Gumpoldskirchen (

Central Bavarian Central Bavarian form a subgroup of Bavarian dialects in large parts of Austria and the German state of Bavaria along the Danube river, on the northern side of the Eastern Alps. They are spoken in the ' Old Bavarian' regions of Upper Bavaria (wi ...

: ''Gumpoidskiachn'') is a town in the district of

Mödling Mödling () is the capital of the Austrian Mödling (district), district of the same name located approximately 14 km south of Vienna. Mödling lies in Lower Austria's industrial zone (Industrieviertel). The Mödlingbach, a brook which rises ...

in the

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

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

. Gumpoldskirchen borders on the municipalities

Guntramsdorf Guntramsdorf is a town in the district of Mödling in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. As part of the "''Industrieviertel''", the industrial region in the southeast of Lower Austria, it is well connected to the country capital Vienna. The loca ...

, Gaaden,

Pfaffstätten Pfaffstätten is a town in the district of Baden in Lower Austria in Austria. Population Sights At the heart of the town is the Lilienfelderhof, a so-called monastic grange, owned by Lilienfeld Abbey Lilienfeld Abbey (german: Stift Lilienfeld ...

and

Traiskirchen Traiskirchen is a town in the district of Baden in Lower Austria in Austria. It is 20 km south of Vienna, in the Thermenlinie region, known for its wine and heurigers. Traiskirchen is home to the Traiskirchen Lions basketball team. The town ...

. The municipal area extends from the flats in the Vienna Basin to forest areas of the Anninger in the

Vienna Woods The Vienna Woods (german: Wienerwald) are forested highlands that form the northeastern foothills of the Northern Limestone Alps in the states of Lower Austria and Vienna. The and range of hills is heavily wooded and a popular recreation area w ...

. Gumpoldskirchen is very famous for its wine, especially its Spätrot-Rotgipfler blend, and "Heurigers" as it attracts many tourists from

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

to its hillside vineyards. Gumpoldskirchen derives its name from Gumpold of Passau.

Climate

Gumpoldskirchen has a mild, continental climate attributed to its proximity to the spa line in Austria. The nearby Vienna Woods directly to the west affect the climate as well. There are 250 weather stations for the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics that call Gumpoldskirchen home.

History

The

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...

people settled the area about 6500 years ago. The

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

then settled in the area and it was found that an important road for transport went through the current city. Even from prehistoric times, earlier civilizations were cultivating wine on the slopes of the Eichkogel. In the 14th century, Gumpoldskirchen was already a market and court location. Gumpoldskirchen, like so many of its neighbor principalities, was devastated twice by the first and the second Turkish Sieges. By the end of the 18th Century, Gumpoldskirchen began to industrialize. It had many factories and greatly assisted the rapid industrialization of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

. After the 1938

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...

, Gumpoldskirchen became a part of the Greater Vienna that the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

created. Toward the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the area around Gumpoldskirchen became an area of intense battle between the coming Soviet troops and the remaining

6th SS Panzer Army The 6th Panzer Army (german: 6. Panzerarmee) was a formation of the German Army, formed in the autumn of 1944. The 6th Panzer Army was first used as an offensive force during the Battle of the Bulge, in which it operated as the northernmost element ...

. Gumpoldskirchen was unfortunately caught up in the 1985 wine glycol scandal that saw many Austrian wine makers called out for inserting illegal (and potentially harmful) ingredients. The scandal caused harm to the

Austrian wine Austrian wines are mostly dry white wines (often made from the Grüner Veltliner grape), though some sweeter white wines (such as dessert wines made around the Neusiedler See) are also produced. About 30% of the wines are red, made from Blauf ...

industry that it is still fighting to overcome today.

Population

Sights

Church St. Michael

St. Michael's church is a

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

cathedral in Gumpoldskirchen. A recently discovered crypt was found lying under the church.

Teutonic Order Castle

This castle was first used by the

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

in 1241 and served as a fortress for the next few hundred years. The castle was rebuilt in 1931 and after the

, was converted to a research institute for winery. Damage occurred to the castle in the late years of

, and in 1946, it was given back to the church. In 1998 and 1999, the castle underwent renovations and today it serves as a popular guesthouse.

The Pillory

The

pillory The pillory is a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, formerly used for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse. The pillory is related to the stocks ...

stands just outside town hall. It is a large stone built in 1563 with inscriptions chiseled on it. The pillory was a symbol of the market rights of the city. It was also used to punish lawbreakers who were then chained to the stone and sometimes even tortured and killed.

Town Hall

The old town hall was built during the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

period and was originally a courthouse. The pillared hall can still be seen today on the second-floor. The town-hall still has old prison cells, however they are now used for storage.

References

External links

Official Gumpoldskirchen HomepageInformation about Gumpoldskirchen
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Mödling District