Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost
Austrian state, in the
Eastern Alps
Eastern Alps is the name given to the eastern half of the Alps, usually defined as the area east of a line from Lake Constance and the Alpine Rhine valley up to the Splügen Pass at the Alpine divide and down the Liro River to Lake Como in the ...
, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
. Its regional dialects belong to the
Southern Bavarian
Southern Bavarian or South Bavarian, is a cluster of Upper German dialects of the Bavarian group. They are primarily spoken in Tyrol (i.e. the Austrian federal state of Tyrol and the Italian province of South Tyrol), in Carinthia and in the west ...
group.
Carinthian Slovene dialects, forms of a South
Slavic language
The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavs, Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic language, Proto ...
that predominated in the southeastern part of the region up to the first half of the 20th century, are now spoken by a
small minority in the area.
Carinthia's main
industries are
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
,
electronics
The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
,
engineering
Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...
,
forestry
Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...
, and
agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
.
Name
![Heiligenblut am Großglockner (1)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Heiligenblut_am_Gro%C3%9Fglockner_%281%29.JPG)
The etymology of the name "Carinthia", similar to
Carnia
Carnia ( fur, Cjargne or ''Cjargna''/''Cjargno'' in local variants, vec, Ciargna, german: Karnien, sl, Karnija) is a historical-geographic region in the northeastern Italian area of Friuli. Its 27 municipalities all belong to the Province of Ud ...
or
Carniola
Carniola ( sl, Kranjska; , german: Krain; it, Carniola; hu, Krajna) is a historical region that comprised parts of present-day Slovenia. Although as a whole it does not exist anymore, Slovenes living within the former borders of the region sti ...
, has not been conclusively established. The ''
Ravenna Cosmography
The ''Ravenna Cosmography'' ( la, Ravennatis Anonymi Cosmographia, "The Cosmography of the Unknown Ravennese") is a list of place-names covering the world from India to Ireland, compiled by an anonymous cleric in Ravenna around 700 AD. Text ...
'' (about AD 700) referred to a
Slavic "Carantani" tribe as the eastern neighbours of the
Bavarians
Bavarians ( Bavarian: ''Boarn'', Standard German: ''Baiern'') are an ethnographic group of Germans of the Bavaria region, a state within Germany. The group's dialect or speech is known as the Bavarian language, native to Altbayern ("Old Bava ...
. In his ''
History of the Lombards
The ''History of the Lombards'' or the ''History of the Langobards'' ( la, Historia Langobardorum) is the chief work by Paul the Deacon, written in the late 8th century. This incomplete history in six books was written after 787 and at any rate n ...
'', the 8th-century chronicler
Paul the Deacon
Paul the Deacon ( 720s 13 April in 796, 797, 798, or 799 AD), also known as ''Paulus Diaconus'', ''Warnefridus'', ''Barnefridus'', or ''Winfridus'', and sometimes suffixed ''Cassinensis'' (''i.e.'' "of Monte Cassino"), was a Benedictine monk, s ...
mentions "Slavs in
Carnuntum
Carnuntum ( according to Ptolemy) was a Roman legionary fortress ( la, castra legionis) and headquarters of the Roman navy, Pannonian fleet from 50 AD. After the 1st century, it was capital of the Pannonia Superior province. It also became ...
, which is erroneously called Carantanum" (''Carnuntum, quod corrupte vocitant Carantanum'') for the year 663.
"Carantani" may have been formed from a toponymic base ''carant-'' which ultimately derives from pre-
Indo-European
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutch ...
root *''karra'' 'rock'. (cf. fur, carantàn), or that it is of
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
origin and derived from *''karantos'' 'friend, ally'.
Likewise the Slovene name may have been adopted from the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
*''carantanum''. The toponym ''Carinthia'' (Slovene: <
Proto-Slavic
Proto-Slavic (abbreviated PSl., PS.; also called Common Slavic or Common Slavonic) is the Attested language, unattested, linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed proto-language of all Slavic languages. It represents Slavic speech approximately ...
''*korǫt’ьsko'') is also claimed to be etymologically related, deriving from pre-Slavic *''carantia''.
Carinthia is known as ''Koruška'' in Croatian, ''Korutany'' in Czech, ''Kärnten'' in German, ''Karintia'' in Hungarian, ''Carinzia'' in Italian, ''Carintia'' in Spanish, ''Karyntia'' in Polish, ''Korutánsko'' in Slovak, and ''Koroška'' in Slovene.
Geography
![Austria Carinthia relief location map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Austria_Carinthia_relief_location_map.svg)
The state stretches about from east to west, and in a north-south direction. With , it is the fifth-largest Austrian state by area. Most of the larger Carinthian towns and lakes are situated within the Klagenfurt Basin in the southeast, an inner Alpine
sedimentary basin
Sedimentary basins are region-scale depressions of the Earth's crust where subsidence has occurred and a thick sequence of sediments have accumulated to form a large three-dimensional body of sedimentary rock. They form when long-term subsidence ...
covering about one-fifth of the area. These Lower Carinthian lands differ from the mountainous Upper Carinthian region in the northwest, stretching up to the
Alpine crest.
The Carinthian lands are confined by mountain ranges: the
Carnic Alps
The Carnic Alps ( it, Alpi Carniche; german: Karnische Alpen; sl, Karnijske Alpe; fur, Alps Cjargnelis) are a range of the Southern Limestone Alps in Austria and northeastern Italy. They are within Austrian East Tyrol and Carinthia, and Italia ...
and 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
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: ...
form the border to the Italy (
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
(man), it, Friulana (woman), it, Giuliano (man), it, Giuliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_t ...
) and Slovenia (
Carinthia Statistical Region
The Carinthia Statistical Region ( sl, Koroška statistična regija) is a statistical region in northern Slovenia along the border with Austria.
The region is difficult to access and is poorly connected with the central part of Slovenia. The env ...
,
Savinja Statistical Region
The Savinja Statistical Region ( sl, Savinjska statistična regija) is a statistical region in Slovenia. The largest town in the region is Celje. It is named after the Savinja River. The region is very diverse in natural geography; it mainly com ...
and
Upper Carniola Statistical Region
The Upper Carniola Statistical Region ( sl, Gorenjska statistična regija) is a statistical region in northwest Slovenia. It is a region with high mountains, including Mount Triglav, and is almost entirely Alpine. A large part of this statistical ...
). The
High Tauern
The High Tauern ( pl.; german: Hohe Tauern, it, Alti Tauri) are a mountain range on the main chain of the Central Eastern Alps, comprising the highest peaks east of the Brenner Pass. The crest forms the southern border of the Austrian states of S ...
mountain range with Mt
Grossglockner
The Grossglockner (german: Großglockner ; or just ''Glockner'') is, at 3,798 metres above the Adriatic (12,461 ft), the highest mountain in Austria and the highest mountain in the Alps east of the Brenner Pass. It is part of the larger Glock ...
, , separates it from the state of
Salzburg
Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872.
The town is on the site of the ...
in the northwest. To the northeast and east beyond the
Pack Saddle
A pack saddle is any device designed to be secured on the back of a horse, mule, or other working animal so it can carry heavy loads such as luggage, firewood, small cannons, or other things too heavy to be carried by humans.
Description
Ideal ...
mountain pass is the state of
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 ...
. The main river of Carinthia is the
(''Drau''), it makes up a continuous valley with
East Tyrol
East Tyrol, occasionally East Tirol (german: Osttirol), is an exclave of the Austrian state of Tyrol, separated from the main North Tyrol part by the short common border of Salzburg and Italian South Tyrol (''Südtirol'', it, Alto Adige). It is c ...
