Feldkirch () is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in the western

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 ...

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( ; ; , , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the second-highest popu ...

, bordering on

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

. It is the administrative centre of the Feldkirch district. After

Dornbirn Dornbirn () is a city in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg. It is the administrative centre for the district of Dornbirn, which also includes the town of Hohenems, and the market town Lustenau. Dornbirn is the largest city in Vorarlb ...

, it is the second most populous town in

. The westernmost point in Austria lies in Feldkirch on the river

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

, at the

tripoint A triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geography, geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or Administrative division, subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints ...

between Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein.

History

This medieval town, which remains well preserved to this day, was mentioned as a city for the first time in 1218, after Count Hugo von Montfort built the " Schattenburg", a castle which still is the major

landmark A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern-day use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures ...

of Feldkirch. Other sights in the town include the Gothic-style cathedral of St. Nikolaus. Feldkirch was the birthplace of Rheticus, and is currently the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Feldkirch. From 1651 to 1773 and from 1856 to 1979, Feldkirch was the home of the

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 ...

school Stella Matutina. March 1799 saw two clashes between the forces of the

First French Republic In the history of France, the First Republic (), sometimes referred to in historiography as Revolutionary France, and officially the French Republic (), was founded on 21 September 1792 during the French Revolution. The First Republic lasted u ...

and the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

. On the 7th, Nicolas Oudinot, with 9,000 French soldiers, defeated Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze and his 6,000 Austrians. The Battle of Feldkirch occurred on 23 March, when

André Masséna André Masséna, prince d'Essling, duc de Rivoli (; born Andrea Massena; 6 May 1758 – 4 April 1817), was a French military commander of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one of the original eighteen Marshal of the ...

and 12,000 Frenchmen were beaten by Franjo Jelačić and a force of 5,500 Austrians.

Town subdivisions

* Feldkirch * Altenstadt * Gisingen * Levis * Nofels * Tisis * Tosters

Population

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

Feldkirch has had its own local bus network since 1993. It currently consists of eight lines, including buses which run to the north of neighbouring Liechtenstein. The bus system cooperates with Vorarlberg's regional bus system. There are several railway stations in the municipality of Feldkirch. The main station is , which is an intermediate stop on Vorarlberg's main railway line and the eastern terminus of the Feldkirch–Buchs railway. The station is served by Railjet long-distance services to , , and and regional trains of Vorarlberg S-Bahn. The other stations are , , and , which are only served by Vorarlberg

S-Bahn The S-Bahn ( , ), , is a hybrid urban rail, urban–suburban rail system serving a metropolitan region predominantly in German language, German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit syst ...

Companies

The following companies and service organizations are based in Feldkirch: * Bachmann Electronic * Vorarlberg Milch * Lingenhöle Technologie * Stadtwerke Feldkirch * KSW Tankstellen- und Industrieanlagenbau * Gebäudereinigung Bauer * Landeskrankenhaus Feldkirch

Culture and landmarks

Central Feldkirch

Feldkirch has one of the best preserved medieval townscapes of Vorarlberg. The town was built around 1200 and has a geometric grid system. Since around 1500, when the city wall was rebuilt, the city has remained unchanged over the centuries. Since 2015, the Feldkirch Municipal Ensemble has been listed in the Austrian List of Cultural Heritage ( cultural property protected by the Hague Convention). The city is also a member of the Association of Small Historic Towns, a tourism marketing association. In 2015, the Montforthaus Feldkirch was newly renovated. It is a public venue for cultural activities like balls, trade fairs, concerts and theatre performances.

City fortification

The streets of the Schlossgraben, Hirschgraben and St. Leonhardsplatz marked the former course of the

city wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or Earthworks (military), earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as ...

surrounding the Neustadt area in the 13th century. The wall was largely rebuilt around 1500, and torn down in many places beginning in 1826. When Feldkirch was surrounded by a city wall and a city moat, one could enter the city only through one of its four gates. These city gates were called Bregenzertor or Nikolaustor, Bludenzertor or Schultor, Milltor or Sautor, and Churertor or Salztor. The last two gates are still standing, the other two were removed together with the city wall at the beginning of the 19th century. The Katzenturm (''cat tower'') or colloquially Dicker Turm (''fat tower'') is a defense tower built in 1507 as part of the city wall's Hirschgraben. The 8-storey round and 40 m high tower was built as part of the city fortifications under the reign of Emperor Maximilian I from 1491-1507. In the 17th century, the bell room for the Katzenturmglocke (''cat tower bell'') named "Maria Rochus" was built. The bell is the biggest in Vorarlberg^{(as of 2022)} and weighs 8,5 t. The tower has an image of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

restored by Florus Scheel in the 19th century. The origin of the name Katzenturm has not been fully clarified to this day. One theory is that it got its name from the heavy artillery that the fortified tower was equipped with at the time. These were decorated with a lion's head, popularly referred to as a "cat".

