Kennelbach is a community in the district of Bregenz in the westernmost

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

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label= Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the ...

. As of 2016, it is the home of the operational headquarters of the sporting goods manufacturer Head, along with

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

, the corporate headquarters.Head Official Site
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Geography

The town lies east of Lake Constance and is 430 meters above sea level. About 54 percent of its territory is forested.

History

The Habsburg dynasty ruled

alternately from

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 ...

and from Freiburg im Breisgau. From 1805 to 1814 Kennelbach belonged to

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 ...

, and then again to Austria. It has been part of the Austrian state of Vorarlberg since its establishment in 1861. In the 19th century and first half of the 20th century it was economically influenced by the Schindler industrial family, whose cotton spinning factories closed in 1968. The former Schindler family home, ''Villa Grünau'', has belonged to the town government since 1992 and functions as the town hall (Rathaus). From 1945 to 1955 the municipality was within the French occupation zone of Austria.

Population

Politics

Since 1 October 2008 the mayor has been Hans Bertsch, who took over from Reinhard Hagspiel. The town council consists of 18 members.

Twin cities

Scurelle Scurelle (''Scurełe'' in local dialect) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about east of Trento. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,322 and an area of . ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Economy

Tourism is an important industry in Kennelbach.The well-known ski and tennis gear maker Head has its headquarters in Kennelbach.

Personalities

* Friedrich Wilhelm Schindler (1856-1920), Austrian entrepreneur and inventor. * Hans Purin (1898-1989), Austrian painter and artist.

References

Cities and towns in Bregenz District {{Vorarlberg-geo-stub