,
Tyrol
Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...
to the west. Tributaries are the
Gurk, the
Glan, the
Lavant, and the
Gail
Gail may refer to:
People
*Gail (given name), list of notable people with the given name
Surname
* Jean-Baptiste Gail (1755–1829), French Hellenist scholar
* Max Gail (born 1943), American actor
* Sophie Gail (1775–1819), French singer and ...
rivers. Carinthia's lakes including
Wörther See,
Millstätter See
Lake Millstatt (german: Millstätter See, sometimes written "Millstättersee") is a lake in Carinthia, Austria.
Geography
It is situated at 588 metres above the Adriatic (1,929 ft), north of the Drava Valley within the Gurktal Alps (Nock Moun ...
,
Lake Ossiach
Lake Ossiach (german: Ossiacher See, sl, Osojsko jezero) is a lake in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is the state's third largest lake, superseded only by Lake Wörth and Lake Millstatt.
Geography
It is situated in the southern Nock Moun ...
, and
Lake Faak
Lake Faak (german: Faaker See; sl, Baško jezero) is a lake in the Austrian state of Carinthia. With an area of approximately , it is the state's fifth-largest lake.
Geography
The lake is located southeast of Villach in the Drava Valley, below ...
are a major tourist attraction.
![Faaker See and Mittagskogel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Faaker_See_and_Mittagskogel.png)
The capital city is
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 ...
. The next important town is
Villach
Villach (; sl, Beljak; it, Villaco; fur, Vilac) is the seventh-largest city in Austria and the second-largest in the federal state of Carinthia. It is an important traffic junction for southern Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the po ...
, both strongly linked economically. Other major towns include
Althofen
Althofen ( sl, Stari Dvor) is a town in the district of Sankt Veit an der Glan in the Austrian state of Carinthia.
Geography
The town is located about north of Sankt Veit an der Glan and north of the state capital Klagenfurt in the Krappfeld ...
,
Bad Sankt Leonhard im Lavanttal
Bad Sankt Leonhard im Lavanttal ( sl, Sveti Lenart v Labotu) is a spa town in the district of Wolfsberg in the Austrian state of Carinthia.
Geography
The municipality lies in the upper Lavant valley (''Lavanttal'') north of the district capita ...
,
Bleiburg
Bleiburg ( sl, Pliberk) is a small town in the south Austrian state of Carinthia (''Koroška''), south-east of Klagenfurt, in the district of Völkermarkt, some four kilometres (2.5 miles) from the border with Slovenia.
The municipality consists o ...
,
Feldkirchen,
Ferlach
Ferlach ( sl, Borovlje) in the district of Klagenfurt-Land in Carinthia is the southernmost town in Austria. It is known for its centuries-old gunsmith tradition, part of the Austrian intangible cultural heritage since 2010.
Geography
It is situat ...
,
Friesach
Friesach ( sl, Breže) is a historic town in the Sankt Veit an der Glan district of Carinthia, Austria. First mentioned in an 860 deed, it is known as the oldest town in Carinthia.
Geography
Location
Friesach covers an area of 120.83 km2 a ...
,
Gmünd,
Hermagor,
Radenthein
Radenthein ( sl, Radenče ) is a town in Spittal an der Drau District, in the Austrian state of Carinthia.
Geography
The town is situated in the Gegend valley (''Gegendtal'') of the Nock Mountains range (part of the Gurktal Alps), stretching to ...
,
Sankt Andrä
) is a town in the district of Wolfsberg in Carinthia in Austria. It is named after Saint Andrew
Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint ...
,
Sankt Veit an der Glan
Sankt Veit an der Glan (; sl, Šentvid ob Glini) is a town in the Austrian state of Carinthia, the administrative centre of the Sankt Veit an der Glan District. It was the historic Carinthian capital until 1518. The famous chef Wolfgang Puck was ...
,
Spittal an der Drau
Spittal an der Drau is a town in the western part of the Austrian federal state of Carinthia. It is the administrative centre of Spittal an der Drau District, Austria's second largest district (''Bezirk'') by area.
Geography
The town is located o ...
,
Straßburg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
,
Völkermarkt
Völkermarkt (; sl, Velikovec) is a town of about 11,000 inhabitants in the Austrian state of Carinthia, the administrative capital of Völkermarkt District. It is located within the Drava valley east of the Carinthian capital Klagenfurt, north ...
,
Wolfsberg.
Carinthia has a
humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
), with hot and moderately wet summers and long harsh winters. In recent decades, winters have been exceptionally
arid
A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ar ...
. The summer
precipitation
In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...
maxima often takes the form of heavy rain and
thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are someti ...
s, especially in the mountainous regions. The main Alpine ridge in the north is a meteorological divide with pronounced
windward and leeward
Windward () and leeward () are terms used to describe the direction of the wind. Windward is ''upwind'' from the point of reference, i.e. towards the direction from which the wind is coming; leeward is ''downwind'' from the point of reference ...
sides where
foehn
A Foehn or Föhn (, , ), is a type of dry, relatively warm, downslope wind that occurs in the lee (downwind side) of a mountain range.
It is a rain shadow wind that results from the subsequent adiabatic warming of air that has dropped most of ...
occurs regularly.
Due to the diversified
terrain
Terrain or relief (also topographical relief) involves the vertical and horizontal dimensions of land surface. The term bathymetry is used to describe underwater relief, while hypsometry studies terrain relative to sea level. The Latin word ...
, numerous distinct
microclimates
A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often with a slight difference but sometimes with a substantial one. The term may refer to areas as small as a few squa ...
exist. Nevertheless, the average amount of sunshine hours is the highest of all states in Austria. In autumn and winter, temperature
inversion
Inversion or inversions may refer to:
Arts
* , a French gay magazine (1924/1925)
* ''Inversion'' (artwork), a 2005 temporary sculpture in Houston, Texas
* Inversion (music), a term with various meanings in music theory and musical set theory
* ...
often dominates the climate, characterized by air stillness, a dense
fog
Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus, and is heavily influ ...
covering the frosty valleys and trapping pollution to form
smog
Smog, or smoke fog, is a type of intense air pollution. The word "smog" was coined in the early 20th century, and is a portmanteau of the words ''smoke'' and '' fog'' to refer to smoky fog due to its opacity, and odor. The word was then inte ...
, while mild sunny weather is recorded higher up in the foothills and mountains.
History
The settlement history of Carinthia dates back to the
Paleolithic
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...
era. Archaeological findings of stone artifacts in a stalactite cave near
Griffen are older than 30,000 years; larger settlements in the
Lavanttal
The Lavant Valley (german: Lavanttal, sl, Labotska dolinaGams, Ivan. 1992. "Labotska dolina." ''Enciklopedija Slovenije'', vol. 6. Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, pp. 87–87. or ''Laboška dolina''; Southern Bavarian: ''Lovnthol'') lies in the Lav ...
,
Maria Saal
Maria Saal ( sl, Gospa Sveta) is a market town in the district of Klagenfurt-Land in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is located in the east of the historic Zollfeld plain (''Gosposvetsko polje''), the wide valley of the Glan river. The munici ...
and
Villach
Villach (; sl, Beljak; it, Villaco; fur, Vilac) is the seventh-largest city in Austria and the second-largest in the federal state of Carinthia. It is an important traffic junction for southern Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the po ...
regions are documented from about 3000 BC. Remains of a prehistoric
stilt house
Stilt houses (also called pile dwellings or lake dwellings) are houses raised on stilts (or piles) over the surface of the soil or a body of water. Stilt houses are built primarily as a protection against flooding; they also keep out vermin. The ...
settlement were discovered at
Lake Keutschach, today part of the
Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps
Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps are a series of prehistoric pile dwelling (or stilt house) settlements in and around the Alps built from about 5000 to 500 BC on the edges of lakes, rivers or wetlands. In 2011, 111 sites located various ...