Castles and palaces

Schattenburg: The Schattenburg castle was the seat of the

counts of Montfort Count of Montfort may refer to: * Counts of Montfort (Swabia) * Count of Montfort-l'Amaury, France {{dab ...

until 1390. The first construction phase began around 1230 under Hugo I of Montfort, the founder of the city. Under Count Friedrich von Toggenburg (1416–1436) and under the Vogt Hans of Königsegg extensions and transformations of the Schattenburg castle were built in the 15th century. After the counts lost their power, the castle was repeatedly put up for auction, and was even to be demolished in 1813. Since 1825 the castle has been owned by the town of Feldkirch, which at that time acquired it for 833

florin The Florentine florin was a gold coin (in Italian ''Fiorino d'oro'') struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains () of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a pu ...

s. The castle then served as

barracks Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...

, and later as accommodation for the poor. The castle owes its rescue and revitalization to the ''Museum and Homeland Security Association'' ''for Feldkirch and the Surrounding Area'' which was founded in 1912. The upper floors are home to a museum of local history that attracts about 25,000 visitors annually. * Ruins of Tosters: The ruins of a

hill castle A hill castle or mountain castle is a castle built on a natural feature that stands above the surrounding terrain. It is a term derived from the German ''Höhenburg'' used in categorising castle sites by their topographical location. Hill castles a ...

on a hillside part of the Schellenberg, in the Feldkirch district of Tosters. * Palais Liechtenstein: In today's form, the house was built in the Schlossergasse No. 8 after the town fire of 1697, as an office building for the prince Johann Adam Andreas of Liechtenstein in

Baroque style The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (i ...

. In 1848 it became the property of Andreas Ritter of Tschavoll, at that time Feldkirch mayor and manufacturer. The town acquired the palais in 1967 and today the building is used as an exhibition centre. It is home of the cultural council, and also the seat of the city library and the city archives.

Villas and other residential buildings

In the 19th century the Feldkirch

bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and aristocracy. They are traditionally contrasted wi ...

built a number of prestigious residential buildings, most of which are still privately owned. The villas were built mostly on the Reichsstraße, mainly in the area between the Bärenkreuzung and the train station.

Cultural events

The Montforter Zwischentöne is an interdisciplinary festival that takes place three times a year. Each series is based on a specific topic which is artistically and dramaturgically interpreted without genre-orientated boundaries. There are contributions from the fields of music, poetry, architecture, science, dance etc. The festival addresses issues of social and personal development on site and provides impetus for urban and regional development. The Poolbar Festival is a modern music and cultural festival in Feldkirch. Held annually in July and August, it attracts around 20,000 visitors; it features music, exhibitions,

poetry slam A poetry slam is a competitive art event in which poets perform spoken word, spoken word poetry before a live audience and a panel of judges. Poetry slams began in Chicago in the 1980s, with the first slam competition designed to move poetry rec ...

s, fashion and an architectural prize. It was first held in 1994 as a cultural summer-academy and is, in its organization and implementation of landscape and architecture, very different from other open-air events. The bi-annual light art festival Lichtstadt Feldkirch lets international artists fill the city of Feldkirch with light objects, projections and sculptures. Its first edition was held in 2018 and attracted 30.000 visitors. The POTENTIALe (formerly 'ArtDesign Feldkirch') is an art fair and

festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

at which about 110 exhibitors present their products and ideas. In addition to a vintage market, there are workshops and discussion groups, a design laboratory, photography exhibitions, and music and films are presented. The aim of the festival is to establish a network of artists, craftsmen and customers that share the common vision of

sustainable design Environmentally sustainable design (also called environmentally conscious design, eco-design, etc.) is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of ecological sustainability ...

. The Feldkirch Festival (2001-2012) was an annual summer festival that offered theater performances, concerts and other cultural events. The Wochenmarkt Feldkirch is a market in the Marktgasse in the city centre. At the market, fresh local produce and specialities like Bregenz Forest cheese are offered. It is open two days a week.

