Gmünd () is a town in the northwestern

Waldviertel The ''Waldviertel'' (; ; Central Bavarian: ; ) is the northwestern region of the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is bounded to the south by the river Danube, to the southwest by Upper Austria, to the northwest and to the north by the Czech ...

region of

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

and the capital of the

Gmünd district Bezirk Gmünd is a district of the state of Lower Austria in Austria. It is located in northwestern Waldviertel The ''Waldviertel'' (; ; Central Bavarian: ; ) is the northwestern region of the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is bounded ...

. The municipality consists of 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 ''Böhmzeil'', ''Breitensee'', ''Eibenstein'', ''Gmünd'' and ''Grillenstein''. Situated on the Lainsitz (Lužnice) river where it forms the border with

České Velenice České Velenice (, , 1938–1945: ''Gmünd III'') is a town in Jindřichův Hradec District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,700 inhabitants. It lies on the border with Austria and is adjacent to the town of Gmü ...

in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, it is an important road and railway crossing point, next to the Blockheide

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

. The development of the town, first mentioned in a 1208 deed, was decisively pushed by the inauguration of the

Emperor Franz Joseph Railway The Emperor Franz Joseph Railway (German: ''Kaiser-Franz-Josephs-Bahn'', KFJB) was an Austrian private railway company, named after Emperor Franz Joseph I. It operated railway lines from the Austrian capital Vienna to Prague and Eger (Cheb) in B ...

from

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

in 1869. By the 1919 Treaty of Saint-Germain its northern part Dolní Velenice, German: ''Unterwielands'', with the main station was awarded to

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

, forming the new town of České Velenice.

Politics

Seats in the municipal assembly ''(Gemeinderat)'' as of 2010 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): 15 *

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): 12 *

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): 2

Notable people

Arthur Lanc Arthur Lanc (20 March 1907, in Vienna, Austria – 20 May 1995, in Gmuend, Lower Austria) was medical officer in Gmünd and responsible for the medical care for all Jewish forced laborers in the area of Gmünd. Administering medicine to these pe ...

(1907–1995) &

Maria Lanc Maria Lanc (born Maria Jenewein; 1911 – 15 November 1995) was an Austrian humanitarian. She lived in Gmünd, Lower Austria with her husband Arthur Lanc, a medical officer, in 1944. He and his wife owned the house number 35 in Kirchengass ...

(1911–1995), he was a local medical officer and responsible for the medical care of Jewish forced laborers; she was a humanitarian. Both died locally and were honoured as

Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( ) is a title used by Yad Vashem to describe people who, for various reasons, made an effort to assist victims, mostly Jews, who were being persecuted and exterminated by Nazi Germany, Fascist Romania, Fascist Italy, ...

at a ceremony in Vienna in December 1986. *

Walter Nowotny Walter Nowotny (7 December 1920 – 8 November 1944) was an Austrian-born fighter ace of the Luftwaffe in World War II. He is credited with 258 aerial victories—that is, 258 aerial combat encounters resulting in ...

(1920–1944), Austrian fighter

ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or a club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Alfred Worm Alfred Worm (14 June 1945 – 4 February 2007) was an Austrian journalist, author and vocational high school teacher ("professor" in Austrian German). Career Worm was born in Gmünd, Lower Austria, and began his professional studies at HTL M ...

(1945–2007), an Austrian investigative journalist, author and university professor. * Thomas Sautner (born 1970), an Austrian painter and writer.

Twin town

Sarreguemines Sarreguemines (; German: ''Saargemünd'' ; Lorraine Franconian: ''Saargemìnn'') is a commune in the Moselle department of the Grand Est administrative region in north-eastern France. It is the seat of an arrondissement and a canton. As o ...

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...

Grand Est Grand Est (; ) is an Regions of France, administrative region in northeastern France. It superseded three former administrative regions, Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine, on 1 January 2016 under the provisional name of Alsace-Champagne-A ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

References

External links

Austria–Czech Republic border crossings Cities and towns in Gmünd District Divided cities {{LowerAustria-geo-stub