Völkermarkt (; ) 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 ...

of about 11,000 inhabitants in the

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 ...

n state of

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 ...

, the administrative capital of

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 ...

. It is located within the

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

valley east of the Carinthian capital Klagenfurt, north of the

Karawanken 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.

Subdivisions

The municipality of Völkermarkt comprises 26

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 (Slovene names in brackets): * Admont-Lassein (''Volmat-Lesine'') * Bei der Drau (''Pri Dravi'') * Greuth (''Rute'') * Gurtschitschach (''Gurčiče'') * Haimburg (''Vovbre'') * Höhenbergen (''Homberk'') * Kaltenbrunn (''Mrzla Voda'') * Klein St. Veit (''Mali Šentvid'') * Korb (''Korpiče'') * Mittertrixen (''Srednje Trušnje'') * Mühlgraben (''Mlinski Graben'') * Neudenstein (''Črni Grad'') * Niedertrixen (''Spodnje Trušnje'') * Ob der Drau (''Na Dravo'') * Rakollach (''Rakole'') * Ritzing (''Ricinje'') * Ruhstatt (''Ruštat'') * St. Jakob (''Šentjakob'') * St. Peter am Wallersberg (''Šentpeter na Vašinjah'') * St. Ruprecht (''Šentrupert'') * Tainach (''Tinje'') * Töllerberg (''Telenberk'') * Völkermarkt (''Velikovec'') * Waisenberg (''Važenberk'') * Wandelitzen (''Vodovnica'') * Weinberg (''Vinograd'')

History

The area, once part of the ancient ''

Noricum Noricum () is the Latin name for the kingdom or federation of tribes that included most of modern Austria and part of Slovenia. In the first century AD, it became a province of the Roman Empire. Its borders were the Danube to the north, R ...

'' province, in the 7th century was resettled by

Slavic Slavic, Slav or Slavonic may refer to: Peoples * Slavic peoples, an ethno-linguistic group living in Europe and Asia ** East Slavic peoples, eastern group of Slavic peoples ** South Slavic peoples, southern group of Slavic peoples ** West Slav ...

tribes, who lived within the Principality of

Carantania Carantania, also known as Carentania (, , in Old Slavic '), was a Slavic principality that emerged in the second half of the 7th century, in the territory of present-day southern Austria and north-eastern Slovenia. Since the middle of the ...

. The migration concentrated around the former

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

settlement of ''Juenna'' (near present-day

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 ...

in an area later called ''Podjuna'' in Slovene or ''Jauntal'' in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

. Up to today, significant parts of the population refer to themselves as

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 ...

. The descendants of Count Siegfried I of

Sponheim Sponheim is a municipality in the district of Bad Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate in western Germany. History Sponheim was the capital of the County of Sponheim. Sponheim Abbey There was a Benedictine abbey which was founded in 1101 by Steph ...

, who about 1035 had come to 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 ...

as a follower of Emperor

Conrad II Conrad II (, – 4 June 1039), also known as and , was the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 until his death in 1039. The first of a succession of four Salian emperors, who reigned for one century until 1125, Conrad ruled the kingdom ...

, had a trading post erected at the site about 1090, where a church was built soon afterwards at the behest of the archbishop of

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

. In 1217 Duke

Bernhard von Spanheim Bernhard von Spanheim (or Sponheim; 1176 or 1181 – 4 January 1256), a member of the noble House of Sponheim, was Duke of Carinthia for 54 years from 1202 until his death. A patron of chivalry and minnesang, Bernhard's reign marked the eme ...

gave orders to build a bridge across the Drava River and had the settlement rebuilt in 1231. Völkermarkt was granted

town privileges Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...

in the 13th century already and developed quickly as an important centre for trade in iron from the surrounding ore mines. In the

Carinthian Plebiscite The Carinthian plebiscite (, ) was held on 10 October 1920 in the area in southern Carinthia predominantly settled by Carinthian Slovenes. It determined the final border between the Republic of Austria and the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croa ...

of 1920, a majority of the population voted for adhesion to the

Republic of 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 ...

. On 18 September 1979, the Yugoslav Department of State Security firebombed the Völkermarkt town hall, severely injuring three men, including two of the agents, and causing heavy damages.

Population

According to the 2001 census 2.6% of the population were

Voelkermarkt alter Herzoghof Rathaus 09102006 10

Transport

The town has access to the Austrian

Süd Autobahn The Süd Autobahn (A2) ('South Motorway') is a Controlled-access highway, motorway (''Autobahns of Austria, Autobahn'') in Austria. Completed in 1999, it runs from the outskirts of Vienna south via the cities of Graz and Klagenfurt to the border ...

(A2) with two junctions. The projected

Koralm Railway The Koralm Railway () is an Austrian 127 km-long (79 mi)Johannes Fleckl-Ernst: ''Geodätische Herausforderungen beim Projekt „Koralmtunnel“''. In: ''Felsbau'', Heft 5/2010, S. 315–321, . Double track, double-track, Railway ele ...

is expected to improve the area's transport facilities.

Notable people

* Markus Hansiz (1683-1766), Jesuit and historian. *

Johann Joseph Peyritsch Johann Joseph Peyritsch (20 October 1835 – 14 March 1889) was an Austrian physician and botanist born in Völkermarkt. In 1864 he earned his medical doctorate from University of Vienna, Vienna, and from 1866 to 1871 was associated with Vienna Ge ...

(1835-1889), physicician and botanist *

Julius Ringel Julius 'Papa' Ringel (16 November 1889 – 11 February 1967) was an Austrian general in the armed forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. He fought in the Western and Eastern fronts, as well as the Balkan Campaign.Williamson 2012. Ringel c ...

(1889-1967), general of the Gebirgstruppe (Mountain troops) of the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

Sport

* Stephanie Graf (born 1973), athlete; silver medallist in the 800m at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

Elmar Lichtenegger Elmar Lichtenegger (born 25 May 1974 in Klagenfurt) is an Austrian hurdler. His personal best time is 13.33 seconds, achieved in June 1999 in Athens. Since 2003 he has been a member of the National Council of Austria, originally for the Freedo ...

(born 1974), hurdler, now subject to a lifetime ban *

Magdalena Lobnig Magdalena Lobnig (born 19 July 1990 in Sankt Veit an der Glan) is an Austrian rower. She won the double scull World U23 Championship in 2012 and the singles European Championship in 2016. In 2021, at the 2020 Summer Olympics The offi ...

(born 1990), rower, bronze medallist at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Völkermarkt is twinned with: *

San Giorgio di Nogaro San Giorgio di Nogaro (, locally ) is a (municipality) in the Regional decentralization entity of Udine in the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about northwest of Trieste and about south of Udine. As of 31 December 2004, it had ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

References

External links

Official site
(German)
Pictures of Völkermarkt
{{DEFAULTSORT:Volkermarkt Cities and towns in Völkermarkt District