James Joyce and Feldkirch

The Irish writer

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

is inextricably linked to Feldkirch. In

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Joyce was mistaken for a spy at the border check in Feldkirch in 1915 and almost arrested. Thanks to influential friends, he was regarded as a "friendly foreigner". The Irishman saw this event at the Feldkirch train station as fateful. Subsequently, it influenced his most important work. In the summer of 1932, the friendship with the publisher couple Maria and Eugene Jolas brought the writer back to Feldkirch, where he stayed for several weeks at the Hotel Löwen and worked on

Finnegans Wake ''Finnegans Wake'' is a novel by Irish literature, Irish writer James Joyce. It was published in instalments starting in 1924, under the title "fragments from ''Work in Progress''". The final title was only revealed when the book was publishe ...

(published 1939). During this stay, Joyce himself said that '' Ulysses'' (1922) was inextricably linked to Feldkirch: "Over there, on those tracks, the fate of 'Ulysses' was decided in 1915." File:Strassenschild.JPG, Official street sign: "James Joyce Passage" File:Dort-drueben.JPG, James Joyce quotation bar in the Feldkirch train station hall

Victoria, Four-Thirty

Chapter XII of Cecil Roberts' novel ''Victoria, Four-Thirty'' (published 1937) takes place in Feldkirch.

Climate

Feldkirch has an oceanic climate (''Cfb'').

Schools

* Bundesgymnasium und Bundesrealgymnasium Feldkirch (founded in 1649) * Bundeshandelsakademie und Bundeshandelsschule Feldkirch * Bundesoberstufenrealgymnasium und Bundesrealgymnasium Schillerstrasse (GYS)& Musikgymnasium Feldkirc
www.gys.at
* Bundeshandelsakademie und Handelsschule Feldkirch * Institut St. Josef * Musikschule der Stadt Feldkirch *

Stella Matutina (Jesuit school) Stella Matutina in Feldkirch, Vorarlberg, Feldkirch, Austria, was a Jesuit school that operated in 1651–1773, 1856–1938, and 1946–1979. History, scholarship, international flair The “Kolleg” began in 1649 but opened formally in 1651. In ...

''(former)'' * (German: '' Pädagogische Hochschule Vorarlberg'')
PH Vorarlberg (in German)
* Vorarlberger Landeskonservatorium

Notable people

* Bartholomäus Bernhardi (1487–1551), Lutheran theologian * Wolf Huber (ca.1485–1553), painter of the Danube school and architect * Georg Joachim Rheticus (1514–1574), mathematician and astronomer. * Barbara Erni (1743–1785) thief and confidence trickster, last person to be executed by Liechtenstein. * Alois Handl (1837–1915), an Austrian physicist. * Karl Bleyle (1880–1969), musician and composer * Franz Reinisch (1903-1942), Austrian Catholic priest executed for not swearing "Hitler Oath". * Elmar Fischer (1936-2022), bishop of the Feldkirch diocese * (born 1938), artist * (born 1946), pastor known for his social engagement for orphans and street children in Romania and Moldova and work with the homeless in Vienna. * (born 1952), novelist * Herbert Bösch (born 1954), politician (SPÖ) and MEP * Christine Wohlwend (born 1978), Liechtensteiner politician * Hans Weingartner (born 1970), author, director and film producer

Sport

* Wiltrud Drexel (born 1950), ski racer, bronze medallist in the giant slalom at the

1972 Winter Olympics The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the and commonly known as Sapporo 1972 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside ...

* Marcel Büchel (born 1991) a footballer with over 300 club caps and 17 for

* Katharina Liensberger (born 1997), alpine ski racer, team gold medallist at the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), were an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing, China, and surrounding areas wit ...

* Marco Rossi (born 2001)

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

player for the

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confer ...

Sport clubs

* VEU Feldkirch
TC-ESV Feldkirch
*Tennisclub Swietelsky Blau-Weiss Feldkirch
TSV AltenstadtSC Tisis
*FC Blau-Weiß Feldkirch
Baseball- and Softballclub Feldkirch CardinalsMetafund Baskets Feldkirch
(

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

) *HC Blau-Weiß Feldkirch *Sportbillardclub Feldkirch
Schiverein Tisis
*Volleyballclub SSK Feldkirch

Twin towns

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the Yorkshire Coast at the mouth of the River Esk, North Yorkshire, River Esk and has a maritime, mineral and tourist economy. From the Middle Ages, Whitby ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

* Sigmaringen,

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Cities and towns in Feldkirch District Austria–Liechtenstein border crossings Austria–Switzerland border crossings Liechtenstein–Switzerland border crossings Border tripoints Bregenz Forest Mountains