Bludenz is a city in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg. The city
is the seat of the District Commission Bludenz and as of June 30,
2018, with 14577 (main residences) plus 1098 (other residences)
inhabitants, the sixth largest municipality in Vorarlberg.
The city center of Bludenz is located at an altitude of about 570
meters at the south-western foot of the Lechquellen Mountains,
terraced above the valley floor of the Ill and laid out on part of
the debris fan of the Galgentobelbach. The official altitude for
Bludenz is 588 m. This refers to the location of the
Laurentiuskirche, which stands a little higher above the town
center. The highest point of the municipality is formed by the
summit of the Weißen Rössle, 2214 m, northwest of Ausserbraz. A
small part of the municipal area east of Stallehr even extends over
the Alfenz into Verwall. This is the Garnilawald, which grows on the
northern slopes of Davennakopf, Davenna and Zwölferkopf above the
reservoir of the Alfenzwerk. Parts of the mountain forests in the
north of Bludenz belong to the "Natura 2000" European protection
area "Klostertaler Bergwälder", which extends from the Galgentobel
to Klösterle.
The city lies at the intersection of the
Walgau, Brandnertal (Rätikon), Montafon (Silvretta) and Klostertal
(Arlberg) valleys. Bludenz likes to market itself as the “five
valleys town”, but the fifth valley, the Große Walsertal, only joins
the Walgau near Ludesch, a few kilometers west of Bludenz. 48.5
percent of the community area is forested. Neighboring communities
of Bludenz are Nüziders, Raggal, Innerbraz, Bartholomäberg, St.
Anton im Montafon, Lorüns, Stallehr and Bürs.
The drinking
water for Bludenz is drawn from several hundred meters above the
city, at the foot of the western flanks of the Breithorn and
Elsalptürmen, as well as springs located on the southern flank of
Katzenköpf. The city partially uses the gradient to generate
electricity and operates a small drinking water power plant in
Hinterplärsch with a maximum output of 125 kW.
Bludenz has a
climate that is significantly influenced by the Atlantic Ocean. The
average annual precipitation recorded from 1971 to 2000 by the
nearby Bürs measuring station is 1341 mm, the average annual
temperature 7.9 ° C. However, the official records for most of the
populated area of Bludenz already show an average annual rainfall
of between 1500 and 1800 mm. The north-eastern areas on the slopes,
e.g. B. Rungelin, even get 1800 to 2100 mm / a. On the summit areas
of Hohem Fraßen and Breithorn, which are drained south and west by
the Galgentobelbach, an average of 2400 to 2700 mm fell, on that of
Gams Freiheit and Weißer Rössle even enormous 2700 to 3000 mm of
precipitation per year by Central European standards.
Bludenz
is often one of the places with the highest daytime temperatures in
Vorarlberg, also due to its proximity to the Brandner Valley, which
is known as a pronounced foehn line. The mountains from Hohen Fraßen
to Elsspitze and Gamsfreiheit, which tower over the city by around
1400 meters, protect Bludenz from cold winds from north to
northeast.
In the city cemetery there is an automatic weather
station from the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics
(ZAMG), the current measured values of which are permanently
presented on the Internet.