Wels (;

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

: ''Wös'') is a city in

Upper Austria Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, an ...

, on the

Traun River Traun () is a river in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Its source is in the Totes Gebirge mountain range in Styria. It flows through the Salzkammergut area and the lakes Hallstätter See and Traunsee. The Traun is a right tributary of the D ...

near

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital ...

. It is the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

Wels-Land Bezirk Wels-Land is a district of the state of Upper Austria in Austria. Municipalities Towns (''Städte'') are indicated in boldface; market towns (''Marktgemeinden'') in ''italics''; suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality a ...

, and with a population of approximately 60,000, the eighth largest city in Austria.

Geography

Wels is in the Hausruckviertel at an elevation of . From north to south, it extends over , from west to east over . 3.4% of the area is covered with forest, 23.5% is used for agriculture. The town comprises the following boroughs: Aichberg, Au, Berg, Brandln, Dickerldorf, Doppelgraben, Eben, Gaßl, Höllwiesen, Hölzl, Kirchham, Laahen, Lichtenegg, Mitterlaab, Nöham, Niederthan, Oberhaid, Oberhart, Oberlaab, Oberthan, Pernau, Puchberg, Roithen, Rosenau, Schafwiesen, Stadlhof, Trausenegg, Unterleithen, Waidhausen, Wels, Wimpassing, Wispl.

History

Prehistoric

The area of Wels has been settled since the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

era (between 3500 and 1700 B.C.E.), as evidenced by archaeological finds of simple tools, especially from around the banks of the Traun River in what is now the city center. A

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

(after 1700 B.C.E.) cemetery was found in the area of the current airport and dated to the time of the

Urnfield Culture 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 ...

(1100–750 B.C.E.). It contained 60 graves with such items as bronze jewelry and food. Swords from the

Halstatt Hallstatt ( , , ) is a small town in the district of Gmunden, in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Situated between the southwestern shore of Hallstätter See and the steep slopes of the Dachstein massif, the town lies in the Salzkammergut ...

Period (750–400 B.C.E.) have been found in the area of Pernau. During the Iron Age

La Tène Culture The La Tène culture (; ) was a European Iron Age culture. It developed and flourished during the late Iron Age (from about 450 BC to the Roman conquest in the 1st century BC), succeeding the early Iron Age Hallstatt culture without any defi ...

(up to 100 B.C.E.)

Celts The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...

inhabited the area, leaving behind gold coins, swords, earthenware and iron brooches. The name "Traun" comes from this time, and it is possible the "Wels" is similarly of Celtic origin. The name "Wels" could be Celtic for "Settlement on the bend of the Traun River".

Roman Era

Wels gained importance in

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 lette ...

times because of its central location in the province of

Noricum Noricum () is the Latin name for the Celtic kingdom or federation of tribes that included most of modern Austria and part of Slovenia. In the first century AD, it became a province of the Roman Empire. Its borders were the Danube to the north, ...

. Around the year 120, Wels received Roman

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

rights under the name of ''Municipium Ovilava''. The enclosed built-up area by the Traun River was at the present level of Kaiser-Josef-Platz. There were brick houses, a bath, an arena and an irrigation system of pure mountain water brought from beyond the Traun. Around 215, during the reign of Emperor

Caracalla Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname "Caracalla" () was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. He was a member of the Severan dynasty, the elder son of Emperor S ...

, it was renamed ''Colonia Aurelia Antoniana Ovilabis'' and given '' colonia'' status. At this time, the city had around 18,000 inhabitants. Due to the impending threat of the Alemanni, the city was surrounded by a city wall that enclosed an area of about 90 hectares and a road was built along 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 , p ...

to Passau. It is known that six towers with gates were integrated into the walls, controlling entrances from along the western road, towards the Traun, and to the fields beyond the city. As part of his

reforms Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...

Emperor Diocletian made Ovilava the capital city of the province of ''Noricum Ripensis''. It was governed by two ''

duumviri The duumviri ( Latin for "two men"), originally duoviri and also known in English as the duumvirs, were any of various joint magistrates of ancient Rome. Such pairs of magistrates were appointed at various periods of Roman history both in Rome i ...

'' who served as municipal judges, two ''

aediles ''Aedile'' ( ; la, aedīlis , from , "temple edifice") was an elected office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings () and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enf ...

