Ferlach ( sl, Borovlje) in the district of

Klagenfurt-Land Bezirk Klagenfurt-Land is a district of the state of Carinthia in Austria. :de:Bezirk Klagenfurt-Land Municipalities Towns (''Städte'') are indicated in boldface; market towns (''Marktgemeinden'') in ''italics''; suburbs, hamlets and other sub ...

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 ...

is the southernmost

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

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 ...

. It is known for its centuries-old

gunsmith A gunsmith is a person who repairs, modifies, designs, or builds guns. The occupation differs from an armorer, who usually replaces only worn parts in standard firearms. Gunsmiths do modifications and changes to a firearm that may require a very h ...

tradition, part of the Austrian

intangible cultural heritage An intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is a practice, representation, expression, knowledge, or skill considered by UNESCO to be part of a place's cultural heritage. Buildings, historic places, monuments, and artifacts are cultural property. Int ...

since 2010.

Geography

It is situated in the ''Rosental''/''Rož'' Valley of the

Drava The Drava or Drave''Utrata Fachwörterbuch ...

River, about south of the Carinthian 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 ...

. In the south, the crest of the

Karawanks The Karawanks or Karavankas or Karavanks ( sl, Karavanke; german: Karawanken, ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps on the border between Slovenia to the south and Austria to the north. With a total length of in an east–west dir ...

mountain range forms the border with

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. The municipal area comprises the

cadastral communities 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, ...

of Ferlach (''Borovlje''), Kappel an der Drau (''Kapla ob Dravi''), Kirschentheuer (''Kožentavra''), Unterloibl (''Podljubelj''), Waidisch (''Bajdiše''), Unterferlach (''Medborovnica''), Glainach (''Glinje''), Seidolach (''Ždovlje''), and Windisch Bleiberg (''Slovenji Plajberg''). The town centre lies at the junction of the ''Rosental Straße'' (B85) highway with ''Loiblpass Straße'' (B91), part of the

European route The international E-road network is a numbering system for roads in Europe developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The network is numbered from E1 up and its roads cross national borders. It also reaches Centr ...

E652, running from Klagenfurt to

Tržič Tržič (; german: Neumarktl) is a town in northern Slovenia, close to the Austrian border. It is the seat of the Municipality of Tržič. Geography The town is located within the historic Upper Carniola region on the Tržič Bistrica River ...

in Slovenia via

Loibl Pass The Loibl Pass (german: Loiblpass) or Ljubelj Pass ( sl, prelaz Ljubelj) is a high mountain pass in the Karawanks chain of the Southern Limestone Alps, linking Austria with Slovenia. The Loibl Pass road is the shortest connection between the Cari ...

. The Ferlach Railway line from Weizelsdorf went out of service in 1951, but on summer weekends and special occasions a

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...

service, the ''Rosentaler Dampfzug'' runs as far as Weizelsdorf, operated by the preservation group ''Nostalgiebahnen in Kärnten''.

History

Ferlach was first mentioned as ''Vörelach'' in a 1246 deed, named after the surrounding

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

(''Föhre'', ''bor'' in Slovene) forests. The mountainous area is the site of large

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

deposits,

ironworks An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''. Ironworks succeeded bloomeri ...

and

forging Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which i ...

is documented since the 15th century. The relocation of the capital of the

Duchy of Carinthia The Duchy of Carinthia (german: Herzogtum Kärnten; sl, Vojvodina Koroška) was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, and was the first newly created Imperial Sta ...

to nearby Klagenfurt under the rule of King Maximilian I about 1518 decisively promoted the development of Ferlach as a centre of

firearm A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...

manufacturing. Under Empress

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position ''suo jure'' (in her own right). ...

, its gunsmiths became the main

armorer Historically, an armourer is a person who makes personal armour, especially plate armour. In modern terms, an armourer is a member of a military or police force who works in an armoury and maintains and repairs small arms and weapons systems, ...

s of the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

. Ferlach firearms were also used by the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

, French and Turkish armies. The present-day municipality was established as ''Oberferlach'' in 1850. Ferlach received

town privileges Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

in 1930 and today is a centre for the production of hunting

rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

s. The history of the town is depicted in its coat of arms: it features a pine tree with a cone, two crossed silver nails, and a rifle.

Population

According to the 2011 census has Ferlach 7.272 inhabitants. 8.0% of the population are

Carinthian Slovenes Carinthian Slovenes or Carinthian Slovenians ( sl, Koroški Slovenci; german: Kärntner Slowenen) are the indigenous minority of Slovene ethnicity, living within borders of the Austrian state of Carinthia, neighboring Slovenia. Their status of t ...

Climate

Politics

Seats in the municipal assembly (''Gemeinderat'') as of 2021

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

: *

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): 16 * Austrian People's Party (ÖVP): 4 *

Enotna lista The Unity List ( Slovene: ''Enotna lista'', german: Einheitsliste) or EL seeks to represent the indigenous Slovene minority in Carinthia. It came into existence in 1991, replacing the "Club of Slovenian Local Councillors" (Slovene: , German: ), ...

/Volilna skupnost: 3 *

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"Aus ...

(FPÖ): 3 *

The Greens – The Green Alternative The Greens – The Green Alternative (german: Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative, ) is a green political party in Austria. The party was founded in 1986 under the name "Green Alternative" (''Grüne Alternative''), following the merger of the ...

: 1

Notable people

Odo Josef Struger Odo Josef Struger (August 12, 1931 – December 8, 1998) was an Austrian pioneer in modern-day automation. Early life Struger was born in 1931 in Unterloibl. This is a town in the municipality of Ferlach in Carinthia of Austria. He moved to the ...

(1931–1998), engineer *

Wolfgang Petritsch Wolfgang Petritsch (born 26 August 1947) is an Austrian diplomat of Slovene ethnicity. Between 1999 and 2002 Petritsch served as the international High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Early life and studies Petritsch was born to a C ...

(born 1947), diplomat, honorary citizen

References

External links

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Klagenfurt-Land District