Laa an der Thaya | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 48°43′N16°23′E / 48.717°N 16.383°E | |
Country | Austria |
State | Lower Austria |
District | Mistelbach |
Government | |
• Mayor | Brigitte Ribisch (ÖVP) |
Area | |
• Total | 72.91 km2 (28.15 sq mi) |
Elevation | 183 m (600 ft) |
Population (2018-01-01) [2] | |
• Total | 6,280 |
• Density | 86/km2 (220/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
Postal code | 2136 |
Area code | 02522 |
Website | www.laa.at |
Laa an der Thaya is a town in the Mistelbach District of Lower Austria in Austria, near the Czech border. The population in 2016 was 6,224.
The town is located in the northern Weinviertel region, near the Thaya river, directly at the border with South Moravia. The municipal area includes the cadastral communities of Hanfthal, Kottingneusiedl, Pernhofen, Ungerndorf, and Wulzeshofen.
A settlement at a ford across the Thaya existed already in the 12th century, before the estates were acquired by the Babenberg dukes of Austria about 1190. Duke Leopold VI of Austria about 1230 had the walled town of Laa laid out as a strategic outpost at the border with the Kingdom of Bohemia in the north. His successor Duke Frederick the Warlike used it as a military base for his Bohemian campaigns, until he was finally killed in battle in 1246. The erection of the St Vitus parish church was begun about 1240, it is today one of the largest preserved Romanesque church buildings in Lower Austria.
Laa's town privileges were confirmed when the Austrian lands had passed to King Ottokar II of Bohemia, and again in 1281 by the Habsburg ruler King Rudolph I of Germany after his victory in the Battle on the Marchfeld. Nevertheless, the town's significance decreased over the following decades, it was devastated by the troops of Margrave Jobst of Moravia in 1407 and again in 1426 by Hussite forces. According to legend, the later Pope Pius II (Enea Silvio Piccolomini) worked as a priest at the Laa parish church from 1442, actually he served as papal legate to the Imperial Diet and counsellor of Emperor Frederick III. To improve Laa's economy, the citizens were granted the privilege of brewing in 1454.
During the Thirty Years' War, the town was first occupied by Bohemian troops until the 1620 Battle of White Mountain, later by Swedish forces, who left Laa in a desolate condition. It remained a sedate county town when Napoleon marched through in 1809 during the War of the Fifth Coalition. However, Laa's development was promoted by the opening of a railway connection to Austria's capital Vienna in 1869, with a branch line of the Eastern Railway which led on to Hevlín and Brno (Brünn) in Moravia. Another branch via Pulkau to Zellerndorf which connected to the Vienna-Znojmo railway line opened in 1873.
Laa again became a border town after World War I with the establishment of the First Czechoslovak Republic; at the end of World War II it bordered the "Iron Curtain" dividing Europe. In June 2005, about 250 townspeople and 80 visitors from the US, Israel and Europe with historical family links to former Jewish citizens of Laa an der Thaya assembled with Mayor Fass to dedicate a memorial to the members of 33 Jewish families of Laa murdered by the SS in Auschwitz. This memorial was only the second official memorial dedicated to the memory of Austria's Jews.
Since October 7, 2015 Brigitte Ribisch is the mayor of Laa an der Thaya. Seats in the municipal assembly (Gemeinderat) as of 2015 [update] elections:
Laa an der Thaya is twinned with:
Bohemia is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohemian kings, including Moravia and Czech Silesia, in which case the smaller region is referred to as Bohemia proper as a means of distinction.
Moravia is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia.
The history of the Czech lands – an area roughly corresponding to the present-day Czech Republic – starts approximately 800 years BCE. A simple chopper from that age was discovered at the Red Hill archeological site in Brno. Many different primitive cultures left their traces throughout the Stone Age, which lasted approximately until 2000 BCE. The most widely known culture present in the Czech lands during the pre-historical era is the Únětice Culture, leaving traces for about five centuries from the end of the Stone Age to the start of the Bronze Age. Celts – who came during the 5th century BCE – are the first people known by name. One of the Celtic tribes were the Boii (plural), who gave the Czech lands their first name Boiohaemum – Latin for the Land of Boii. Before the beginning of the Common Era the Celts were mostly pushed out by Germanic tribes. The most notable of those tribes were the Marcomanni and traces of their wars with the Roman Empire were left in south Moravia.
