Oberdrauburg is a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

in the district of

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 ...

at the western rim of 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

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

Geography

Oberdrauburg is near the ''Kärntner Tor'' (Carinthian Gate), a narrow place in the

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

Valley between the

Gailtal Alps , ''Drauzug'' , photo=Grosse Sandspitze 1.jpg , photo_size= , photo_caption=Große Sandspitze, the highest peak in the range , country= Austria , subdivision1_type= States , subdivision1= , parent= , geology= Limestone , orogeny=Alpine o ...

in the south and the

Kreuzeck group The Kreuzeck Group is a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps. It may be considered either a separate range or part of the larger Hohe Tauern, High Tauern chain. Administratively, the range belongs to the Austrian States of Austria, states of ...

of the

Hohe Tauern The High Tauern (plural, pl.; german: Hohe Tauern, it, Alti Tauri) are a mountain range on the Main chain of the Alps, main chain of the Central Eastern Alps, comprising the highest peaks east of the Brenner Pass. The crest forms the southern bor ...

range in the north, where the river crosses the border from

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 ...

to Carinthia. The town is about east of

Lienz Lienz (; Southern Bavarian: ''Lianz'') is a Town privileges, medieval town in the Austrian state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol. It is the administrative centre of the Lienz (district), Lienz district, which covers all of East Tyrol. The municipality a ...

; in the west it shares a border with the Tyrolian municipality of

Nikolsdorf Nikolsdorf is a municipality in the district of Lienz in the Austrian state of 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 his ...

. The municipal area includes 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 Flaschberg and Zwickenberg. Oberdrauburg is on the Drautal-Straße highway (''

Bundesstraße ''Bundesstraße'' (German for "federal highway"), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways. Germany Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km. German ''Bundesstraßen'' ...

B 100'') running from

. Here the ''Plöckenpass-Straße B 110'' highway branches off, leading via the Gailberg Saddle mountain pass to

Kötschach-Mauthen Kötschach-Mauthen ( sl, Koča-Muta) is a market town in the district of Hermagor in Carinthia in Austria. Geography The municipality lies in the west of Hermagor at the transition of the upper Gail Valley into the Lesachtal, between the Gail ...

in 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 ...

Valley. Rail transport is available at the Oberdrauburg Station of the Drautalbahn (Drava Valley Railway) line. The name of the town corresponds with the town of

Dravograd Dravograd (; german: Unterdrauburg) is a small town in northern Slovenia, close to the border with Austria. It is the seat of the Municipality of Dravograd. It lies on the Drava River at the confluence with the Meža and the Mislinja. It is ...

(''Unterdrauburg'') in

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 ...

, where the Drava crosses the border from Carinthia to the historic

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 ...

region.

History

Oberdrauburg Hohenburg Ost-Ansicht 24092006 8302

Archaeological findings indicate a continuous settlement of the area throughout

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 ...

and

Roman 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 letter ...

times. Oberdrauburg Castle was first mentioned in a 1240 as a possession of the

Carinthian Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Bavarian group. Carint ...

duke

Bernhard von Spanheim Bernhard von Spanheim (or Sponheim; 1176 or 1181 – 4 January 1256), a member of the noble House of Sponheim, was Duke of Carinthia for 54 years from 1202 until his death. A patron of chivalry and minnesang, Bernhard's reign marked the emerge ...

. During the 13th century a settlement arose beneath the castle near the branch-off of the Gailberg Saddle road. In 1292 Oberdrauburg was held by the Meinhardiner

House of Gorizia The Counts of Gorizia (german: Grafen von Görz; it, Conti di Gorizia; sl, Goriški grofje), also known as the Meinhardiner, were a comital, princely and ducal dynasty in the Holy Roman Empire. Named after Gorizia Castle in Gorizia (now in Ital ...

at Lienz. In 1308 it appears as a fief of the

Archbishopric of Salzburg The Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg (german: Fürsterzbistum Salzburg; Erzstift Salzburg; Erzbistum Salzburg) was an ecclesiastical principality and state of the Holy Roman Empire. It comprised the secular territory ruled by the archbishops of ...

. It received

market rights A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

in 1325 and further benefited from its convenient location at the crossroads. From 1385 it was held by the

Counts of Ortenburg The Counts of Ortenburg (german: Grafen von Ortenburg) were a comital family in the mediaeval Duchy of Carinthia. Though they had roots in Bavarian nobility, an affiliation with the Imperial Counts of Ortenburg, a branch line of the Rhenish Fra ...

and, with the Ortenburg possessions, it was inherited by Count Hermann II of Celje in 1418. Upon the death of Hermann's grandson Count

Ulrich II of Celje Ulrich (), is a German given name, derived from Old High German ''Uodalrich'', ''Odalric''. It is composed of the elements '' uodal-'' meaning "(noble) heritage" and ''-rich'' meaning "rich, powerful". Attested from the 8th century as the name of A ...

in 1456, it passed to the Austrian

House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

. Archduke

Ferdinand I of Austria en, Ferdinand Charles Leopold Joseph Francis Marcelin , image = Kaiser Ferdinand I.jpg , caption = Portrait by Eduard Edlinger (1843) , succession = Emperor of AustriaKing of Hungary , moretext = ( more...) , cor-type = ...

granted the estates to his treasurer

Gabriel von Salamanca In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek language, Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin language, Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic language, Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, transli ...

in 1524.

Politics

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

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

(ÖVP): 7 *

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): 4 *''Initiative Aufschwung Oberdrauburg'' (Independent): 4

Twin towns

Oberdrauburg is twinned with: * Türkenfeld,

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

since 1990 *

Signa Signa () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region Tuscany, located about west of Florence. Signa borders the following municipalities: Campi Bisenzio, Carmignano, Lastra a Signa, Poggio a Caiano, ...

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 re ...

since 1996 *

Paluzza Paluzza ( fur, Paluce) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Udine in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia. A local term in the Bavarian language for " hello" is . Geography It is located about northwest of Trieste and about nor ...

Notable people

Notable people that were born or lived in Oberdrauburg include: *

Friedrich Marx Friedrich Marx (April 22, 1859 – October 17, 1941) was a German classical philologist born in Bessungen — today part of the city of Darmstadt. In 1877 he began his study of classical philology at the University of Giessen, then conti ...

(1830-1905), Austrian writer and officer * Franz Jochum (born 1944), politician *

Hellmuth Marx Hellmuth Marx (17 June 1915 – 1 January 2002) was an Austrian sculptor. Life Marx was born in Linz, Austria as the last of five children. Sisters: Modesta, Maria, Melitta and Marzella. Pets: Harras (dog) and Hella (horse). His father, Viktor ...

(1915–2002), sculptor *

Roland Schwarzl Roland Schwartzl (born 10 December 1980 in Lienz) is a decathlon, decathlete from Austria. He has won 5 pole vault and 3 heptathlon tiles since 1999 in the Austrian Indoor Championships. He also won both the decathlon and long jump in the Austrian ...

(born 1980), olympic track and field athlete

References

Cities and towns in Spittal an der Drau District Austria–Slovenia border crossings Kreuzeck group Gailtal Alps {{Carinthia-geo-stub