Gloggnitz | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 47°40.554′N15°56.194′E / 47.675900°N 15.936567°E | |
Country | Austria |
State | Lower Austria |
District | Neunkirchen |
Government | |
• Mayor | Irene Gölles |
Area | |
• Total | 19.58 km2 (7.56 sq mi) |
Elevation | 498 m (1,634 ft) |
Population (2018-01-01) [2] | |
• Total | 5,916 |
• Density | 300/km2 (780/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
Postal code | 2640, 2671 |
Area code | 0266 |
Website | www.gloggnitz.at |
Gloggnitz is a mountain town in the Neunkirchen district of Lower Austria, Austria.
Gloggnitz is situated in the south-western part of the Vienna Basin in Lower Austria. It is surrounded by the highest mountains in Lower Austria, Mount Rax (2007m / 6585 ft) and Mount Schneeberg (2076m / 6811 ft). The town is also a major traffic junction: Gloggnitz is situated on the main Südbahn (the important rail route between Vienna and Trieste in Italy) and the S6 motorway.
Gloggnitz is famous for producing two of Austria's most distinguished Federal Presidents. Federal President Dr Michael Hainisch (1858–1940) and the Chancellor of State and later Federal President Dr Karl Renner (1870–1950) were both Gloggnitz citizens. Dr Karl Renner spent 42 years of his life in Gloggnitz (up until his death in 1950). On the occasion of the anniversary of his hundredth birthday a monument was erected in Dr Karl Renner Square. A museum in his former residence also commemorates the life of this highly respected former Gloggnitz resident.
Gloggnitz Provostry is a former medieval (gothic) Catholic monastery and a later secularised (baroque) complex of buildings, including the old Catholic parish church of Gloggnitz. It was also the home of the nationally renowned exhibition, "Lower Austrian Landesausstellung 1992".
This is the new Catholic parish church, designed by the world-famous Austrian architect Prof Clemens Holzmeister. It was completed in 1962.
This is one of Gloggnitz's oldest buildings. The estimated date of construction lies between 1001 and 1102 A.D. This date is dependent upon different historical appraisals. It is situated in the town centre (Hauptplatz).
The Herrenhaus is a baroque manor-house and the birthplace of Dr. Michael Hainisch, the first Federal President of the First Republic of Austria. Unfortunately the building is now in ruins.
Stuppach Palace is the place where possibly a primal chamber musical version of Mozart's Requiem was premiered by an ensemble, conducted by Count Francis of Walsegg-Stuppach, the sponsor of the now world-famous Requiem. The palace was restored in 1996.
This was the former residential mansion of Karl Renner, the first Federal President of the Second Republic of Austria.
There have been extensive changes in all branches of the Gloggnitz economy within the past 30 years. Within this period Gloggnitz developed from a local commercial centre and railway junction into an economically active town. Today Gloggnitz can be proud of several internationally active companies, employing hundreds of people.
The place name "Gloggnitz" descends from the Slavic word "Klokati", which means "bubble" or "murmur", and was first mentioned in 1094. "Clocniza" or "Glocniza" means "Murmuring River".
Monks from the Bavarian monastery of Formbach built a hermitage near the River Schwarza. This led to the establishment of a provostry for Gloggnitz. In the 15th century the monks and local inhabitants were active farmers, craftsmen, and wine makers. Later climate changes made the conditions for winemaking less favourable and as a consequence unprofitable.
For over 900 years (until the 19th century) the economic and social life of Gloggnitz and its local area was highly influenced and controlled by the monasterial lords of the manor. The town's favourable position on the strategic arterial route from Lower Austria to Italy encouraged colonisation and the small village of Gloggnitz grew. Gloggnitz also achieved the distinction of being able to hold its own market.
In 1660 Emperor Leopold I visited Gloggnitz. When the French conqueror Napoleon Bonaparte travelled south across the Semmering Pass in 1809, he also made a short overnight stay in Gloggnitz. On 17 August 1841 Emperor Ferdinand I opened the new Semmering Pass Road. Other visits by famous persons to Gloggnitz include: Emperor Francis Joseph I (1850 and 1854), Crown Prince Rudolph and his wife Princess Gisela (1862).
The building of the Semmering Railway encouraged further progress. On 5 May 1842, the first train on the "Südbahn" arrived in Gloggnitz. In its earliest years the railway opened up the mountain scenery to the people of Vienna. Thousands of tourists visited Gloggnitz and went hiking around Vienna's so-called "Home Mountains", Mount Rax and Mount Schneeberg. In 1854 the railway passage over Semmering was established.
The number of Gloggnitz houses and citizens increased steadily between 1796 and 1836. Prior to the arrival of the railway, the town had a rate of growth of 11% in buildings and 14% in population. Between 1836 and 1876 the rate of new building rose to 142% and there was a huge 284% rise in the local population.
Gloggnitz was granted town status on 5 May 1926. On 2 January 1927 Federal President Dr Michael Hainisch, Federal Chancellor Dr Ignaz Seipel and the then former Chancellor of State Dr Karl Renner addressed a big audience when they granted Gloggnitz the grant of privileges due to a town.