Ottokar II, the Iron and Golden King, was a member of the Přemyslid dynasty who reigned as King of Bohemia from 1253 until his death in 1278. He also held the titles of Margrave of Moravia from 1247, Duke of Austria from 1251, and Duke of Styria from 1260, as well as Duke of Carinthia and landgrave of Carniola from 1269.
Znojmo is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 34,000 inhabitants. Znojmo is the historical and cultural centre of southwestern Moravia and the second most populated town in the South Moravian Region. The historic centre of Znojmo is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument reservation.
The Battle on the Marchfeld ; Polish: Bitwa pod Suchymi Krutami at Dürnkrut and Jedenspeigen took place on 26 August 1278 and was a decisive event for the history of Central Europe for the following centuries. The opponents were a Bohemian (Czech) army led by the Přemyslid king Ottokar II of Bohemia and the German army under the German king Rudolph I of Habsburg in alliance with King Ladislaus IV of Hungary. With 15,300 mounted troops, it was one of the largest cavalry battles in Central Europe during the Middle Ages. The Hungarian cavalry played a significant role in the outcome of the battle.
Břeclav is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 25,000 inhabitants.
The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were the states in Central Europe during the medieval and early modern periods with feudal obligations to the Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted of the Kingdom of Bohemia, an electorate of the Holy Roman Empire according to the Golden Bull of 1356, the Margraviate of Moravia, the Duchies of Silesia, and the two Lusatias, known as the Margraviate of Upper Lusatia and the Margraviate of Lower Lusatia, as well as other territories throughout its history. This agglomeration of states nominally under the rule of the Bohemian kings was referred to simply as Bohemia. They are now sometimes referred to in scholarship as the Czech lands, a direct translation of the Czech abbreviated name.
Conrad II Otto, a member of Přemyslid dynasty, was the first margrave of Moravia from 1182 to 1189 and duke of Bohemia from 1189 until his death.
Alland is a market town in the district of Baden in the Austrian state of Lower Austria.
Weitra is a small town in the district of Gmünd in the Austrian state of Lower Austria.
Hardegg is a town in the district of Hollabrunn in Lower Austria, Austria. It is situated in the Waldviertel region on the river Thaya, directly on the border with the Czech Republic. The Thaya valley is protected as the Thayatal National Park, adjacent to the Podyjí National Park on the Czech shore.
Nappersdorf-Kammersdorf is a town in the district of Hollabrunn in Lower Austria, Austria.
Wolkersdorf im Weinviertel is a town in the district of Mistelbach in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is situated in the Weinviertel, about 15 km north of Vienna, on the main road from Vienna to Brno. The municipality consists of the subdivisions Wolkersdorf, Riedenthal, Pfösing, Obersdorf and Münichsthal. It was elevated to town status in 1969.
The history of Moravia, one of the Czech lands, is diverse and characterized by many periods of foreign governance.
Gerasdorf bei Wien is a town in the district of Korneuburg in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. The city has 10,862 inhabitants.
Neighborly relations exist between Austria and the Czech Republic, two member states of the European Union. Austria gave full support to the Czech Republic's membership of the European Union. The Czech Republic is a member state of NATO, while Austria is not.
The Margraviate of Moravia was one of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown within the Holy Roman Empire and then Austria-Hungary, existing from 1182 to 1918. It was officially administered by a margrave in cooperation with a provincial diet. It was variously a de facto independent state, and also subject to the Duchy, later the Kingdom of Bohemia. It comprised the historical region called Moravia, which lies within the present-day Czech Republic.
The coat of arms of Moravia has been used for centuries to represent Moravia, a traditional province in the present-day Czech Republic. The coat of arms is also present in a field of the coat of arms of the Czech Republic.
The Laaer Ostbahn is a railway line in Lower Austria. It runs 82.6 kilometres (51.3 mi) from Wien Hauptbahnhof to Laa an der Thaya, on the Czech–Austrian border. The line formerly continued to Brno. Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) owns and operates the line.