World Heritage Site. Skeleton finds from about 2000 BC (near
Friesach
Friesach ( sl, Breže) is a historic town in the Sankt Veit an der Glan district of Carinthia, Austria. First mentioned in an 860 deed, it is known as the oldest town in Carinthia.
Geography
Location
Friesach covers an area of 120.83 km2 a ...
) denote a permanent population, and intensive arable farming, as well as trading with salt and Mediterranean products, was common already during the periods of the
Urnfield
The Urnfield culture ( 1300 BC – 750 BC) was a late Bronze Age culture of Central Europe, often divided into several local cultures within a broader Urnfield tradition. The name comes from the custom of cremating the dead and p ...
and
Hallstatt culture
The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Western Europe, Western and Central European Archaeological culture, culture of Late Bronze Age Europe, Bronze Age (Hallstatt A, Hallstatt B) from the 12th to 8th centuries BC and Early Iron Age Europe ...
. Hallstatt
grave field
A grave field is a prehistoric cemetery, typically of Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe.
Grave fields are distinguished from necropoleis by the former's lack of remaining above-ground structures, buildings, or grave markers.
Types
Grave fields can b ...
s were discovered near
Dellach
Dellach ( sl, Dole) is a municipality in the district of Hermagor, in the Austrian state of Carinthia.
Geography
The municipal area lies in the upper Gail valley, between the neighbouring municipalities of Kötschach-Mauthen in the west and Ki ...
(Gurina),
Rosegg
Rosegg ( sl, Rožek) is a town in the district of Villach-Land in Carinthia in Austria.
Neighboring municipalities
Personalities
It is the birthplace of the painter Peter Markovič, after whom the local Slovene cultural association is named. L ...
(Frög) and on the Gracarca mountain southeast of
Lake Klopein
Lake Klopein (, ) is a lake near the town of Völkermarkt located within the municipality of Sankt Kanzian in Carinthia, Austria. Lake Klopein is the remaining lake of previously larger lake area, which has spanned over today's Kühnsdorf area. W ...
.
Noricum
![Anonymous Youth of Magdalensberg 03](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Anonymous_Youth_of_Magdalensberg_03.JPG)
About 300 BC, several
Illyrian and
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
tribes joined together in the
Kingdom of Noricum, centered on the capital
Noreia
Noreia is an ancient lost city in the Eastern Alps, most likely in southern Austria. While according to Julius Caesar it is known to have been the capital of the Celtic kingdom of Noricum, it was already referred to as a lost city by Pliny the ...
, possibly located in the
Zollfeld
Zollfeld ( sl, Gosposvetsko polje) is a slightly ascending plain in Carinthia, Austria. It is one of the oldest cultural landscapes in the East Alpine region.
Geography
It is from to wide and about long, with an elevation between above sea ...
basin near the later Roman city of
Virunum
Claudium Virunum was a Roman city in the province of Noricum, on today's Zollfeld in the Austrian State of Carinthia. Virunum may also have been the name of the older Celtic-Roman settlement on the hilltop of Magdalensberg nearby.
Virunum (''Viru ...
. Known for the production of salt and iron, the Kingdom maintained intensive trade relations with
Etruscan __NOTOC__
Etruscan may refer to:
Ancient civilization
*The Etruscan language, an extinct language in ancient Italy
*Something derived from or related to the Etruscan civilization
**Etruscan architecture
**Etruscan art
**Etruscan cities
** Etrusca ...
peoples and over the centuries extended the borders of its realm up to the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
in the north. The
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
incorporated Noricum in 15 BC. Beside the administrative seat of Virunum, the cities of
Teurnia
Teurnia (later Tiburnia) was a Roman city (''municipium''). Today its ruins lie in western Carinthia. In late antiquity it was also a bishop's see, and towards the end of Roman times it was mentioned as the capital of the province of Noricum me ...
, Santicum (Villach) and Iuenna (
Globasnitz
Globasnitz ( Slovene: ''Globasnica'') is a town in the district of Völkermarkt in the Austrian state of Carinthia.
Population
A considerable percentage (42.1%) of the population are Carinthian Slovenes, and Slovene is a second official language ...
) arose as centres of Roman culture. The Noricum
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
remained strategically important as a mining area for iron, gold and lead and as an agricultural region. In the reign of the Emperor
Diocletian
Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...
(245–313) Noricum split into two provinces: ''Noricum ripense'' ("Noricum along the river", the northern part southward from the Danube), and ''Noricum mediterraneum'' ("landlocked Noricum", the district south of the
Alpine crest). Teurnia became the administrative seat of the latter, as well as an
Early Christian
Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish d ...
episcopal see
An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, mak ...
.
As the Roman Empire declined in the 5th century AD, the Noricum region was exposed to recurring campaigns of
Germanic tribes, whereupon the population retired to hilltop settlements. In 408
Visigoth
The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kno ...
troops under King
Alaric I
Alaric I (; got, 𐌰𐌻𐌰𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃, , "ruler of all"; c. 370 – 410 AD) was the first king of the Visigoths, from 395 to 410. He rose to leadership of the Goths who came to occupy Moesia—territory acquired a couple of decades ...
entered Noricum from Italy across the
Carnic Alps
The Carnic Alps ( it, Alpi Carniche; german: Karnische Alpen; sl, Karnijske Alpe; fur, Alps Cjargnelis) are a range of the Southern Limestone Alps in Austria and northeastern Italy. They are within Austrian East Tyrol and Carinthia, and Italia ...
and forged an alliance with the Roman commander
Stilicho
Flavius Stilicho (; c. 359 – 22 August 408) was a military commander in the Roman army who, for a time, became the most powerful man in the Western Roman Empire. He was of Vandal origins and married to Serena, the niece of emperor Theodosius ...
, who as a result was deposed and executed for high treason (August 408). From 472
Ostrogoth
The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the large Gothic populations who ...
and
Alemanni
The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes
*
*
*
on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...
c forces campaigned in Noricum, which became a province of
Odoacer
Odoacer ( ; – 15 March 493 AD), also spelled Odovacer or Odovacar, was a soldier and statesman of barbarian background, who deposed the child emperor Romulus Augustulus and became Rex/Dux (476–493). Odoacer's overthrow of Romulus Augustul ...
's
Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...
in 476 and of the
Ostrogothic Kingdom
The Ostrogothic Kingdom, officially the Kingdom of Italy (), existed under the control of the Germanic peoples, Germanic Ostrogoths in Italian peninsula, Italy and neighbouring areas from 493 to 553.
In Italy, the Ostrogoths led by Theodoric the ...
from 493. On the death of King
Theoderic the Great
Theodoric (or Theoderic) the Great (454 – 30 August 526), also called Theodoric the Amal ( got, , *Þiudareiks; Greek: , romanized: ; Latin: ), was king of the Ostrogoths (471–526), and ruler of the independent Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy b ...
in 526, the Italian kingdom finally collapsed and the East Roman
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
empire under
Justinian I
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...
temporarily conquered the Noricum region in the course of the
Gothic War of 535 to 554.
Carantania
From 591 onwards, the
Frankish
Frankish may refer to:
* Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture
** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages
* Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany
* East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
king
Theudebert I
Theudebert I (french: Thibert/Théodebert) ( 500 – 547 or 548) was the Merovingian king of Austrasia from 533 to his death in 548. He was the son of Theuderic I and the father of Theudebald.
