Pürgg-Trautenfels () is a former municipality in the district of

Liezen Liezen (; Central Bavarian: ''Liezn''; local dialect pronunciation ɪə- is a municipality in the Austrian federal state of Styria, district capital of the district of the same name and economic center on the River Enns. Population Politics ...

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

, Austria. Since 2015

Styria municipal structural reform The Styria municipal structural reform (German: ''Steiermärkische Gemeindestrukturreform'') was a local government reform in the Austrian state of Styria, which was made effective January 1, 2015. The reform nearly halved the number of Styrian ...

, it is part of the municipality

Stainach-Pürgg Stainach-Pürgg is a municipality since 2015 in the Liezen District of Styria, Austria. It was created as part of the Styria municipal structural reform, at the end of 2014, by merging the former towns Stainach and Pürgg-Trautenfels. Geograph ...

.Die neue Gemeindestruktur der Steiermark
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Geography

Pürgg-Trautenfels lies in valley of the upper Ennstal between

Gröbming Gröbming () is a municipality in the district of Liezen (district), Liezen in Styria, Austria. References

Cities and towns in Liezen District {{Styria-geo-stub ...

and

Stainach Stainach () is a former municipality in the district of Liezen in the Austrian state of Styria. Since the 2015 Styria municipal structural reform The Styria municipal structural reform (German: ''Steiermärkische Gemeindestrukturreform'') was ...

. The municipal area is bordered in the south by the Enns; in the north it stretches right up to the main ridge Toten Gebirges (Almkogel, 2,116m elevation). The highest point of the municipality is the Grimming (2,351 m) in the west.

Pürgg

The village of Pürgg lies on a small plateau in the south face of the Rantensteins, about 150 m above the valley floor of the brook Grimmingbach. The village has a few narrow streets which are largely for pedestrian traffic only. The houses are situated around two churches: *''Pfarrkirche zum Heiligen Georg'' (Church of St. George): A Romanesque church which was reputedly established on 17 July 1130. The three-nave church is still standing in its basic structure, however, it was decorated at the beginning of 14th century in the Gothic style. *''Johanneskapelle'' (Chapel of St. John): A Romanesque chapel on the eastern edge of the plateau, this chapel has

frescoes Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

from the 12th century which count among most well preserved in Europe.

Trautenfels

The village of Trautenfels is a small settlement around the Schloss Trautenfels, situated directly on the Enns. The castle is on a small hill which rises about 30 meters above the valley floor. In 1261 it was called a castle (''Burg'') for the first time. In the baroque era it was given its present appearance by Friedrich von Trauttmannsdorf. A short distance to the west of the castle, on the same ridge, there lie the ruins of the Protestant church Neuhaus. This was, at the time of the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, the most significant religious center in the Upper Ennstal Valley. The church was established by the castle owners in Trautenfels. But later fell victim to 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 ...

. In 1991, the remnants of the building were exposed and furnished as a memorial.

Economy

Trautenfels Castle and the village of Pürgg attract tourists and day trippers. The region is also visited by climbers, who set out from here on mountain tours to the Grimming, into the

Totes Gebirge The Totes Gebirge, also known in English as the Dead Mountains, is a mountain range in Austria that forms part of the Northern Limestone Alps, lying between the Salzkammergut and the Ennstaler Alpen. The name ''Totes Gebirge'' is supposedly der ...

and the Niedere Tauern to the south. In the ''Wörschachwald'' there is a small

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area–a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North Am ...

and the Spechtensee lake.

References

External links

*
The Joanneum - Schloss Trautenfels
Cities and towns in Liezen District {{Styria-geo-stub