'', who advocated compliance with the laws and market rights, a '' quaestor'', who managed the city treasury, and a 100-member city council. Ovilava administered an area enclosed by the

Inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...

and Danube, from Lauriacum (Enns) in the east to submitted to

Bad Ischl Bad Ischl (Austrian German ) is a spa town in Austria. It lies in the southern part of Upper Austria, at the Traun River in the centre of the Salzkammergut region. The town consists of the Katastralgemeinden ''Ahorn'', ''Bad Ischl'', ''Haide ...

in the west. In this area are included the border fortifications,

(Lentia) and Passau (Boiodurum), as well as numerous settlements in what are now the regions of

and

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

. During the early migration period (3rd, 4th and 5th century), the area around Ovilava was often invaded by the Alamanni,

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The Vandals migrated to the area betw ...

and other Germanic tribes as well as by Attila's army. During the time of the Emperor

Gallienus Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus (; c. 218 – September 268) was Roman emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260 and alone from 260 to 268. He ruled during the Crisis of the Third Century that nearly caused the collapse of the empi ...

the province of Noricum was described as “devastated”. By the time of Odoacer, the first Germanic King of Italy, Noricum was described as “vacant”. From the 4th century onward, it is likely that Wels was again a small and insignificant village for several centuries. File:Römermedaillon Wels.JPG, A medallion from a Roman grave reused in a house in Wels File:Römische Stadtmauer in Wels.jpg, Remnant of the Roman walls of Wels, Schubertstrasse File:Venus von Wels.jpg, The "Venus of Wels"

The economy of Roman Wels

Agriculture and regional trade formed the basis for the economy of Ovilava. While most agriculture was subsistence level, cows and horses were produced in large enough numbers to be exported. The oldest granary in the Eastern Alps has been discovered in Wels, which housed diverse grains such as wheat, dwarf wheat,

emmer wheat Emmer wheat or hulled wheat is a type of awned wheat. Emmer is a tetraploid (4''n'' = 4''x'' = 28 chromosomes). The domesticated types are ''Triticum turgidum'' subsp. ''dicoccum'' and ''Triticum turgidum ''conv.'' durum''. The wild plant is ...

, barley and rye. There was additionally a significant brick and pottery works as well as mines for construction stone. Due to its situation at an important crossing of several Roman roads, both east-to-west and to the south, archeology reveals a large number of objects manufactured in other areas of the empire, such as

Terra Sigillata Terra sigillata is a term with at least three distinct meanings: as a description of medieval medicinal earth; in archaeology, as a general term for some of the fine red Ancient Roman pottery with glossy surface slips made in specific areas of ...

pottery and statuettes (such as the "Venus of Wels") from

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

and

Germania Inferior Germania Inferior ("Lower Germania") was a Roman province from AD 85 until the province was renamed Germania Secunda in the fourth century, on the west bank of the Rhine bordering the North Sea. The capital of the province was Colonia Agripp ...

, as well as oyster shells and coins from Italy.

Middle Ages

Wels served as a minor trading centre during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. In 943, the Hungarians were defeated by the Bavarians and Carantanians at the

Battle of Wels The Battle of Wels (10/12Widukind of Corvey; Bernard S. Bachrach and David S. Bachrach (eds.), ''Deeds of the Saxons'' (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2014), p. 91. August 943) was fought between a joint Bavarian– Carant ...

. In 1222, during the rule of the

Babenberger The House of Babenberg was a noble dynasty of Austrian Dukes and Margraves. Originally from Bamberg in the Duchy of Franconia (present-day Bavaria), the Babenbergs ruled the imperial Margraviate of Austria from its creation in 976 AD until its ...

family, Wels again received city rights. A document dating to 1328 provides evidence for Wels' important role as the location of a market. Its endowment with economic privileges, and its advantageous position on several

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

s allowed it to gain an important position in the region.

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Maximilian I died in Wels on January 12, 1519, after having been denied access to Innsbruck by its citizens.

20th century

During

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

, a subcamp of

Mauthausen concentration camp Mauthausen was a Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen, Upper Austria, Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with List of subcamps of Mauthausen, nearly 100 further ...

was located here.Christine O'Keef
. "Concentration Camps"
tartanplace.com; accessed 4 November 2016. On 18 January 1964, Wels became a Statutarstadt of Austria.