Sources
Most of what we know about Theudebert comes fr ...
tried to break into the former Noricum region, and
Bavarian settlers entered the area from the
Puster Valley
The Puster Valley ( it, Val Pusteria ; german: Pustertal, ) is one of the largest longitudinal valleys in the Alps that runs in an east-west direction between Lienz in East Tyrol, Austria, and Mühlbach near Brixen in South Tyrol, Italy. The Sou ...
in the west. They were however repulsed by
Slavic tribes, who, beset by
Avar horsemen moved into present-day Carinthia from the east. About 600 the Slavic principality of
Carantania
Carantania, also known as Carentania ( sl, Karantanija, german: Karantanien, in Old Slavic '), was a Slavic principality that emerged in the second half of the 7th century, in the territory of present-day southern Austria and north-eastern ...
arose, stretching along the valleys of the
,
Mur and
Sava
The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally th ...
rivers. The remaining Celto-Roman population was largely assimilated, jointly challenging Avar and Frankish advance. The name ''Carontani'' was first mentioned about 700; the lands of ''Carantanum'' were documented by the chronicler
Paul the Deacon
Paul the Deacon ( 720s 13 April in 796, 797, 798, or 799 AD), also known as ''Paulus Diaconus'', ''Warnefridus'', ''Barnefridus'', or ''Winfridus'', and sometimes suffixed ''Cassinensis'' (''i.e.'' "of Monte Cassino"), was a Benedictine monk, s ...
(d. 799). The principality was again centered on the historic Zollfeld valley, where the
Prince's Stone
The Prince's Stone (german: Fürstenstein, sl, knežji kamen) is the reversed base of an ancient Ionic column that played an important role in the ceremony surrounding the installation of the princes of Carantania in the Early Middle Ages. After ...
bears witness to the ritual of the investiture of the Carantanian rulers exclusively in Slovene.
While initially the Carantanian rulers joined the tribal union of
Samo's Empire
Samo's Empire (also known as Samo's Kingdom or Samo's State) is the historiographical name for the West Slavic tribal union established by King (" Rex") Samo, which existed between 623 and 658 in Central Europe. The centre of the union was most l ...
, Prince
Boruth
Boruth, also Borut (from cu, borъ, "fighter") or Borouth, (died about 750) was the first documented Slavic settlement of the Eastern Alps, Slavic prince (''Knyaz'') of Carantania, ruling from about 740 until his death. He was one of the few pagan ...
around 743 turned to Duke
Odilo of
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
to ask for support against the Avar invaders. Aid was granted, however at the price of Bavarian overlordship. The Carantanian principality became part of the Bavarian
stem duchy
A stem duchy (german: Stammesherzogtum, from '' Stamm'', meaning "tribe", in reference to the Franks, Saxons, Bavarians and Swabians) was a constituent duchy of the German Empire at the time of the extinction of the Carolingian dynasty (death o ...
, while the area was
Christianised
Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, conti ...
for the second time by missionaries from the
Salzburg diocese. Bishop
Vergilius
Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...
had Prince Boruth's son Cacatius and his nephew Cheitmar brought up in Christian faith. In 767, at their request, the bishop sent
Modestus
Modestus was a Roman cognomen. It may refer to:
* Julius Modestus (1st century BC), Roman freedman and grammarian
* Marcus Mettius Modestus (procurator) (1st century AD), Roman governor of Egypt
* Aufidius Modestus (1st century AD), Roman philo ...
to Carantania as a
vicar
A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...
and had churches built at Teurnia and
Maria Saal
Maria Saal ( sl, Gospa Sveta) is a market town in the district of Klagenfurt-Land in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is located in the east of the historic Zollfeld plain (''Gosposvetsko polje''), the wide valley of the Glan river. The munici ...
. Upon a pagan uprising in 772, the forces of Odilo's son Duke
Tassilo III of Bavaria
Tassilo III ( 741 – c. 796) was the duke of Bavaria from 748 to 788, the last of the house of the Agilolfings. The Son of Duke Odilo of Bavaria and Hitrud, the Daughter of Charles Martell.
Tassilo, then still a child, began his rule as a Frankis ...
again subdued the Carantanian lands.
In 788, Duke Tassilo III was finally deposed by the Frankish king
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...
, and his territories were incorporated into the
Carolingian Empire
The Carolingian Empire (800–888) was a large Frankish-dominated empire in western and central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the Lom ...
. By the 843
Treaty of Verdun
The Treaty of Verdun (), agreed in , divided the Francia, Frankish Empire into three kingdoms among the surviving sons of the emperor Louis the Pious, Louis I, the son and successor of Charlemagne. The treaty was concluded following almost three ...
, the former Carantanian lands fell to the kingdom of
East Francia
East Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the East Franks () was a successor state of Charlemagne's Carolingian Empire, empire ruled by the Carolingian dynasty until 911. It was created through the Treaty of Verdun (843) which divided t ...
ruled by Charlemagne's grandson
Louis the German
Louis the German (c. 806/810 – 28 August 876), also known as Louis II of Germany and Louis II of East Francia, was the first king of East Francia, and ruled from 843 to 876 AD. Grandson of emperor Charlemagne and the third son of Louis the P ...
. The ritual of installation of the Carantanian dukes at the Prince's Stone near Karnburg in Slovenian was preserved until 1414, when
Ernest the Iron
Ernest the Iron (; 1377 – 10 June 1424), a member of the House of Habsburg, ruled over the Inner Austrian duchies of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola from 1406 until his death. He was head of the Habsburg Leopoldian line from 1411.
Biograp ...
was enthroned as Duke of Carinthia.
Duchy of Carinthia
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 ...
arose in 889 from the territory bequeathed by Louis's son
Carloman, king of
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
from 865 to 880, to his natural son
Arnulf of Carinthia
Arnulf of Carinthia ( 850 – 8 December 899) was the duke of Carinthia who overthrew his uncle Emperor Charles the Fat to become the Carolingian king of East Francia from 887, the disputed king of Italy from 894 and the disputed emperor from Feb ...
. Arnulf had already assumed the title of a Carinthian duke in 880 and followed his uncle Charles the Fat as King of East Francia in 887. The Duchy of Carinthia was finally split from the vast Bavarian duchy in 976 by Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor Otto II, having come out victorious from his quarrels with Duke Henry II, Duke of Bavaria, Henry II the Wrangler. Carinthia therefore was the first newly created duchy of the Holy Roman Empire and for a short while comprised lands stretching from the Adriatic Sea almost to the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
. In 1040, the March of Carniola was separated from it and c. 1180 Styria, the Carinthian March, became a duchy in its own right. After the death of Duke Henry of Bohemia, Henry VI of Gorizia-Tyrol in 1335, Carinthia passed to the Habsburg brothers Albrecht II. and Otto, Duke of Austria, Otto IV, and was ruled by this dynasty until 1918. After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire 1806, Carinthia was incorporated in the Austrian Empire's Kingdom of Illyria (1816–1849), Kingdom of Illyria which succeeded Napoleon's Illyrian Provinces, but recovered its previous status in 1849 and in 1867 became one of the Cisleithanian crown lands of Austria-Hungary.
Formation of the state
![Obermillstatt 16 2006](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Obermillstatt_16_2006.JPG)
In late 1918, the breakup of Habsburg monarchy was imminent, and on 21 October 1918 the members of the Reichsrat (Austria), Reichsrat for the German-speaking territories of Austria met in Vienna to constitute a "Provisional National Council for German Austria, German-Austria". Prior to the meeting the delegates agreed that German-Austria should not include "Yugoslav areas of settlement", which referred to Lower Styria and the two Slovene-speaking Carinthian valleys south of the Karawanken range, Seeland (Slovenian: Jezersko) and ''Mießtal'' (Meža Valley). On 12 Nov. 1918, when the Act concerning the foundation of the State of German-Austria was formally passed by the Provisional National Assembly in Vienna this was worded by the State Chancellor, Karl Renner, "...to encounter the prejudices of the world as though we wanted to annex alien national property" The day before, on 11 Nov. 1918 the Provisional Diet of Carinthia had formally declared Carinthia's accession to the State of German-Austria. The Federal Act concerning the Extent, the Borders and the Relations of the State Territories of 22 Nov. 1918 then clearly stated in article 1: "...the duchies of Styria and Carinthia with the exclusion of the homogenous Yugoslav areas of settlement". Apart from one Social-Democrat, Florian Gröger, all the other delegates from Carinthia—Hans Hofer, Jakob Lutschounig, Josef Nagele, Alois Pirker, Leopold Pongratz, Otto Steinwender, Viktor Waldner—were members of German national parties and organizations.
