Eberndorf (, archaically ''Dobrla ves'') is a

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 rura ...

of the

Völkermarkt District Bezirk Völkermarkt () 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 () (4,083) **Aich, Bleiburg, Dobr ...

Carinthia Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Geography

It is the main settlement in the Jaun (''Podjuna'') Valley of the

Drava The Drava or Drave (, ; ; ; ; ), historically known as the Dravis or Dravus, is a river in southern Central Europe.

River, east of the Carinthian capital Klagenfurt. Here the road from Völkermarkt leads uphill to the

Karawanks The Karawanks or Karavankas or Karavanks (; , ) 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 direction, the Karawanks chain is o ...

mountain range and across the Seebergsattel Pass to

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. The nearby lake Gösselsdorfer See is a popular destination for day-trippers in summer. The municipal area includes the

Katastralgemeinde A cadastral community (or cadastre community, cadastral r cadastremunicipality, cadastral r cadastrecommune,Problémy s překladem termínu „katastrální území“ do angličtiny. in: Geodetický a kartografický Obzor. Český úřad zeměm� ...

n Buchbrunn (''Bukovje''), Gablern (''Lovanke''), Gösselsdorf (''Goselna vas''), Kühnsdorf (''Sinča vas''), Loibegg (''Belovče''), Mittlern (''Metlova''), Mökriach (''Mokrije'') and Pribelsdorf (''Priblja vas''). At the 2001 census 8.6% of the population were

Carinthian Slovenes Carinthian Slovenes or Carinthian Slovenians (; ; ) are the Indigenous peoples, indigenous minority of Slovenes, Slovene ethnicity, living within borders of the Austrian state of Carinthia, neighboring Slovenia. Their status of the minority group ...

History

Eberndorf Augustinerchorherrenstift S-Ansicht 09062007 01

In the late 11th century the Aribonid count Kazelin (''Chazelinus'') founded Eberndorf Abbey within the

Duchy of Carinthia The Duchy of Carinthia (; ; ) 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 State after the original German stem duchies. Car ...

. Patriarch Ulrich von

Aquileia Aquileia is an ancient Roman city in Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about from the sea, on the river Natiso (modern Natisone), the course of which has changed somewhat since Roman times. Today, the city is small ( ...

confirmed the establishment in an 1106 deed concerning the translation of the count's mortal remains to the newly built monastery church. In the mid 12th century, Patriarch Pilgrim of Aquileia had the premises enlarged as a

Canons Regular The Canons Regular of St. Augustine are Catholic priests who live in community under a rule ( and κανών, ''kanon'', in Greek) and are generally organised into Religious order (Catholic), religious orders, differing from both Secular clergy, ...

community. From 1473, the buildings were devastated by Ottoman incursions and a fire, the reconstruction was supervised by Provost

Leonhard von Keutschach Leonhard von Keutschach (c. 1442 – 8 June 1519) was Archbishopric of Salzburg, Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg from 1495 until his death, the last to rule in the feudalism, feudal style. Biography He was probably born at Viktring Abbey, Viktri ...

, the later

Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg The Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg (; ) was an ecclesiastical principality and state of the Holy Roman Empire. It comprised the secular territory ruled by the archbishops of Salzburg, as distinguished from the much larger Catholic diocese f ...

. In the course of the

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also sometimes called the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to or from similar insights as, the Protestant Reformations at the time. It w ...

, the Augustinian community was dissolved by

Pope Clement VIII Pope Clement VIII (; ; 24 February 1536 – 3 March 1605), born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 30 January 1592 to his death in March 1605. Born in Fano, Papal States to a prominen ...

in 1604. The

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

archduke Ferdinand II, ruler of the

Inner Austria Inner Austria (; ; ) was a term used from the late 14th to the early 17th century for the Habsburg hereditary lands south of the Semmering Pass, referring to the Imperial duchies of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola and the lands of the Austrian Li ...

n lands, had urged him to install a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

residence here. The monastery was secularised after the

suppression of the Society of Jesus The suppression of the Society of Jesus was the removal of all members of the Jesuits from most of Western Europe and their respective colonies beginning in 1759 along with the abolition of the order by the Holy See in 1773; the papacy acceded ...

in 1773. In 1809 it was dedicated to the Benedictine St. Paul's Abbey in the Lavanttal. The present-day municipality was established after the

1848 revolutions The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...

. The villages of

Globasnitz Globasnitz ( Slovene: ''Globasnica'') is a town in the district of Völkermarkt in the Austrian state of Carinthia. Population A considerable percentage (42.1%) of the population are Carinthian Slovenes, and Slovene is a second official language ...

, Rückersdorf and Sittersdorf were split off in 1876. A

narrow-gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter cur ...

line leading from Völkermarkt via Eberndorf to Eisenkappel opened in 1902, it was dismantled in 1971. The

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

received market rights in 1952.

Politics

Seats in the municipal assembly (''Gemeinderat'') at the 2015 elections: *

Social Democratic Party of Austria The Social Democratic Party of Austria ( , SPÖ) is a social democratic political party in Austria. Founded in 1889 as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (, SDAPÖ) and later known as the Socialist Party of Austria () from 1945 unt ...

(SPÖ): 12 *

Austrian People's Party The Austrian People's Party ( , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since January 2025, the party has been led by Christian Stocker (as an acting leader). It is currently the second-largest p ...

(ÖVP): 5 *

Freedom Party of Austria The Freedom Party of Austria (, FPÖ) is a political party in Austria, variously described as far-right, right-wing populist, national-conservative, and Eurosceptic. It has been led by Herbert Kickl since 2021. It is the largest of five part ...

(FPÖ): 3 * Unity List (EL): 3

Notable people

Eberndorf is the birthplace of the Slovene novelist Mimi Malenšek (1919–2012) and the hometown of the prominent lawyer, human rights activist, and politician Rudi Vouk.

References

Cities and towns in Völkermarkt District {{Carinthia-geo-stub