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 o ...

Carinthia Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Bavarian group. Carin ...

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.

Geography

The town is situated within the

Lavanttal Alps The Lavanttal Alps (german: Lavanttaler Alpen, sl, Labotniške Alpe) are part of the Central Eastern Alps in Austria and Slovenia, between the river Mur in the north and the Drava in the south. The mountains are named after the central valley o ...

, 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 from southern Styria. The southern parts of the range extend into Slovenia. Running from north ...

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 Ideal ...

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 pa ...

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 ...

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

The municipality comprises 40 cadastral communities (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. 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 traditio ...

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 i ...

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 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

the village of Priel south of the town center was the site of the

Stalag XVIII-A Stalag XVIII-A was a World War II German Army (Wehrmacht) prisoner-of-war camp located to the south of the town of Wolfsberg, in the southern Austrian state of Carinthia, then a part of Nazi Germany. A sub-camp Stalag XVIII-A/Z was later opened i ...

prisoner-of-war camp with about 7,000 inmates. After the war it served as a detention camp run by the British occupation forces.

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 curre ...

(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 betwee ...

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

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, Cr ...

Notable people

* Hermann Schmid (born 1939), actor and director * Ulrich Habsburg-Lothringen (born 1941), nobleman and politician (The Greens) * Walter Kogler (born 1967), football player and coach * Heinz Arzberger (born 1972), football goalkeeper * Elisabeth Köstinger (born 1978), politician (ÖVP) *

Patrick Friesacher Patrick Friesacher (born 26 September 1980) is an Austrian racing driver. He is the longest-serving Red Bull driver, and also drove for the Minardi Formula One team during the first half of the 2005 season. After his departure from Formula One, ...

(born 1980), racing driver *

Kai Schoppitsch Kai Walter Schoppitsch (born 2 May 1980 in Wolfsberg) is an Austrian football player currently playing for SV Austria Klagenfurt. Career Schoppitsch was raised in Klagenfurt, and began playing professional football with local side SK Austria ...

(born 1980), football player * Christian Prawda (born 1982), football player * Eva Wutti (born 1989), triathlete and cyclist The poet Christine Lavant (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