Disputed frontiers
![Koettmannsdorf Unterschlossberg Stausee und Strassenbruecke 03032015 0234](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Koettmannsdorf_Unterschlossberg_Stausee_und_Strassenbruecke_03032015_0234.jpg)
After the end of the World War I, however, Carinthia became a contested region. On 5 November 1918, the first armed militia units led by the Slovene volunteer Franjo Malgaj invaded Carinthia and were then joined by Slovene troops under Rudolf Maister. With the subsequent assistance of the regular Yugoslav army they occupied southern Carinthia claiming the area for the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (''Kraljevina Srba, Hrvata i Slovenaca'', or SHS) also known as Yugoslavia. The provisional state government of Carinthia had fled to
Spittal an der Drau
Spittal an der Drau is a town in the western part of the Austrian federal state of Carinthia. It is the administrative centre of Spittal an der Drau District, Austria's second largest district (''Bezirk'') by area.
Geography
The town is located o ...
and in view of the ongoing fighting between local volunteers and invaders on 5 December decided to declare armed resistance. The resistance encountered by the Yugoslav forces especially north of the
River around the town of
Völkermarkt
Völkermarkt (; sl, Velikovec) is a town of about 11,000 inhabitants in the Austrian state of Carinthia, the administrative capital of Völkermarkt District. It is located within the Drava valley east of the Carinthian capital Klagenfurt, north ...
with its violent fighting alarmed the victorious Allies of World War I, Allies at the Paris Peace Conference, 1919, Paris Peace Conference.
An Allied Commission headed by U.S. Lt.Col. Sherman Miles inspected the situation in situ and recommended the Karawanken main ridge as a natural border to keep the Klagenfurt basin intact but, in agreement with item no. 10 of Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points, suggested a referendum in the disputed area. An armistice was agreed upon on 14 January and by 7 May 1919 the Yugoslav forces had left the state, but Slovene troops under Rudolf Maister returned occupying Klagenfurt on 6 June. Upon the intervention of the Allied Supreme Council in Paris they retreated from the city but remained in the disputed part of Carinthia until 13 September 1920.
In the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919), Treaty of Saint-Germain of 10 September 1919, the two smaller Slovene-speaking Carinthian valleys south of the Karawanken range, Seebergsattel, Jezersko and the Meža Valley, together with the town of Dravograd—together 128 square miles
or —were attached to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia): These areas are today part of Carinthia (Slovenia), Slovene Carinthia. The Canale Valley (german: Kanaltal, it, Val Canale) as far south as Pontebba, at that time an ethnically mixed German–Slovene area, with the border town of Tarvisio (german: Tarvis, sl, Trbiž) and its holy place of pilgrimage of Maria Luschari ( sl, Svete Višarje) (172 square miles
[”Kärnten.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago 2010.] or 445 km²), was ceded to Italy and included in the Province of Udine.
According to the same treaty, a Carinthian Plebiscite, referendum was to be held in southern Carinthia as suggested by the Allied Commission, which was to determine whether the area claimed by the SHS-State was to remain part of Austria or go to Yugoslavia. Much of southern Carinthia was divided into two zones. Zone A was formed out of predominantly Slovene-inhabited zones (approximately corresponding to today's Völkermarkt (district), District of Völkermarkt, the district of Klagenfurt-Land south of lake Wörthersee, and the south-eastern part of the present district of Villach-Land), while Zone B included the City of Klagenfurt, Velden am Wörthersee and the immediately surrounding rural areas where German speakers formed a vast majority. If the population in Zone A had decided for Yugoslavia, another referendum in Zone B would have followed. On 10 October 1920, the Carinthian Plebiscite was held in Zone A, with almost 60% of the population voting to remain in Austria, which means that about 40% of the Slovene-speaking population must have voted against a division of Carinthia. In view of the close supervision of the referendum by foreign observers, as well as the Yugoslav occupation of the area until four weeks prior to the referendum, irregularities alleged by the deeply disappointed Yugoslav supporters would not have substantially altered the overall decision. Yet, after the plebiscite, the SHS-State again made attempts to occupy the area, but owing to demarches by the United Kingdom, France, and Italy it removed its troops from Austria so that, by 22 November 1920, the State Diet of Carinthia was at last able to exercise its sovereignty over the entire state.
After World War I to present
![Flag of Carinthia (state)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Flag_of_Carinthia_%28state%29.svg)
Originally an agrarian country, Carinthia made efforts to establish a touristic infrastructure such as the Grossglockner High Alpine Road and Klagenfurt Airport as well as the opening up of the Alps through the Österreichischer Alpenverein, Austrian Alpine Club in the 1920s. It was, however, hard hit by the Great Depression around 1930, which pushed the political system in Austria more and more towards extremism. This phenomenon culminated at first in the years of Austrofascism and then in 1938 in the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany (''Anschluss''). At the same time the Nazi Party took power everywhere in Carinthia, which became, together with
East Tyrol
East Tyrol, occasionally East Tirol (german: Osttirol), is an exclave of the Austrian state of Tyrol, separated from the main North Tyrol part by the short common border of Salzburg and Italian South Tyrol (''Südtirol'', it, Alto Adige). It is c ...
, a ''Reichsgau'', and Nazism, Nazi leaders such as Franz Kutschera, Hubert Klausner, and Friedrich Rainer held the office of Gauleiter and Reichsstatthalter.
During World War II, Slovene Partisan resistance was active in the southern areas of the region, reaching around 3,000 armed men. The cities of
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 ...
and
Villach
Villach (; sl, Beljak; it, Villaco; fur, Vilac) is the seventh-largest city in Austria and the second-largest in the federal state of Carinthia. It is an important traffic junction for southern Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the po ...
suffered from Strategic Bombing During World War II, air raids, but the Allies of World War II, Allied forces did not reach Carinthia before Victory in Europe Day, May 8, 1945. Toward the end of the war, Gauleiter Rainer tried to implement a Nazi plan for Carinthia to become part of the projected Nazi national redoubt, the ''Alpine Fortress, Alpenfestung''; these efforts failed and the forces under Rainer's control surrendered to the forces of the British Army. Once again as at the end of World War I, Yugoslav troops occupied parts of Carinthia, including the capital city of Klagenfurt, but were soon forced to withdraw by the British forces with the consent of the Soviet Union.
Carinthia, East Tyrol, and Styria then formed the UK occupation zone of Allied-administered Austria. The area was witness to the Repatriation of Cossacks after World War II, turnover of German-allied Cossacks to the Red Army in 1945. The Allied occupation was terminated in 1955 by the Austrian State Treaty, which restored Austria's sovereignty. The relations between the German- and the Slovene-speaking Carinthians remained somewhat problematic. Divergent views over the implementation of minority protection rights guaranteed by Article 7 of the Austrian State Treaty have created numerous tensions between the two groups in the past fifty years.
Demographics
The largest part of Carinthia's population settles in the Klagenfurt Basin between
Villach
Villach (; sl, Beljak; it, Villaco; fur, Vilac) is the seventh-largest city in Austria and the second-largest in the federal state of Carinthia. It is an important traffic junction for southern Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the po ...
and
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 2008, the proportion of the population with a migration background in Carinthia was 9.3% of the total population, about half the Austrian figure of 17.5%. By 2020, the proportion of the population with a migration background in Carinthia had risen to 14.5%, yet this figure remains lower than the Austrian average, where close to a quarter of the population has a migration background.
