Tamsweg () is a market town in the Austrian state of Salzburg near the border with

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 ...

. It is the administrative centre of the eponymous Tamsweg District ('' Bezirk'') and the largest town of the Salzburg Lungau region.

Geography

Tamsweg is located on the southern slope of the

Schladminger Tauern The Schladming Tauern''Outline of the geology of Austria and selected excursions'', Volumes 34-35. Geologische Bundesanstalt (Austria), 1980. pp. 62/3. . (german: Schladminger Tauern) are a subrange of the Austrian Central Alps within the Eastern ...

mountain range within the Central Eastern Alps, in the valley of the upper Mur River, the driest basin in Austria. The municipality consists of 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 Haiden, Keusching, Lasaberg, Mörtelsdorf, Sauerfeld, Seetal, Tamsweg and Wölting.

History

Once part of the Roman Noricum province, the Lungau from the 6th century onwards was a Slavic settlement area, which in the 8th century fell under the influence of the Bavarian dukes. The locality of ''Taemswich'' was first mentioned about 1156. The parish church, originally a filial of nearby Mariapfarr, was acquired by Archbishop Eberhard II of Salzburg in 1246. The Prince-Archbishops had the

Saint Leonard Leonard of Noblac (also Leonard of Limoges or Leonard of Noblet; also known as Lienard, Linhart, Leonhard, Léonard, Leonardo, Annard; died 559), is a Frankish saint closely associated with the town and abbey of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, in Haut ...

pilgrimage church erected about 1433, which in the late 15th century was enlarged as a fortified church in view of repeated Ottoman invasions. In 1490, it was occupied by Hungarian troops of King Matthias Corvinus and became the site of violent fights against the armed forces of Emperor Frederick III. The archbishops fought against the Protestant Reformation in their estates, in the course of the

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...

, Tamsweg was enlarged as an episcopal residence and its citizens vested with further market rights in 1587, especially concerning the trade with salt and iron. During the Napoleonic War of the First Coalition, Tamsweg was occupied by

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

troops in 1797, and after the 1803 secularisation of the Salzburg prince-archbishopric, it passed with the Electorate of Salzburg to the Austrian Empire according to the 1805 Peace of Pressburg. The economy of the remote area was decisively promoted, when Tamsweg received access to the Austro-Hungarian railway network with the opening of the Mur Valley Railway line in 1894. Tamsweg is notable for its annual processions of a Samson figure.

Politics

The municipal assembly (''Gemeinderat'') consists of 25 seats and as of 2009 elections is composed of *

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): 12 *

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): 7 * Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ): 4 * The Greens: 2

Twin town

Iseo, Brescia,

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

, Italy

Transportation

Tamsweg lies at the junction of the Bundesstraßen (federal highways) B95 ''Turracher Straße'' from Mauterndorf to

Predlitz-Turrach Predlitz-Turrach is a former municipality in the district of Murau in Styria, Austria. Since the 2015 Styria municipal structural reform, it is part of the municipality Stadl-Predlitz Stadl-Predlitz is a municipality since 2015 in the Murau Dis ...

in Styria and the B96 ''Murtal Straße'' from

Sankt Michael im Lungau Sankt Michael im Lungau is a market town in the district of Tamsweg in the Austrian state of Salzburg. Geography It is located in the historic Lungau region, in the valley of the upper Mur river, north of Katschberg Pass on the border with the s ...

and the A 10 Tauern Autobahn ( European route E55) to Murau. It can also be reached by the terminal station of the ''Murtalbahn''

narrow gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...

to the Austrian Southern Railway (''Südbahn'') at Unzmarkt-Frauenburg.

Notable people

* Franz (Fuxi) Fuchsberger - 6 Times Powder 8 World Ski Champion *

Ingrid Stöckl Ingrid Stöckl (born March 28, 1969, in Tamsweg) is a former Austrian alpine skier. She won a silver medal in the Combined event at the 1991 World Championships. She competed in two events at the 1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Ol ...

(born 1969), alpine skier

References

External links

{{authority control Cities and towns in Tamsweg District