Population

Economy

There are about 36,000 people employed in Wels. Of that, about 63% are in the service sector. Wels is known as an important city for shopping and the location of several gymnasiums (academic secondary schools) and higher vocational schools and also of a

vocational college A university of applied sciences (UAS), nowadays much less commonly called a polytechnic university or vocational university, is an institution of higher education and sometimes research that provides vocational education and grants academic de ...

. Furthermore, it is famous for the

Wels Fair Wels (; Central Bavarian: ''Wös'') is a city in Upper Austria, on the Traun River near Linz. It is the county seat of Wels-Land, and with a population of approximately 60,000, the eighth largest city in Austria. Geography Wels is in the ...

, which takes place every year in autumn and spring.

Notable residents

Alois Auer Alois Auer (11 May 1813 – 10 July 1869) was an Austrian printer, inventor and botanical illustrator, most active during the 1840s and 1850s. He produced a number of works in German and other languages, including the first regarding the nature pr ...

(1813–1869), printer * Karin Hannak (born 1940), artist *

Josef Friedrich Doppelbauer Josef Friedrich Doppelbauer (5 August 1918 – 16 January 1989) was an Austrian composer, organist and choral conductor. He was professor of organ and composition, especially of church music, at the Salzburg Mozarteum from 1960 to 1988, serving as ...

(1918–1989), composer * Thomas Steiner (born 1956), film director * Julius Wagner-Jauregg (1857–1940), physician, Nobel Prize 1927 *

Franz Welser-Möst Franz Leopold Maria Möst (born 16 August 1960), known professionally as Franz Welser-Möst, is an Austrian conductor. He is currently music director of the Cleveland Orchestra. Biography Franz Leopold Maria Möst was born in Linz, Austria, ...

(born 1960), conductor *

Hugo Gerard Ströhl Hugo Gerard Ströhl (24 September 1851 – 7 December 1919) was an Austrian heraldist. Life Ströhl was born in Wels in Upper Austria. A talented painter, he studied at the School for Applied Arts ("Kunstgewerbeschule des Österreichische ...

(1851–1919), heraldist * Carl Rabl (1853–1917), physician and anatomist * Grete Hinterhofer (1899–1985), classical pianist and composer was born in Wels * Thomas Christian David (1925–2006), composer and performer * Werner Kreindl (1927–1992), television actor * Manfred Buchroithner (born 1950), cartographer, geologist and professor * Paul Rübig (born 1953), politician (ÖVP), member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

Christoph Ransmayr Christoph Ransmayr (born 20 March 1954) is an Austrian writer. Life Born in Wels, Upper Austria, Ransmayr grew up in Roitham near Gmunden and the Traunsee. From 1972 to 1978 he studied philosophy and ethnology in Vienna. He worked there as ...

(born 1954), writer * Rudolf Anschober (born 1960), Austrian politician * Stefan Sonvilla-Weiss (born 1961), communication scientist and arts and media educator *

Götz Spielmann Götz Spielmann (born 11 January 1961) is an Austrian director and scriptwriter. Life and career Spielmann was born in Wels, Austria, and grew up in Vienna. After High School, he lived in Paris for several months. From 1980 to 1987 he studied fi ...

(born 1961), film director and screenwriter * Sabine Derflinger (born 1963), director, writer, producer and dramaturgical consultant * Norbert Trawöger (born 1971), flautist and artistic director * Christian Mayrleb (born 1972), soccer player, national player and top scorer in the top division in Austria * Johannes Wipplinger (born 1978), athlete and bobsledder *

Helge Payer Helge Payer (born 9 August 1979) is an Austrian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played for the Austria national team. Club career Payer came through the youth ranks at Rapid Wien to make his professional debut in ...

(born 1979), soccer goalkeeper * Emin Sulimani (born 1986), football player * Robert Žulj (born 1992), football player * Kevin Wimmer (born 1992), soccer player * Felix Großschartner (born 1993), cyclist * Karl Ridderbusch (born 1932), operatic bass

References

External links

* (in German): http://www.wels.at {{Authority control Cities and towns in Upper Austria