Obervellach ( sl, Zgornja Bela) 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 ...
, in the
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n state of
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
The town is situated in the valley of the
Möll
The Möll (; presumably from sl, Mel, "rubble") is a river in northwestern Carinthia in Austria, a left tributary of the Drava. Its drainage basin is .
Course
The river rises in the High Tauern range of the Central Eastern Alps on the Pasterze ...
river, on the southern slope of 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, where the
Tauern Railway
The Tauern Railway (german: Tauernbahn) is an Austrian railway line between Schwarzach- Sankt Veit in the state of Salzburg and Spittal an der Drau in Carinthia. It is part of one of the most important north-south trunk routes (''Magistrale'') in ...
line descends from neighbouring
Mallnitz
Mallnitz is a municipality in the Spittal an der Drau District in Carinthia, Austria.
Geography
It is situated in a high valley of the Hohe Tauern mountain range stretching southwards down to Obervellach on the Möll river and separating the ...
and the southern
Tauern Tunnel portal. The municipal area comprises the
cadastral communities
A cadastral community or cadastral municipality, is a cadastral subdivision of municipalities in the nations of Austria,Cadastral Template for Austria, web-pageCT-AT Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, ...
of Obervellach proper, Pfaffenberg, Lassach, and Söbriach.
History
The settlement of ''Velach'' was first mentioned in a 10th-century deed issued by the Bishop Abraham of
Freising
Freising () is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Freising ''Landkreis'' (district), with a population of about 50,000.
Location
Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the Is ...
(d. 993/94), a
Bavarian missionary among the
East Alpine Slavs in the
Duchy of Carinthia
The Duchy of Carinthia (german: Herzogtum Kärnten; sl, Vojvodina Koroška) was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, and was the first newly created Imperial Sta ...
(former
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 ...
), known for the Slovene
Freising manuscripts
The Freising manuscriptsAlso ''Freising folia'', ''Freising fragments'', or ''Freising monuments''; german: Freisinger Denkmäler, la, Monumenta Frisingensia, sl, Brižinski spomeniki or are the first Latin-script continuous text in a Slavic ...
. The name is probably derived from Slavic ''bela'' ("white"). The local church was mentioned as 'Freising basilica' in 1072, it later became the seat of a
deanery
A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...
of the
Salzburg archbishops.
The traditional
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
and
silver mining
Silver mining is the extraction of silver from minerals, starting with mining. Because silver is often found in intimate combination with other metals, its extraction requires elaborate technologies. In 2008, ca.25,900 metric tons were consumed ...
area from the 12th century onwards was a possession of the comital
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 ...
(Görz); in 1164 their ''
ministeriales
The ''ministeriales'' (singular: ''ministerialis'') were a class of people raised up from serfdom and placed in positions of power and responsibility in the High Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire.
The word and its German translations, ''Minis ...
'' took their residence at
Falkenstein Castle high above the valley. The Counts of Gorizia also held nearby
Groppenstein Castle, first mentioned in 1254. Obervellach market rights were attested in 1256. After an armed conflict over the inheritance of late 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 which the Count
Leonhard of Gorizia
Leonhard of Gorizia (1440 – 12 April 1500) was the last Count of Görz from the Meinhardiner dynasty, who ruled at Lienz and Gorizia (''Görz'') from 1454 until his death.
Family
Leonhard was born at Bruck Castle in Lienz, the comital residenc ...
and his brother
John II John II may refer to:
People
* John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (1455–1499)
* John II Casimir Vasa of Poland (1609–1672)
* John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch (died 1302)
* John II Doukas of Thessaly (1303–1318)
* John II Komnenos (1087–1 ...
were defeated by the forces of Emperor
Frederick III, the area of Obervellach in 1460 finally was incorporated into the
Inner Austria
Inner Austria (german: Innerösterreich; sl, Notranja Avstrija; it, Austria Interiore) was a term used from the late 14th to the early 17th century for the Habsburg hereditary lands south of the Semmering Pass, referring to the Imperial duchies ...
n possessions of the ruling
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 ...
.
The town remained an important mining area; the Habsburg emperor
Maximilian I himself confirmed the market rights and in 1509 decided on Obervellach as the seat of the Inner Austrian mining authority (''Oberbergmeisteramt''). The present-day
Late Gothic church building was built around 1500, it was consecrated by Bishop
Berthold of Chiemsee. A notable
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
altar was installed about 1520 at the behest of the Imperial captain
Christoph Frankopan
Christoph Frankopan ( hr, Krsto Frankopan Brinjski, hu, Frangepán Kristóf; it, Cristoforo Frangipani; 1482 – 22 September 1527) was a Croatian count from the noble House of Frankopan. As a supporter of King John I of Hungary during the s ...