The majority of Carinthia's population is German-speaking. In the south of the province (mainly in the districts of Villach-Land District, Villach-Land, Klagenfurt-Land District, Klagenfurt-Land and
Völkermarkt
Völkermarkt (; sl, Velikovec) is a town of about 11,000 inhabitants in the Austrian state of Carinthia, the administrative capital of Völkermarkt District. It is located within the Drava valley east of the Carinthian capital Klagenfurt, north ...
), members of the Slovene language, Slovene-speaking ethnic group live as a recognized minority. The discussion about ethnic group rights (e.g. bilingual place-name signs) can be very emotional.
Population development
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Colors=
id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9)
id:darkgrey value:gray(0.7)
id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1)
ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:28
PlotArea = left:40 bottom:40 top:20 right:20
DateFormat = x.y
Period = from:0 till:600
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
AlignBars = late
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:50 start:0
ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:10 start:0
BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo
PlotData=
color:skyblue width:22 shift:(-60,-5) fontsize:M anchor:till
bar:1880 from:0 till:325 text:324,857
bar:1890 from:0 till:337 text:337,013
bar:1900 from:0 till:344 text:343,531
bar:1910 from:0 till:371 text:371,372
bar:1923 from:0 till:371 text:371,227
bar:1934 from:0 till:405 text:405,129
bar:1939 from:0 till:416 text:416,268
bar:1951 from:0 till:475 text:474,764
bar:1961 from:0 till:495 text:495,226
bar:1971 from:0 till:527 text:526,759
bar:1981 from:0 till:536 text:536,179
bar:1991 from:0 till:548 text:547,798
bar:2001 from:0 till:559 text:559,404
bar:2011 from:0 till:558 text:558,271
bar:2021 from:0 till:562 text:562,089
TextData=
fontsize:M pos:(35,20)
text:"Source: Statistik Austria"
Administrative divisions
The state is divided into eight rural and two urban Districts of Austria, districts (''Bezirke''), the latter being the Statutory city (Austria), statutory cities (''Statutarstädte'') of Klagenfurt and Villach. There are 132 Municipality, municipalities, of which 17 are incorporated as towns and 40 are of the lesser market towns (''Marktgemeinden'') status.
Statutory cities
*
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 ...
(Austrian car number plates, licence plate code: K)
*
Villach
Villach (; sl, Beljak; it, Villaco; fur, Vilac) is the seventh-largest city in Austria and the second-largest in the federal state of Carinthia. It is an important traffic junction for southern Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the po ...
(VI)
Rural districts
* Feldkirchen District, Feldkirchen (FE)
** Administrative seat:
Feldkirchen
** Municipalities: Albeck, Carinthia, Albeck • Glanegg • Gnesau • Himmelberg • Ossiach • Reichenau, Carinthia, Reichenau • Sankt Urban • Steindorf am Ossiacher See • Steuerberg
* Hermagor District, Hermagor (HE)
** Administrative seat: Hermagor-Pressegger See
** Market towns: Kirchbach, Carinthia, Kirchbach • Kötschach-Mauthen
** Municipalities:
Dellach
Dellach ( sl, Dole) is a municipality in the district of Hermagor, in the Austrian state of Carinthia.
Geography
The municipal area lies in the upper Gail valley, between the neighbouring municipalities of Kötschach-Mauthen in the west and Ki ...
• Gitschtal • Lesachtal • Sankt Stefan im Gailtal
* Klagenfurt-Land District, Klagenfurt-Land (KL)
** Administrative seat:
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 ...
(not part of the district)
** Town:
Ferlach
Ferlach ( sl, Borovlje) in the district of Klagenfurt-Land in Carinthia is the southernmost town in Austria. It is known for its centuries-old gunsmith tradition, part of the Austrian intangible cultural heritage since 2010.
Geography
It is situat ...
** Market towns: Ebenthal • Feistritz im Rosental • Grafenstein • Magdalensberg •
Maria Saal
Maria Saal ( sl, Gospa Sveta) is a market town in the district of Klagenfurt-Land in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is located in the east of the historic Zollfeld plain (''Gosposvetsko polje''), the wide valley of the Glan river. The munici ...
• Moosburg, Austria, Moosburg • Poggersdorf • Schiefling am See
** Municipalities: Keutschach am See • Köttmannsdorf • Krumpendorf • Ludmannsdorf• Maria Rain • Maria Wörth• Pörtschach • Sankt Margareten im Rosental • Techelsberg • Zell, Carinthia, Zell
* Sankt Veit an der Glan District, Sankt Veit an der Glan (SV)
** Administrative seat:
Sankt Veit an der Glan
Sankt Veit an der Glan (; sl, Šentvid ob Glini) is a town in the Austrian state of Carinthia, the administrative centre of the Sankt Veit an der Glan District. It was the historic Carinthian capital until 1518. The famous chef Wolfgang Puck was ...
** Towns:
Althofen
Althofen ( sl, Stari Dvor) is a town in the district of Sankt Veit an der Glan in the Austrian state of Carinthia.
Geography
The town is located about north of Sankt Veit an der Glan and north of the state capital Klagenfurt in the Krappfeld ...
•
Friesach
Friesach ( sl, Breže) is a historic town in the Sankt Veit an der Glan district of Carinthia, Austria. First mentioned in an 860 deed, it is known as the oldest town in Carinthia.
Geography
Location
Friesach covers an area of 120.83 km2 a ...
•
Straßburg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
** Market towns: Brückl • Eberstein, Austria, Eberstein • Gurk, Carinthia, Gurk • Guttaring • Hüttenberg, Austria, Hüttenberg • Klein Sankt Paul • Liebenfels • Metnitz • Weitensfeld im Gurktal
** Municipalities: Deutsch-Griffen • Frauenstein, Austria, Frauenstein • Glödnitz • Kappel am Krappfeld • Micheldorf • Mölbling • Sankt Georgen am Längsee
* Spittal an der Drau District, Spittal an der Drau (SP)
** Administrative seat:
Spittal an der Drau
Spittal an der Drau is a town in the western part of the Austrian federal state of Carinthia. It is the administrative centre of Spittal an der Drau District, Austria's second largest district (''Bezirk'') by area.
Geography
The town is located o ...
** Towns:
Gmünd •
Radenthein
Radenthein ( sl, Radenče ) is a town in Spittal an der Drau District, in the Austrian state of Carinthia.
Geography
The town is situated in the Gegend valley (''Gegendtal'') of the Nock Mountains range (part of the Gurktal Alps), stretching to ...
** Market towns: Greifenburg • Lurnfeld • Millstatt • Oberdrauburg • Obervellach • Rennweg am Katschberg • Sachsenburg • Seeboden • Steinfeld, Austria, Steinfeld • Winklern
** Municipalities: Bad Kleinkirchheim • Baldramsdorf • Berg im Drautal • Dellach im Drautal • Flattach • Großkirchheim • Heiligenblut am Großglockner • Irschen • Kleblach-Lind • Krems, Carinthia, Krems • Lendorf • Mallnitz • Malta, Austria, Malta • Mörtschach • Mühldorf, Carinthia, Mühldorf • Rangersdorf • Reißeck • Stall, Austria, Stall • Trebesing • Weissensee, Austria, Weissensee
* Villach-Land District, Villach-Land (VL)
** Administrative seat:
Villach
Villach (; sl, Beljak; it, Villaco; fur, Vilac) is the seventh-largest city in Austria and the second-largest in the federal state of Carinthia. It is an important traffic junction for southern Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the po ...