World War II and the unsettled post-war period meant many upheavals in the lives of the citizens of Gloggnitz. There were many structural changes, particularly in relation to the labour market and the development of housing. It took decades until the town regained the opportunity to take measures to boost its tourist industry.
In 1972 Gloggnitz became a member of the Semmering-Rax-Schneeberg Tourism Association. This partnership has been beneficial in promoting Gloggnitz and its surrounding area as sites of interest to both national and international visitors. The more-than-900-year-old town of Gloggnitz is still an important traffic junction in the east of Austria and has not lost any of its geographical significance.
Alongside municipal buildings, the historical monuments of the town are also being constantly cared for and restored. A new town hall was built and opened in September 2003. In 1992 Gloggnitz was the location of Lower Austria's biggest exhibition, the "Lower Austrian Landesausstellung". The exhibition provided funds for the full restoration of the former monastery. Today Gloggnitz Provostry is used as a "wedding castle" and site for various exhibitions.
The Semmering railway in Austria, which starts at Gloggnitz and leads over the Semmering to Mürzzuschlag, was the first mountain railway in Europe built with a standard gauge track. It is commonly referred to as the world's first true mountain railway, given the very difficult terrain and the considerable altitude difference that was mastered during its construction. It is still fully functional as a part of the Southern Railway which is operated by the Austrian Federal Railways.
Bad Vöslau is a spa town and 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.
Semmering is a mountain pass in the Eastern Northern Limestone Alps connecting Lower Austria and Styria, between which it forms a natural border.
The Südbahn-Gesellschaft was an Austrian corporation that built and operated numerous railway lines in the Austrian empire, Austria-Hungary and for some time in Austria, Hungary, and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
The Christian Social Party was a major conservative political party in the Cisleithanian crown lands of Austria-Hungary and under the First Austrian Republic, from 1891 to 1934. The party was affiliated with Austrian nationalism that sought to keep Catholic Austria out of the State of Germany founded in 1871, which it viewed as Protestant and Prussian-dominated; it identified Austrians on the basis of their predominantly Catholic religious identity as opposed to the predominantly Protestant religious identity of the Prussians.
Wilhelm Miklas was an Austrian politician who served as President of Austria from 1928 until the Anschluss to Nazi Germany in 1938.
The Schneeberg Railway is one of three rack railways in Austria still operating, and runs from the small town of Puchberg am Schneeberg in Lower Austria up to a plateau beneath the Schneeberg summit. At 2,076 metres (6,811 ft), the Schneeberg is the highest mountain in Lower Austria. The other two working cog railways in Austria are the Schafberg Railway and the Achensee Railway.
The Rax is a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps on the border of the Austrian federal provinces of Lower Austria and Styria. Its highest peak is the Heukuppe. The Rax, together with the nearby Schneeberg, are a traditional mountaineering and mountain walking area, and are called the Wiener Hausberge. They are separated by the deep Höllental.
Reichenau an der Rax is a market town in the Austrian state of Lower Austria, situated at the foot of the Rax mountain range on the Schwarza river, a headstream of the Leitha.
Bezirk Neunkirchen is a district of the state of Lower Austria in Austria. It is located at the south of the state.
Neunkirchen is the capital of the district of Neunkirchen in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. As of 2020 it has a population of 12,721.
Wiener Neustadt Hauptbahnhof is a railway station in Wiener Neustadt, in the federal state of Lower Austria, south of Vienna. With over 700 trains and 25,000 passengers each day, the station is the busiest in Lower Austria.
The Southern Railway is a railway in Austria that runs from Vienna to Graz and the border with Slovenia at Spielfeld via Semmering and Bruck an der Mur. Along with the Spielfeld-Straß–Trieste railway, it forms part of the Austrian Southern Railway that connected Vienna with Trieste, the main seaport of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, via Ljubljana. A main obstacle in its construction was getting over the Semmering Pass over the Northern Limestone Alps. The twin-track, electrified section that runs through the current territory of Austria is owned and operated by Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and is one of the major lines in the country.
The Rax-Schneeberg Group is a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps on the Styrian-Lower Austrian border in Austria.
The Schwarza is a river in Lower Austria. It is the left headstream of the Leitha.
The Höllental in Lower Austria is a narrow valley between the steep limestone massifs of the Schneeberg and Rax through which the River Schwarza flows.
Vienna's Hausberge are the mountains of Raxalpe, Schneeberg and Hohe Wand in the south of the state of Lower Austria. These mountains may be reached from Vienna in about an hour and are therefore a popular recreation area for the Viennese.
The Semmering Base Tunnel is a railway tunnel under construction between Gloggnitz and Mürzzuschlag in Austria underneath the Semmering Pass. The existing route is 41 km long and the Semmering Base Tunnel will be 27.3 km long. The new route will offer time savings of up to 30 minutes, partly on account of the shorter route and partly on account of the higher speed limit.
The Austrian Southern Railway is a 577.2-kilometre (358.7 mi) long double track railway, which linked the capital Vienna with Trieste, the former main seaport of Austria-Hungary, by railway for the first time. It now forms the Southern Railway in Austria and the Spielfeld-Straß–Trieste railway in Slovenia and Italy.