Spittal an der Drau
Spittal an der Drau
| Spittal an der Drau | |
 Spittal an der Drau
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| Country |  Austria |
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| State | Carinthia |
| District | Spittal an der Drau |
| Mayor | Gerhard P. Köfer (SPÖ) |
| Area | 48.51 km2 (19 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 560 m (1837 ft) |
| Population | 16,045 (1 January 2001) |
| - Density | 331 /km² (857 /sq mi) |
| Time zone | CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) |
| Postal codes | 9800, 9701, 9702 |
| Area code | 4762 |
| Website | www.spittal-drau.at
Coordinates: 46°47′0″N 13°29′0″E / 46.783333°N 13.483333°E |
Spittal an der Drau (Slovene: Špital ob Dravi) is located in the western part of the Austrian federal state of Carinthia and the administrative centre of the federal state's second largest district, Spittal an der Drau. It lies between the Lurnfeld area and the Lower Drava Valley. The city consists of the seven Katastralgemeinden Amlach, Edling, Großegg, Molzbichl, Olsach, Spittal and St. Peter-Edling. It formally received town privileges in 1930.
Despite its name the historic core of Spittal originated on the banks of the small Lieser River, which flows into the Drava in the south of the city. Within the subdivision of Großegg the area of Spittal extends to the southern shore of Lake Millstatt.
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History
The settlement was first mentioned in a 1191 deed issued by Archbishop Adalbert III Přemysl (Vojtech) of Salzburg, when the Counts Hermann I and Otto II of Ortenburg had a hospital (Spittl) with a chapel built where the ancient road leading to the Katschberg Pass crossed the Lieser river. Together with the Ortenburg estates, Spittal in 1418 was inherited by Count Hermann II of Celje. The Counts of Celje, raised to immediate Reichsgrafen in 1436, became extinct when Count Ulrich II was killed by the liegemen of László Hunyadi in 1456, after which Emperor Frederick III of Habsburg seized his territory and incorporated it into the Duchy of Carinthia.
The Ortenburg counts had granted Spittal the rights of a market town in 1242, while in 1457 the citizen were given the right to choose their own judge and the council. Shortly after the town and the surrounding lands were, however, devastated by Turkish warriors and the troops of Emperor Frederick's long-time rival King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary. Ravaged by a peasant's revolt and two fires in 1522 and 1729, the decline continued, until in 1524 Archduke Ferdinand I of Austria entrusted his treasurer Gabriel von Salamanca (1489–1539) with the former Ortenburg county. From his descendants the estates passed to the Gorizian Counts of Porcia in 1662.
Main sights
In the town centre is Schloss Porcia, considered one of the most important Renaissance castles in Austria. Built from 1533 on by Gabriel von Salamanca-Ortenburg, the castle in the style of an Italian palazzo from 1662 till 1918 was a residence of the Counts of Porcia. Today it hosts an annual festival for classic theatrical comedies (Komödienspiele Porcia) and is also home of a museum of local history.
Opposite is the town hall, a former Renaissance Palais of the Khevenhüller noble family, built in 1537.
The late Gothic Catholic parish church Mary's Annunciation was built in 1584 upon foundations of the 13th century.
The Spittl (hospital), from which the city derived its name, was rebuilt by Gabriel von Salamanca in the 16th century at the bridge crossing over the Lieser river. In 1919 during the occupation of Lower Carinthia by troops of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia it served as the provisional seat of the Carinthian government. Since 1995 the Spittl has been a seat of the Carinthian Fachhochschule (University of Applied Sciences) for Engineering ("Technikum").
East of the town, within the Drava Valley lies the village of Molzbichl, which is home to the remains of Carinthia's first monastery, established about 780 by Duke Tassilo III of Bavaria and abandoned in the 10th century. A small museum nearby shows several artifacts of Carolingian origin. The foundation of the monastery church is visible south of the present parish church Saint Tiburtius, which itself has an altar including a Roman tombstone of an Early Christian deacon Nonnosus, who died here in 532.
On a slope above the valley, northeast of the town is Schloss Rothenthurn, in the 11th century the "Red Tower" ("Roter Turm"), a fiefdom of the Counts of Ortenburg. The present-day palace is a building from the 17th century and serves as a hotel.
Spittal is home of Austria's largest private collection of model railroads.
Transportation
The city has a railway station on the Tauernbahn railway line from Villach to Salzburg. It lies also near the A10 Tauern Autobahn as well as on the Bundesstraßen highways B99 Katschberg-Straße leading to the Katschberg Pass and the B100 Drautal-Straße to Lienz in East Tyrol. A cableway runs up to Mount Goldeck (2,142 m).
Twin cities
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