(Frangipani), brother-in-law of the Salzburg prince-archbishop
Matthäus Lang von Wellenburg
Matthäus Lang von Wellenburg (1469 – 30 March 1540) was a statesman of the Holy Roman Empire, a Cardinal and Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg from 1519 to his death.
Life
Matthäus Lang was the son of a burgher of Augsburg and later received ...
; it includes several pieces by the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
painter
Jan van Scorel
Jan van Scorel (1 August 1495 – 6 December 1562) was a Dutch painter, who played a leading role in introducing aspects of Italian Renaissance painting into Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting. He was one of the early painters of the Ro ...
(1495–1562).
In the 17th century, gold and silver deposits were progressively depleted, they were replaced by new
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
mines. When the travel writer
Joseph Kyselak toured the region in 1825, he found Obervellach a still prosperous town. The Obervellach municipality was established in 1849, it then also comprised neighbouring Mallnitz,
Flattach
Flattach ( sl, Blato) is a municipality in Spittal an der Drau District in the Austrian state of Carinthia.
Geography
It is located in the valley of the Möll, a left tributary to the Drava, between the Goldberg and the Kreuzeck groups of the ...
, and the cadastral community of Penk (part of the
Reißeck
Reißeck is a municipality in the district of Spittal an der Drau in Carinthia, Austria.
Geography
Situated within the valley of the Möll river, a tributary to the Drava, Reißeck is located about northwest of the district capital Spittal an ...
municipality since 1973), which all became independent in 1896.
The Tauern Railway line was inaugurated in 1909, with a station near the village of Kaponig high above the Obervellach centre, which was accessible by a
cable car Cable car most commonly refers to the following cable transportation systems:
* Aerial lift, such as aerial tramways and gondola lifts, in which the vehicle is suspended in the air from a cable
** Aerial tramway
** Chairlift
** Gondola lift
*** Bi ...
until 1975. The station was finally closed in 1999, today trains stop at the ''Tauernschleuse''
car shuttle station in Mallnitz (''Mallnitz-Obervellach'').
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
*''Mut für Obervellach'' (
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
): 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): 3
*
Freedom Party of Austria
The Freedom Party of Austria (german: Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Austria. It was led by Norbert Hofer from September 2019 to 1 June 2021.Staff (1 June 2021"Aust ...
(FPÖ): 2
Twin towns
Obervellach is
twinned with:
*
Freising
Freising () is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Freising ''Landkreis'' (district), with a population of about 50,000.
Location
Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the Is ...
, Germany, since 1963
*
Dilbeek
Dilbeek () is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in the Flemish region of Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Dilbeek proper, Groot-Bijgaarden, Itterbeek (with Sint-Anna-Pede), Schepdaal (with Sint-Gertrudis-Pede), ...
, Belgium, since 1973
*
Seltz
Seltz (; ) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department of the Grand Est region in north-eastern France. It is located on the Sauer river near its confluence with the Rhine, opposite the German town of Rastatt.
History
The former Celtic settlement ...
, France, since 1979
*
Muggia
Muggia ( vec, label=Venetian language, Venetian, Triestine dialect, Muja; german: Mulgs; fur, Mugle; sl, Milje) is an Italian town and ''comune'' in the south-west of the Province of Trieste, in the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia on the border w ...
, Italy, since 1984
*
Hemer
Hemer is a town in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Geography
Hemer is located at the north end of the Sauerland near the Ruhr (river), Ruhr river. The highest elevation, at 546 metres (1,791 ft), is in th ...
, Germany, since 1985
*
Kreuzau
Kreuzau is a municipality in the district of Düren in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the river Rur, approx. 5 km south of Düren.
Geography Neighbouring communities
Kreuzau is surrounded by the followin ...
, Germany, since 1987
*
15th district of Budapest, Hungary, since 1997
*
Škofja Loka
Škofja Loka (; german: Bischoflack) is a town in Slovenia. It is the economic, cultural, educational, and administrative center of the Municipality of Škofja Loka in Upper Carniola. It has about 12,000 inhabitants.
Geography
Škofja Loka lies a ...
, Slovenia, since 1997
References
External links
Municipal websiteobervellach-reisseck.at
{{authority control
Cities and towns in Spittal an der Drau District
Kreuzeck group
Goldberg Group