Deutsch-Griffen ( sl, Slovenj Grebinj) is a municipality in the district of Sankt Veit an der Glan in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n state of

Carinthia Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German language, German. Its regional dialects belong to t ...

Geography

Deutsch-Griffen lies in the north of Carinthia, about northwest of the state capital

Klagenfurt Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. Jänner 2008, Stück 1, Nr. 1: ''Gesetz vom 25. Oktober 2007, mit dem die Kärntner Landesverfassung und das Klagenfurter Stadtrecht 1998 geändert werden.'/ref> (; ; sl, Celovec), usually ...

. It is situated in the eastern

Nock Mountains The Nock Mountains (german: Nockberge or ''Nockgebirge'') are the westernmost and highest mountain range of the Gurktal Alps in Austria, spread over parts of the federal states of Carinthia, Salzburg and Styria. Their appearance is characterised b ...

, in a left tributary valley of the Gurk River on the Griffnerbach creek. The municipal area extends from the Gurk up to the

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...

n border in the north. On the northern edge, there is a sparsely populated area along the Paalbach, which is cut off from the rest of the municipality and can only be reached in a very roundabout way. Therefore, it is locally considered to belong to the

Flattnitz Flattnitz Pass (el. 1400 m.) is a high mountain pass in the Austrian Alps. The pass is located in the States of Austria, state of Carinthia, connecting Glödnitz in the Gurk (river), Gurk valley with Stadl an der Mur, Stadl on the Mur (river), Mu ...

plateau, part of the neighbouring municipality of

Glödnitz Glödnitz ( sl, Glodnica) is a municipality in the district of Sankt Veit an der Glan in the Austrian state of Carinthia. Geography The municipal area stretches along the densely forested valley of the Glödnitz river, a tributary of the Gurk, ...

. In the west, Deutsch-Griffen borders on Albeck in the

Feldkirchen District Bezirk Feldkirchen is a district of the state of Carinthia in Austria. Municipalities Towns (''Städte'') are indicated in boldface; suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality are indicated in small characters. * Albeck ( Slov.: ...

. The municipal area comprises the only

cadastral community A cadastral community or cadastral municipality, is a cadastral subdivision of municipalities in the nations of Austria,Cadastral Template for Austria, web-pageCT-AT Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, ...

Deutsch-Griffen made up of 25 villages and hamlets.

History

Deutsch Griffen Pfarrkirche Innenraum 2062007 01

A locality in the

March of Carinthia The March of Carinthia was a frontier district (march) of the Carolingian Empire created in 889. Before it was a march, it had been a principality or duchy ruled by native-born Slavic (or semi-Slavic) princes at first independently and then unde ...

named ''Grivinne'' was already mentioned in a 927 deed. In 1043 Countess

Hemma of Gurk Hemma of Gurk (german: Hemma von Gurk; 27 June 1045),29 June according t also called Emma of Gurk ( sl, Ema Krška), was a noblewoman and founder of several churches and monasteries in the Duchy of Carinthia. Buried at Gurk Cathedral since 1174 ...

donated a chapel at the site, the present-day St. Jacob parish church which passed to the

Diocese of Gurk The Roman Catholic Diocese of Gurk-Klagenfurt (german: Diözese Gurk-Klagenfurt, sl, Krška škofija) is a Catholic diocese covering the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is part of the ecclesiastical province of Salzburg. Though named after Gur ...

in 1157. The Romanesque structure was rebuilt as a

fortified church A fortified church is a church that is built to serve a defensive role in times of war. Such churches were specially designed to incorporate military features, such as thick walls, battlements, and embrasures. Others, such as the Ávila Cathedra ...

in the 15th century, when it served as a refuge for the villagers during the

Ottoman Wars A series of military conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and various European states took place from the Late Middle Ages up through the early 20th century. The earliest conflicts began during the Byzantine–Ottoman wars, waged in Anatolia in ...

. The present-day municipality emerged in 1850. it was later called ''Deutsch''-Griffen to distinguish it from Griffen in

Völkermarkt District Völkermarkt District is an administrative district in the Austrian State of Carinthia. Municipalities Völkermarkt is divided into 13 municipalities, of which 2 are towns and 3 market towns. Towns *Bleiburg ( sl, Pliberk) (4,083) **Aich, Bl ...

. In a 1973 administrative reform it was merged into a large municipality with neighbouring Glödnitz and Weitensfeld but regained its independency after a local referendum in 1991.

Politics

Seats in the municipal assembly (''Gemeinderat'') as of 2015 local elections: *

Freedom Party of Austria The Freedom Party of Austria (german: Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Austria. It was led by Norbert Hofer from September 2019 to 1 June 2021.Staff (1 June 2021"Aust ...

(FPÖ): 7 *

Austrian People's Party The Austrian People's Party (german: Österreichische Volkspartei , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since December 2021, the party has been led provisionally by Karl Nehammer. It is currentl ...

(ÖVP): 3 *

Social Democratic Party of Austria The Social Democratic Party of Austria (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs , SPÖ), founded and known as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (german: link=no, Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs, SDAPÖ) unti ...

(SPÖ): 1

Twin town

Deutsch-Griffen is twinned with: * Utenbach, part of

Apolda Apolda () is a town in central Thuringia, Germany, the capital of the Weimarer Land district. It is situated in the center of the triangle Weimar–Jena– Naumburg near the river Ilm, c. east by north from Weimar. Apolda station lies on the Hal ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, since 1993

References

{{authority control Cities and towns in Sankt Veit an der Glan District