(not part of the district)
** Market towns: Arnoldstein • Bad Bleiberg • Finkenstein am Faaker See • Nötsch im Gailtal • Paternion •
Rosegg
Rosegg ( sl, Rožek) is a town in the district of Villach-Land in Carinthia in Austria.
Neighboring municipalities
Personalities
It is the birthplace of the painter Peter Markovič, after whom the local Slovene cultural association is named. L ...
• Sankt Jakob im Rosental • Treffen • Velden am Wörther See • Weißenstein
** Municipalities: Afritz am See • Arriach • Feistritz an der Gail • Feld am See • Ferndorf • Fresach • Hohenthurn • Stockenboi • Wernberg
* Völkermarkt District, Völkermarkt (VK)
** Administrative seat:
Völkermarkt
Völkermarkt (; sl, Velikovec) is a town of about 11,000 inhabitants in the Austrian state of Carinthia, the administrative capital of Völkermarkt District. It is located within the Drava valley east of the Carinthian capital Klagenfurt, north ...
** Town:
Bleiburg
Bleiburg ( sl, Pliberk) is a small town in the south Austrian state of Carinthia (''Koroška''), south-east of Klagenfurt, in the district of Völkermarkt, some four kilometres (2.5 miles) from the border with Slovenia.
The municipality consists o ...
** Market towns: Eberndorf • Eisenkappel-Vellach • Feistritz ob Bleiburg •
Griffen
** Municipalities: Diex • Gallizien •
Globasnitz
Globasnitz ( Slovene: ''Globasnica'') is a town in the district of Völkermarkt in the Austrian state of Carinthia.
Population
A considerable percentage (42.1%) of the population are Carinthian Slovenes, and Slovene is a second official language ...
• Neuhaus, Carinthia, Neuhaus • Ruden, Austria, Ruden • Sankt Kanzian am Klopeiner See • Sittersdorf
* Wolfsberg District, Wolfsberg (WO)
** Administrative seat:
Wolfsberg
** Towns:
Bad Sankt Leonhard im Lavanttal
Bad Sankt Leonhard im Lavanttal ( sl, Sveti Lenart v Labotu) is a spa town in the district of Wolfsberg in the Austrian state of Carinthia.
Geography
The municipality lies in the upper Lavant valley (''Lavanttal'') north of the district capita ...
•
Sankt Andrä
) is a town in the district of Wolfsberg in Carinthia in Austria. It is named after Saint Andrew
Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint ...
** Market towns: Frantschach-Sankt Gertraud • Lavamünd • Reichenfels • Sankt Paul im Lavanttal
** Municipalities: Preitenegg • Sankt Georgen im Lavanttal
Politics
![Klagenfurt Landhaus 25042009 31](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Klagenfurt_Landhaus_25042009_31.jpg)
The state assembly ''Kärntner Landtag'', ("Carinthian State Diet"), is a unicameralism, unicameral legislature. Its 36 members are elected from Party-list proportional representation, party lists according to the principle of proportional representation and serve five-year terms, with elections held every five years. Austrian nationals over the age of 16 residing in Carinthia are eligible to vote. The ''Landtag'' has a Election threshold, threshold of 5%. The current legislative period is the 30th since the first Carinthian elections on 6 April 1861.
The most recent election, the 2018 Carinthian state election, were held on 5 March 2018. The Social Democratic Party of Austria, SPÖ, the party of the incumbent governor Peter Kaiser, almost reached the absolute majority of seats in the state assembly. This makes Carinthia one of Austria's most left-leaning regions.
The legislature also elects the state government, composed of a minister-president, whose ancient title is ''Landeshauptmann'' ("State Captain"), his two deputies and further four ''Landesräte'' ministers. The members of the Cabinet (government), cabinet form an all-party government elected under a system of proportional representation based on the number of representatives of the political parties in the ''Landtag''. The incumbent ''Landeshauptmann'' is Peter Kaiser (SPÖ).
Economy
The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the state was 20.9 billion € in 2018, accounting for 5.4% of the Austria's economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 33,000 € or 110% of the EU27 average in the same year.
Language
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
is the official language.
The people are predominantly German-speaking with a unique (and easily recognizable) Southern Austro-Bavarian dialect typical of which is that all short German vowels before double consonants have been lengthened ("Carinthian vowel stretching").
A Slovene language, Slovene-speaking minority, known as the Carinthian Slovenes, is concentrated in the southern and southeastern parts of the state. Its size cannot be determined precisely because the representatives of the ethnic group reject a count. Recommendations for a boycott of the 2001 census, which asked for the language used in everyday communication, reduced the count of Slovene speakers to 12,554 people, 2.38% of a total population of 527,333.
Tourist attractions
![Gurk Cathedral](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Gurk_Cathedral.jpg)
Major sights include the cities of
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 ...
and
Villach
Villach (; sl, Beljak; it, Villaco; fur, Vilac) is the seventh-largest city in Austria and the second-largest in the federal state of Carinthia. It is an important traffic junction for southern Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the po ...
and medieval towns like
Friesach
Friesach ( sl, Breže) is a historic town in the Sankt Veit an der Glan district of Carinthia, Austria. First mentioned in an 860 deed, it is known as the oldest town in Carinthia.
Geography
Location
Friesach covers an area of 120.83 km2 a ...
or
Gmünd. Carinthia features numerous monasteries and churches such as the Romanesque Gurk Cathedral or
Maria Saal
Maria Saal ( sl, Gospa Sveta) is a market town in the district of Klagenfurt-Land in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is located in the east of the historic Zollfeld plain (''Gosposvetsko polje''), the wide valley of the Glan river. The munici ...
in the Zollfeld plain, the abbeys of St. Paul's Abbey in the Lavanttal, St. Paul's, Ossiach Abbey, Ossiach, Millstatt Abbey, Millstatt, and Viktring Abbey, Viktring as well as castles and palaces like large-scale Hochosterwitz Castle, Hochosterwitz, Burgruine Griffen, Griffen, or Schloss Porcia, Porcia.
Scenic highlights are the main bathing lakes Wörthersee,
Millstätter See
Lake Millstatt (german: Millstätter See, sometimes written "Millstättersee") is a lake in Carinthia, Austria.
Geography
It is situated at 588 metres above the Adriatic (1,929 ft), north of the Drava Valley within the Gurktal Alps (Nock Moun ...
, Lake Ossiach, Ossiacher See and Faaker See as well as a variety of smaller lakes and ponds. In winter Carinthia offers ski resorts such as the Nassfeld near Hermagor, Gerlitzen mountain, Bad Kleinkirchheim, Flattach, and Heiligenblut at Austria's highest mountain, the
Grossglockner
The Grossglockner (german: Großglockner ; or just ''Glockner'') is, at 3,798 metres above the Adriatic (12,461 ft), the highest mountain in Austria and the highest mountain in the Alps east of the Brenner Pass. It is part of the larger Glock ...
as well as the Hohe Tauern and Nock Mountains national parks for all kind of alpine sports and mountaineering.
Notable people
Born in Carinthia
*
Arnulf of Carinthia
Arnulf of Carinthia ( 850 – 8 December 899) was the duke of Carinthia who overthrew his uncle Emperor Charles the Fat to become the Carolingian king of East Francia from 887, the disputed king of Italy from 894 and the disputed emperor from Feb ...
, Holy Roman Emperor, born about 850, grew up in Moosburg, Austria, Moosburg, died December 8, 899 in Regensburg.
* Pope Gregory V (né Bruno of Carinthia), born about 972, place unknown, died February 18, 999, in Rome.
* Saint Hemma of Gurk, born about 980, probably at Zeltschach,
Friesach
Friesach ( sl, Breže) is a historic town in the Sankt Veit an der Glan district of Carinthia, Austria. First mentioned in an 860 deed, it is known as the oldest town in Carinthia.
