Großau is a village and a

cadastral community 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� ...

within the city of

Bad Vöslau Bad Vöslau (; Central Bavarian: ''Bod Vöslau'') is a spa town and Municipality (Austria), municipality in the state of Lower Austria. It is also known as the cradle of the Austrian red wine cultivation. The population, as of 2022, is 12,424. G ...

Geography

Großau is situated west of

Gainfarn Gainfarn is a village on the western edge of Bad Vöslau, in Lower Austria, Austria. It is an urban quarter and a cadastral community within Bad Vöslau city. Geography Gainfarn borders to the southwestern part of Bad Vöslau town. Bad Vöslaue ...

in the western part of the municipality of Bad Vöslau. The village can be reached on Bad Vöslauer Straße (B 212) from Berndorf in the west and from Bad Vöslau in the east. Access is also possible from the south via St Veit an der Triesting (part of Berndorf).

Statistics

* Population of cadastral community (January 1, 2022): 532 * Area: 7.1 km² (2.74 sq mi)

History

The place was first mentioned in 1136 in the ''Klosterneuburg Salbuch'', in which the donation of two vineyards in Großau to the

Klosterneuburg monastery Klosterneuburg Abbey () is a twelfth-century Augustinian monastery of the Catholic Church located in the town of Klosterneuburg in Lower Austria. Overlooking the Danube, just north of the present Vienna city limits at the Leopoldsberg, the monas ...

was noted. The document of the foundation of the filial church St Katharina, which always belonged to Gainfarn parish, dates back to 1369. The village, originally laid out around a triangular

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

, developed into a

linear settlement A linear settlement is a (normally small to medium-sized) settlement or group of buildings that is formed in a long line. Many of these settlements are formed along a transport route, such as a road, river, or canal. Others form due to physical r ...

in the early

Modern era The modern era or the modern period is considered the current historical period of human history. It was originally applied to the history of Europe and Western history for events that came after the Middle Ages, often from around the year 1500 ...

. In 1603, Jonas von Heyßberg merged the Großau dominion and the Merkenstein dominion, which Gundakar von

Dietrichstein The House of Dietrichstein was one of the oldest and most prominent Austrian nobility, Austrian noble families originating in the Duchy of Carinthia. The family belonged to the Uradel, high nobility (German: ''Hochadel''). The Mikulov Castle, Niko ...

acquired in 1672. The administration of the dominion, which was first established in Merkenstein castle, was transferred to Gainfarn after the castle had been destroyed in 1683 during the

Ottoman wars A series of military conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and various European states took place from the Late Middle Ages up through the early 20th century. The earliest conflicts began during the Byzantine–Ottoman wars, waged in Anatolia in ...

. The linear settlement with several farmsteads is listed in the Franciscan cadastre of 1819. In addition to agriculture, viticulture and animal breeding, the retrieval and trading of pitch and

turpentine Turpentine (which is also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, terebenthine, terebenthene, terebinthine and, colloquially, turps) is a fluid obtainable by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. Principall ...

also gained some importance. As a result of the revolution of 1848/1849 the

feudal system Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structuring socie ...

was abolished. After the Municipality Act of 1849 came into force, Großau became an independent municipality, and the population elected the last ''Dorfrichter'' (

Schultheiß In medieval Germany, the ''Schultheiß'' () was the head of a municipality (akin to today's office of mayor), a '' Vogt'' or an executive official of the ruler. As official (''villicus'') it was his duty to order his assigned village or county ( ...

) of Großau as the first mayor. Three years later, Großau got its primary school, which was not closed down until 1967. The filial church was renovated in 1918/19 by Arthur Krupp, who had acquired the Merkenstein estate in 1917. According to the ''Adressbuch von Österreich für Industrie, Handel, Gewerbe und Landwirtschaft'' (Directory of Austria for Industry, Trade, Business, and Agriculture) of 1938, a baker, a butcher, a hairdresser, two transport ventures, three grocers, a wood merchant and two cobblers were resident in the municipality of Großau. Also, the Merkenstein estate sold its products. On January 1, 1972, the local communities of Bad Vöslau, Gainfarn and Großau were merged.

Public facilities

There is a kindergarten in Großau. Großau has a fire station of the local Volunteer Fire Brigade.

References

{{Coord, 47, 57, 21, N, 16, 10, 3, E, display=title, region:AT_type:city Populated places in Lower Austria