, the Roman martyr and parish patron of St. Lorenzen am Wechsel, is rust. Saint Catherine of the church in Festenburg is represented by the lilies on the corners of the grate. The snow crystals in the upper part and the sun in the lower part of the coat of arms represent the change in weather in St. Lorenzen.

Personalities

Monument to Andreas Weißenbäck

Honorary citizen

• 1984: Josef Krainer (1930–2016), governor

Sons and daughters of the church

• Franz Andreas Weißenbäck (1880–1960), musicologist and founder of the Vienna Chamber Choir
• Konrad Kogler (* 1964), General Director for Public Security

Personalities associated with St. Lorenzen am Wechsel

• Ottokar Kernstock (1848–1928), Austrian poet and priest, chaplain in Sankt Lorenzen, died at Festenburg Castle

Web links

Commons : Sankt Lorenzen am Wechsel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• 62245 - Sankt Lorenzen am Wechsel. Community data, Statistics Austria .
• Community website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Local council election 2020 - results Sankt Lorenzen am Wechsel. orf.at , accessed on August 22, 2020 . 
2. ↑ Statistics Austria - Population at the beginning of 2002–2020 by municipalities (area status 01/01/2020)
3. ↑ Statistics Austria: Population on January 1st, 2020 by locality (area status on January 1st, 2020) , ( CSV )
4. ↑ St. Lorenzen am Wechsel. GoogleMaps, accessed May 31, 2020 (de-US). 
5. ↑ Education & Culture | St. Lorenzen am Wechsel. Accessed May 31, 2020 . 
6. ^ Election to the municipal council in St. Lorenzen on the change in 2020. In: orf.at
7. ↑ ^{a b} Municipality of St. Lorenzen am Wechsel: st-lorenzen-wechsel.at (accessed on September 22, 2016)
8. ↑ Elections. Accessed May 31, 2020 . 
9. ↑ coat of arms | St. Lorenzen am Wechsel. Accessed May 31, 2020 .