Ossiach ( sl, Osoje) is a municipality in the

Feldkirchen District Bezirk Feldkirchen is a district of the state of Carinthia in Austria. Municipalities Towns (''Städte'') are indicated in boldface; suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality are indicated in small characters. * Albeck ( Slov.: ...

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 ...

. The small settlement is mainly known for

Ossiach Abbey Ossiach Abbey (''Stift Ossiach'') is a former Benedictine monastery in Ossiach, in the Austrian state of Carinthia. The site is one of the venues of an annual music festival called "Carinthian Summer". History In 878 the East Frankish king Ca ...

Geography

It is located at the southern shore of

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 It is the state's third largest lake, superseded only by Lake Wörth and Lake Millstatt.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 ...

, on the slope of the small ''Ossiacher Tauern'' range within the Nock Mountains, a range of the

Gurktal Alps The Gurktal Alps (german: Gurktaler Alpen, sl, Krške Alpe) is a mountain range located in the Central Eastern Alps in Austria, named after the valley of the Gurk river. The range stretches west to Lake Millstatt and east to Neumarkter Sattel ( ...

, at the road 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 Feldkirchen. The commune consists of the Katastralgemeinden ''Alt-Ossiach'', ''Ossiach'', ''Ostriach'', ''Rappitsch'', ''Tauern'' and ''Untertauern''.

History

Ossiach Abbey was founded about 1000. The monastery church was mentioned in a 1028 deed, hence the first of the

Benedictine Order , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

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 ...

. The abbey developed to an ecclesiastical and cultural centre of the region, though no larger homestead arose outside its walls. After the dissolution of the monastery by the order of Emperor

Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 unt ...

in 1783, the rural area from 1850 was part of neighbouring Steindorf. The Ossiach municipality was not established until 1904. Today the church is also renowned for the Carinthischer Sommer classical music festival, held around July and August each year. The pianist

Wilhelm Backhaus Wilhelm Backhaus ('Bachaus' on some record labels) (26 March 1884 – 5 July 1969) was a German pianist and pedagogue. He was particularly well known for his interpretations of Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin and Brahms. He was also much ...

held his last concert here on June 29, 1969. Since 1974, the abbey has held church opera productions, particularly the parables of

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

, as well as other theatrical productions. Some Austrians have written works specifically for the festival, including

Cesar Bresgen Cesar Bresgen (16 October 1913 – 7 April 1988) was an Austrian composer. Biography He was born in Florence to Maria and August Bresgen, both artists. He spent his childhood in Zell am See, Munich, Prague, and Salzburg. From 1930 to 1936 ...

(''Das Spiel vom Menschen'', 1982) and

Dieter Kaufmann Dieter Kaufmann (born 22 April 1941) is an Austrian composer. Biography Kaufmann was born in Vienna and grew up in Carinthia. He studied music, German philology, art history, violoncello, composition (with Karl Schiske, Gottfried von Einem, O ...

(''Bruder Boleslaw'', 1989). A

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...

stands in the village of ''Tauern''. First mentioned in 1290, the ''Tauernkirche'' was rebuilt in 1519 in a Late Gothic style and received a Baroque equipment including a

high altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paganis ...

in the 17th century.

Neighboring municipalities

Politics

Seats in the municipal assembly (''Gemeinderat'') as of 2003 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): 4 *

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): 4 *

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

References

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Feldkirchen District