Gnesau

Gnesau
coat of arms	Austria map
Basic data
Country:	Austria
State :	Carinthia
Political District :	Feldkirchen
License plate :	FE
Surface:	78.57 km²
Coordinates :	46 ° 47 '  N , 13 ° 58'  E Coordinates: 46 ° 46 '30 "  N , 13 ° 58' 0"  E
Height :	973  m above sea level A.
Residents :	1,026 (January 1, 2020)
Population density :	13 inhabitants per km²
Postal code :	9563
Area code :	0 42 78
Community code :	2 10 04
Address of the municipal administration:	No. 77, 9563 Gnesau
Website:	www.gnesau.at
politics
Mayor :	Erich Stampfer ( ÖVP )
Municipal Council : ( 2015 ) (15 members)	6 MFG, 5 ÖVP , 3 FPÖ , 1 ULG 6th 5 3 1 6th 5 3 1  A total of 15 seats MFG : 6 ÖVP : 5 FPÖ : 3 ULG : 1
Location of Gnesau in the Feldkirchen district
Gnesau, view from the west
Source: Municipal data from Statistics Austria

Gnesau is a municipality with 1026 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2020) in the Feldkirchen district in Carinthia .

geography

Gnesau is located in the upper Gurktal in the Gurktal Alps . The main town is 973 m above sea level, the highest point in the municipality is on the Lichteben at 1966  m .

The municipality is crossed by the Gurk from northwest to southeast. On the right it is fed by the Haidenbach and the Kirchergrabenbach, on the left by the Görzbach and the Peiningerbach.

Community structure

Gnesau is divided into the four cadastral communities Gnesau, Gurk, Mitteregg and Zedlitzdorf. The municipality includes the following 12 localities (population in brackets as of January 1, 2020):

• Bergl (78)
• Even (21)
• Gnesau (368)
• Gorizia (17)
• Gorzwinkl (15)
• Cucumber (87)
• Haidenbach (73)
• May rats (44)
• Mitteregg (1)
• Sonnleiten (117)
• Weissenbach (42)
• Zedlitzdorf (163)

Parish church in Gnesau

Baukultur Holzstrasse

Evangelical church and rectory in Weißenbach

Rural architecture in Gnesau

Klösterle in Zedlitzdorf

Kramer farm from the 18th century, set up in the Maria Saal open-air museum

Neighboring communities

Reichenau		Albeck
		Steuerberg
Arriach		Himmelberg

history

Gnesau was mentioned for the first time in 1160 as Gnesov in a note from the Admont Monastery , the name Gnesau designating the area of ​​the entire upper Gurktal up to Radenthein in the west. Until the middle of the 19th century, land was largely owned by ecclesiastical and secular landlords.

When the municipalities in Carinthia were formed in 1850, relatively large areas were amalgamated, while some localities revolted. The cadastral communities Gurk and Gnesau (then part of the Himmelberg community ) and Mitteregg and Zedlitzdorf (zu Reichenau ) therefore applied in 1890 to be merged into a separate community of Gnesau, which, after some debates, was finally approved by the Carinthian state parliament in 1895.

population

The community of Gnesau has 1,244 inhabitants (2001). 95.7% of the population have Austrian citizenship; Germans have the largest share of people from other nations with 1.6%. As religious affiliation 62.0% stated Roman Catholic and 33.4% Protestant, 3.5% are without religious denomination.

Culture and sights

See also:  List of listed objects in Gnesau

• The parish church of St. Leonhard is a Romanesque choir tower church, the core of the hall church was built before 1213, the core of the tower in the 14th century and raised in 1723 by a baroque onion helmet. The oldest written mention of the church comes from the year 1213, in 1499 it was first mentioned as a parish.
  → Main article : Gnesau parish church
• At the site of today's Evangelical Church at the south-eastern exit of the village , a wooden prayer house was originally built in 1782, immediately after the tolerance patent of Emperor Joseph II, which was replaced by a stone building in 1803. The foundation stone for today's church building in neo-Gothic style took place on June 29, 1870, it was completed the following year by the builder Antonio Missoni.
  → Main article : Evangelical parish church Gnesau
• The "Arboretum" is a walk-in tree garden in which many well-known but also rare native tree species can be viewed and studied, and is located next to the Kulturhaus in Gnesau. This is also the starting point and end point of the Gnesau wood culture teaching trail , which is suitable for half-day hikes (approx. 6 km). Along the way you can learn interesting facts about the local wood species and their possible uses on the basis of 20 information boards.
• Former monastery, Carmelite hospice in Zedlitzdorf.

Economy and Infrastructure

Until the middle of the 20th century, the majority of the working population was active in agriculture and forestry, and tourism has also gained in importance in the last few decades.

According to the 2001 census, 242 of 340 employees were employed in the production of goods, with the timber industry - forest covering 59% of the municipal area - being the largest employer in Gnesau. The Europe-wide operating company Holz Leeb , one of the largest manufacturers of balconies ( “LEEB Balconies” ) plays an important role worldwide. Due to the importance of forestry in the region, nine municipalities merged in 1995 to form the Kärntner Holzstraße interest group, to which Gnesau also belongs and which was expanded by seven additional municipalities in April 2007.

politics

The municipal council of Gnesau has 15 members and has been composed as follows since the municipal council election in 2015 :

• 6 Bruno Stampfer - Together for Gnesau
• 5 ÖVP
• 3 FPÖ
• 1 Independent list Gnesau

mayor

• 1991–2015 Franz Mitter (ÖVP)
• since 2015 Erich Stampfer (ÖVP)

coat of arms

The Gnesau coat of arms contains the Bible and thus the life of faith in Gnesau. The mixed up colors allude to the coexistence of Catholics and Protestants, of whom the latter now make up a third of the population. This unusually high proportion of Protestant believers can be traced back to a strong support for Lutheran teaching from the 16th century, which has held up to this day despite tough measures by the authorities in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The official blazon of the coat of arms reads: "A shield split in red and silver, a Bible at the heart, covered by a cross and four metal buttons in mixed up colors." The design comes from Alfred Ogris, Wilhelm Wadl and Alexander Exax. The award certificate was presented on May 19, 1983 by Provincial Councilor Max Rauscher.

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

Partner municipality

• Hornstein , Burgenland, since 1986

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the church

• Siegmund Burger (1921–1992), politician ( ÖVP )
• Walther Florian (1921-2010), German economist
• Ruth Feistritzer (* 1968), politician ( SPÖ )

literature

• Edith Pergelier and Mauricio Pergelier : Historical organs of the diocese Gurk-Klagenfurt , pages 9 to 12; Copyright by Austro Mechana MP-E37, Klagenfurt

Web links

Commons : Gnesau  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Gnesau community
• 21004 - Gnesau. Community data, Statistics Austria .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Statistics Austria: Population on January 1st, 2020 by locality (area status on January 1st, 2020) , ( CSV )
2. ^ Statistics Austria, population census, demographic data. May 15, 2001, accessed March 3, 2019 . 
3. ^ Dehio manual. The art monuments of Austria. Carinthia , p. 212. Anton Schroll, Vienna 2001. ISBN 3-7031-0712-X
4. ^ Wilhelm Deuer: The Carinthian community arms . Klagenfurt 2006, ISBN 3-900531-64-1 , p. 120.