Geography
Location
Friesach covers an area of 120.83 km2 a ...
, died June 27, 1045, in Gurk (town), Gurk.
* Heinrich von dem Tuerlin, minstrel and epic poet, early 13th century, probably born at
Sankt Veit an der Glan
Sankt Veit an der Glan (; sl, Šentvid ob Glini) is a town in the Austrian state of Carinthia, the administrative centre of the Sankt Veit an der Glan District. It was the historic Carinthian capital until 1518. The famous chef Wolfgang Puck was ...
.
* Ulrich von dem Türlin, 13th century epic poet, probably born at St. Veit an der Glan.
* Henry I of Bohemia, Henry of Carinthia, king of Kingdom of Bohemia, Bohemia ''(Jindřich Korutanský)'' and titular king of Kingdom of Poland (1025–1385), Poland, born about 1265, died April 2, 1335 at Castle Tyrol.
* Josef Stefan, physicist, born March 24, 1835, in the vicinity of
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 ...
, died January 7, 1893, in Vienna.
* Thomas Koschat, composer and bass singer, born August 8, 1845, in
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 ...
.
* Robert Musil, author, born November 6, 1880, in Klagenfurt, died April 15, 1942, in Geneva.
* Anton Wiegele, painter, born February 23, 1887, at Nötsch im Gailtal, died December 17, 1944, at Nötsch im Gailtal.
* Herbert Boeckl, painter, born June 3, 1894, in Klagenfurt, died January 20, 1966, in Vienna.
* Rudolf Kattnigg, composer, born April 9, 1895, in Treffen, died September 2, 1955, in Vienna.
* Josef Klaus, politician, born August 15, 1910, at Kötschach-Mauthen, died July 25, 2001, in Vienna.
* Heinrich Harrer, mountaineer and ethnographer, born July 6, 1912, at Obergossen, Hüttenberg, Austria, Hüttenberg, died January 7, 2006, at
Friesach
Friesach ( sl, Breže) is a historic town in the Sankt Veit an der Glan district of Carinthia, Austria. First mentioned in an 860 deed, it is known as the oldest town in Carinthia.
Geography
Location
Friesach covers an area of 120.83 km2 a ...
.
* Christine Lavant, poet, born July 4, 1915, in Großedling,
Wolfsberg, died June 7, 1973, at Wolfsberg.
* Maria Lassnig, painter, born September 9, 1919, in Kappel am Krappfeld.
*Kathrin Glock, entrepreneur, born November 26, 1980, in Carinthia.
* Paul Watzlawick, psychologist, born July 25, 1921, in
Villach
Villach (; sl, Beljak; it, Villaco; fur, Vilac) is the seventh-largest city in Austria and the second-largest in the federal state of Carinthia. It is an important traffic junction for southern Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the po ...
, died March 31, 2007, in Palo Alto.
* Felix Ermacora, specialist in international law, born October 13, 1923, in
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 ...
, died February 24, 1995, in Vienna.
* Ingeborg Bachmann, poet and writer, born June 25, 1926, in Klagenfurt, died October 17, 1973, in Rome.
* Gerhard Lampersberg, composer, born July 5, 1928, at
Hermagor, died May 29, 2002, in Klagenfurt.
* Günther Domenig, architect, born July 6, 1934, in Klagenfurt, died 15 June 2012.
* Udo Jürgens, singer and composer, born September 30, 1934, in Klagenfurt, died December 21, 2014 in Münsterlingen, Switzerland.
* Kiki Kogelnik, painter, born January 22, 1935, at
Bleiburg
Bleiburg ( sl, Pliberk) is a small town in the south Austrian state of Carinthia (''Koroška''), south-east of Klagenfurt, in the district of Völkermarkt, some four kilometres (2.5 miles) from the border with Slovenia.
The municipality consists o ...
, died February 1, 1997, in Vienna.
* Bruno Gironcoli, sculptor, born September 27, 1936, at
Villach
Villach (; sl, Beljak; it, Villaco; fur, Vilac) is the seventh-largest city in Austria and the second-largest in the federal state of Carinthia. It is an important traffic junction for southern Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the po ...
, died February 19, 2010, in Vienna.
* Engelbert Obernosterer, writer, born December 28, 1936, at Sankt Lorenzen, Lesachtal.
* Dagmar Koller, actress and singer, born August 26, 1939, in Klagenfurt.
* Peter Handke, playwright and writer, born December 6, 1942, at
Griffen.
* Arnulf Komposch, mirror artist, born 1942 in Klagenfurt.
* Peter Turrini, playwright, born September 26, 1944, at St. Margarethen im Lavanttal, Wolfsberg, Austria, Wolfsberg.
* Gert Jonke, playwright, born February 8, 1946 in Klagenfurt, died January 4, 2009.
* Werner Kofler, writer, born July 23, 1947, in Villach.
* Wolfgang Petritsch, diplomat, born August 26, 1947, in Klagenfurt.
* Erik Schinegger, intersexed alpine skier, born June 19, 1948, at Agsdorf, Sankt Urban.
* Wolfgang Puck, celebrity chef, born July 8, 1949, in
Sankt Veit an der Glan
Sankt Veit an der Glan (; sl, Šentvid ob Glini) is a town in the Austrian state of Carinthia, the administrative centre of the Sankt Veit an der Glan District. It was the historic Carinthian capital until 1518. The famous chef Wolfgang Puck was ...
.
* Josef Winkler (writer), Josef Winkler, writer, born March 3, 1953, in Kamering.
* Franz Klammer, alpine skier, born December 3, 1953, at Mooswald, Fresach.
* Markus Müller (physician), Markus Müller, pharmacologist and rector of the Medical University of Vienna, born August 23, 1967, in Klagenfurt.
* Patrick Friesacher, Formula one driver, born September 26, 1980 in
Wolfsberg.
Died in Carinthia
*
Modestus
Modestus was a Roman cognomen. It may refer to:
* Julius Modestus (1st century BC), Roman freedman and grammarian
* Marcus Mettius Modestus (procurator) (1st century AD), Roman governor of Egypt
* Aufidius Modestus (1st century AD), Roman philo ...
, missionary, born about 720 in Ireland, died about 772 probably in
Maria Saal
Maria Saal ( sl, Gospa Sveta) is a market town in the district of Klagenfurt-Land in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is located in the east of the historic Zollfeld plain (''Gosposvetsko polje''), the wide valley of the Glan river. The munici ...
.
* Bolesław II the Bold, king of Kingdom of Poland (1025–1385), Poland, born about 1042; according to legend, died in Ossiach March 22, 1081 (?).
* Carl Auer von Welsbach, chemist and inventor, born September 1, 1858, in Vienna, died August 4, 1929, in Möbling.
* Anton Kolig, painter, born July 1, 1886, at Neutitschein (today Nový Jičín, Czech Republic), died May 17, 1950, in Nötsch im Gailtal.
* Werner Berg, painter, born April 4, 1911, in Elberfeld, now Wuppertal, Germany, died September 7, 1981, in Sankt Veit im Jauntal, Sankt Kanzian am Klopeiner See.
* Milivoj Ašner, born April 21, 1913, in Daruvar, Croatia, died 14 June 2011, accused Ustaše war criminal.
See also
* Slovenian Carinthia
* Carinthia (statistical region in Slovenia)
* Carinthian Plebiscite
* Carinthian Slovenes
*Slovene field and house names in Carinthia
References
Notes
External links
Official website of the Carinthian government (in German)Carinthia Travel Guide
Kaernten.at, Tourism information, 360° Panoramas, Webcams and much more (in English, German, Italian, Dutch, and other languages)Carinthia Events
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carinthia (State)
States of Austria
Carinthia (state),
NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union