Bad Eisenkappel, also known as Eisenkappel, ( sl, Železna Kapla) is a municipality located in the Vellach Valley in the

Karawanken The Karawanks or Karavankas or Karavanks ( sl, Karavanke; german: Karawanken, ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps on the border between Slovenia to the south and Austria to the north. With a total length of in an east–west dir ...

mountain range with the nearby peaks: Obir, Peca, and

Olševa Mount Olševa (; German ''Ouschewa'') is a ridge mountain in the eastern part of the Karawanks near the border with Austria. The mountain separates Carinthia from Styria. Its highest point, Govca, is high. Other peaks along the ridge are ''Obel ...

. It is the population center of the

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

ship of

Eisenkappel-Vellach Eisenkappel-Vellach ( sl, Železna Kapla-Bela) is a market town in the Völkermarkt District in the Austrian state of Carinthia. The spa town is the southernmost municipality of Austria, close to the border with Slovenia. Geography The municipal ...

(population 3,038) of the

Völkermarkt district Völkermarkt District is an administrative district in the Austrian State of Carinthia. Municipalities Völkermarkt is divided into 13 municipalities, of which 2 are towns and 3 market towns. Towns *Bleiburg ( sl, Pliberk) (4,083) **Aich, Bl ...

in the State of Carinthia,

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 ...

near the border of

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

.euborder.soton.ac.uk
Bad Eisenkappel was first referred to by the name ''Kappel'' in 1267. It was officially renamed in 1890 to Eisenkappel. The area is known for its hiking and cycling trails, as well as for the extensive Obir cave system, which has been mined for lead ore since at least 1171, and has been open to the public since 1991.

Frommers Frommer's is a travel guide book series created by Arthur Frommer in 1957. Frommer's has since expanded to include more than 350 guidebooks in 14 series, as well as other media including an eponymous radio show and a website. In 2017, the compan ...

says "Eisenkappel is the major stopover in the Vellach Valley. This town is surrounded by centuries-old forests and mineral springs, and because of its position as a frontier town only 15km (10 miles) from the Austro-Slovenian border's Jezersko Pass, it also offers many cultural and historical attractions. ... There are many sky-blue lakes and white mountain peaks near Eisenkappel. Lake Klopeiner ..., to the north of this town, is the warmest lake in Carinthia and 8km (5 miles) to the southwest you'll see Trögerner Gorge." The

International Commission for the Protection of the Alps International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

(CIPRA) has stated that Bad Eisenkappel is highly affected by a growing trend of "out migration" where services and basic infrastructure are leaving the area. As such the town has attempted to counterbalance this loss by starting events to keep the youth within. Currently, as noted in the report, much of the youth travel to nearby

Klagenfurt Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. Jänner 2008, Stück 1, Nr. 1: ''Gesetz vom 25. Oktober 2007, mit dem die Kärntner Landesverfassung und das Klagenfurter Stadtrecht 1998 geändert werden.'/ref> (; ; sl, Celovec), usually ...

.Living space for young people in a bilingual mountain region
Its sister community is Jezersko across the Austria-Slovenia border.

Notable residents

Cvetka Lipuš Cvetka Lipuš (born 1966) is an Austrian poet writing in Slovenian language, Slovenian. She was born in Bad Eisenkappel in the Austrian state of Carinthia (state), Carinthia and is the daughter of the Carinthian Slovenes, Carinthian Slovenian au ...

, poet *

Maja Haderlap Maja Haderlap (born 8 March 1961 in Eisenkappel-Vellach ( sl, Železna Kapla-Bela, Carinthia) is a bilingual Slovenian-German Austrian writer, best known for her multiple-award-winning novel, Angel of Oblivion, about the Slovene ethnic minority ...

, writer *

Florjan Lipuš Florjan Lipuš (born 4 May 1937 in Lobnig above Bad Eisenkappel, Austria) is a Carinthian Slovene writer and translator. Since 1985 he has been a corresponding member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Awards * 2004: Prešeren Awar ...

, writer and Prešeren laureate *

Angela Piskernik Angela Piskernik (27 August 1886 – 23 December 1967) was an Austro-Yugoslav botanist and conservationist. Biography Piskernik was born in Bad Eisenkappel in Southern Carinthia, which remained with Austria after the First World War, and he ...

, botanist and head of the

Museum of Natural History A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more ...

, Ljubljana * :de:Gerald Florian Messner Gerald Florian Messner, Musicologist

Notable residents

See also

References

Further reading