Wolfsberg ( sl, Volšperk) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

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 ...

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 ...

, the capital of

Wolfsberg District Bezirk Wolfsberg is a district of the state of Carinthia in Austria. Municipalities Towns (''Städte'') are indicated in boldface; market towns (''Marktgemeinden'') in ''italics''; suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality are i ...

Geography

The town is situated within the Lavanttal Alps, west of the

Koralpe The Koralpe ( en, Kor Alps, sl, Golica or ), also referred to as ''Koralm'', is a mountain range in southern Austria which separates eastern Carinthia (state), Carinthia from southern Styria. The southern parts of the range extend into Slovenia. ...

range in the valley of the Lavant River, a left tributary of the

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

. In the northeast, the road up to the

Packsattel A pack saddle is any device designed to be secured on the back of a horse, mule, or other working animal so it can carry heavy loads such as luggage, firewood, small cannons, or other things too heavy to be carried by humans. Description Ide ...

mountain pass connects Wolfsberg with

Voitsberg Voitsberg () is a small city in the district of Voitsberg in Styria, Austria, with a population of c. 9,700 . It grew upon the St. Margaret church at the Tregistbach river and was first mentioned in 1220 as Civitas. Remains of the Greisenegg ...

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 ...

. Wolfsberg's municipal area of is the fourth largest in Austria. Wolfsberg Markuskirche

The municipality comprises 40

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, ...

(Surface area in hectares 31. Dezember 2019): The municipal area is divided into 65 villages (population in brackets as of 1 January 2020):

History

The area of Wolfsberg belonged to the estates within the medieval

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 ...

that were ceded to the Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg, probably already by Emperor Henry II in 1007. The castle above the town was first mentioned as ''Wolfsperch'' in an 1178 deed of

St. Paul's Abbey in the Lavanttal Saint Paul's Abbey in Lavanttal (german: Stift St. Paul im Lavanttal) is a Benedictine monastery established in 1091 near the present-day market town of Sankt Paul im Lavanttal in the Austrian state of Carinthia. The premises centered on the Rom ...

. The adjacent settlement became the administrative centre of Bamberg's Carinthian territories and in 1331 received

town privileges Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

by Prince-Bishop Werntho Schenk von Reicheneck. During the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

the Bayerhofen Castle residence, first mentioned in 1239 and rebuilt in the 16th century, became a center of

Lutheranism Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

, which nevertheless was suppressed by 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 ...

. In 1759 the

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 ...

empress

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position ''suo jure'' (in her own right). ...

acquired all Bamberg lands in Carinthia. Wolfsberg Castle was purchased by Count

Hugo Henckel von Donnersmarck Hugo Graf Henckel von Donnersmarck (born April 26, 1811 in Siemianowitz, Upper Silesia (now in Poland), died October 4, 1890 in Vienna) was a German-Austrian entrepreneur. Biography He was born the only child of Count Karol Henckel von Donnersma ...

in 1846 and rebuilt in a

Tudorbethan Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...

style. In

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 opposin ...

the village of Priel south of the town center was the site of the Stalag XVIII-A prisoner-of-war camp with about 7,000 inmates. After the war it served as a detention camp run by the British

occupation forces Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States wi ...

Politics

Seats in the municipal council (''Gemeinderat'') local elections: *

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): 20 * Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ): 5 *

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): 5 *NEOS: 3 *

The Greens – The Green Alternative The Greens – The Green Alternative (german: Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative, ) is a green political party in Austria. The party was founded in 1986 under the name "Green Alternative" (''Grüne Alternative''), following the merger of the ...

: 2 Amt der Kärntner Landesregierung

Twin towns

Wolfsberg is twinned with: * Flag of Germany

Herzogenaurach Herzogenaurach (; vmf, Herziaura) is a town in the district of Erlangen-Höchstadt, in Bavaria, Germany. It is best known for being the home of the major international sporting goods companies Adidas and Puma, as well as the large car parts m ...

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 ...

Várpalota Várpalota (; German: Burgschloß) is a town in Western Hungary, in the Transdanubian county of Veszprém (county), Veszprém. It was a mining town during the Socialism, Socialist era, but the mines have been closed. Most of the citizens work in t ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

Notable people

* Hermann Schmid (born 1939), actor and director *

Ulrich Habsburg-Lothringen Ulrich Habsburg-Lothringen (born 1941 in Wolfsberg, Austria) is an Austrian forester and politician, who was formerly in the Green Party of Austria, but is now non-partisan. He is a member of the Habsburg Family who wanted to participate in th ...

(born 1941), nobleman and politician (The Greens) *

Walter Kogler Walter Kogler (born 12 December 1967) is a retired Austrian football player. Club career A central defender, Kogler started his professional career at SK Sturm Graz and also played for clubs such as FK Austria Wien, SV Austria Salzburg, LASK Lin ...

(born 1967), football player and coach * Heinz Arzberger (born 1972), football goalkeeper *

Elisabeth Köstinger Elisabeth Köstinger (born 22 November 1978) is an Austrian politician who has been serving as Minister for Agriculture, Sustainability and Tourism in the government of Chancellors Sebastian Kurz, Alexander Schallenberg, and Karl Nehammer since ...

(born 1978), politician (ÖVP) * Patrick Friesacher (born 1980), racing driver * Kai Schoppitsch (born 1980), football player *

Christian Prawda Christian Prawda (born 6 August 1982 in Wolfsberg) is an Austrian football player who plays for SV Austria Klagenfurt. Career He formerly played for FC Kärnten and ASV in Klagenfurt Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. ...

(born 1982), football player *

Eva Wutti Eva Wutti (born 26 February 1989) is an Austrian professional racing cyclist. She rides for the No Radunion Vitalogic team. See also * List of 2015 UCI Women's Teams and riders Listed below are the UCI Women's Teams that compete in 2015 women' ...

(born 1989), triathlete and cyclist The poet

Christine Lavant Christine Lavant (born Christine Thonhauser, mar. Christine Habernig; 4 July 1915 – 7 June 1973) was an Austrian poet and novelist. Life Lavant was born in the hamlet of Großedling (today part of Wolfsberg) in the Lavant Valley, Carin ...

(1915–1973) died in the Wolfsberg state hospital.

References

External links

Official websiteStatistical overview (Census 2001)

Pictures of Wolfsberg
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Wolfsberg District