Friesach (early medieval Slovene Breže) is a municipality with 4901 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2023) in northern Carinthia. It is known for its well-preserved medieval buildings such as the city fortifications including the water-bearing city moat.
buildings
Petersberg Castle with a 28 m high keep
City
fortification Friesach
Geiersberg Castle
Castle Lavant
Fürstenhof Friesach with historic granary
Friesach Parish Church
Teutonic Church
Dominican Church and Convent of the Dominicans
City fountain Friesach
Church ruins Virgilienberg
Church of the
Holy Blood in Friesach (seminary church)
Branch Church of St. Peter
Hague Convention
The old town of Friesach is protected under
the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the
Event of Armed Conflicts.
Theatre
Friesacher Burghofspiele
(since 1950, temporarily as "Friesacher Sommerspiele")
Museums
City Museum on Petersberg
Castle building experience in Friesach
Porsche Museum St. Salvator
Waxmaker & Lebzelter Museum
choirs
Friesach Castle Choir
MGV Friesach
Rainbow choir tent chess
Round of singers St. Salvator
MGV Ingolsthal
border choir
Music
Friesach Music School
City Band Friesach
Culture Forum
Friesach
The municipality is located in the north of the district of Sankt Veit an der Glan. It includes parts of the Metnitztal and the Friesacher Feld, the Metnitz Alps, the Mödringberg range and the Guttaringer Bergland. In the municipal area, the Olsa flows into the Metnitz. The main town is on Friesacher Straße and on the Rudolfsbahn.
For statistical purposes, the municipal area is divided into seven
census districts:
000 Friesach old town: Center of the village of
Friesach.
001 Old Town Surroundings South: Southern part of the
village of Friesach.
002 Olsa-Grafendorf: the villages of Olsa,
Grafendorf, a few houses from Friesach.
003 St. Salvator center: the
center of the former municipality of St. Salvator, i.e. the villages of
St. Salvator, St. Johann, Wels, Mayerhofen (in part).
004 St.Salvator
environment: The periphery of the former municipality of St. Salvator,
i.e. the villages of Engelsdorf (small part), Guldendorf, Gunzenberg,
Gwerz, Hundsdorf, Ingolsthal, Judendorf (partially), Leimersberg,
Mayerhofen (partially), Moserwinkl, Oberdorf I, Reisenberg, Roßbach, St.
Stefan, Staudachhof, Stegsdorf, Stegsdorf, Stegsdorf, Stegsdorf,
Timanan, Wiesen, ces, Zmuck.
005 Zeltschach: the area of the former
municipality of Zeltschach, i.e. the villages of Dobritsch, Gaisberg,
Gundersdorf, Harold, Hartmannsdorf, Judendorf (in part), Kräuping,
Oberdorf II, Pabenberg, Sattelbogen, Schwall, Silbermann, Wagendorf,
Wiegen, Zeltschach, and Zeltschachberg.
007 Altstadt-Umg.-N-Engelsd:
northern part of the village of Friesach, large part of the village of
Engelsdorf; village
The following climate table refers to the main town, which is at an altitude of 630 m. Since the settlement area in the municipality is over 1300 m above sea level, this data is not meaningful for the entire municipality.
Findings of silver and iron from the La Tène and Roman periods in today's municipal area indicate that the area that the city occupies today was inhabited very early. The Roman imperial road Via Julia Augusta led through the middle of today's city: It ran from Zwischenwasser to Wildbad Einöd roughly along the current route of the B 317.
Numerous place names and river names bear witness to the settlement
of the region by the Slavs in the late 6th century; Friesach is also
derived from the Slavic Breže (place near the birches). The subjugation
of the Carantan Slavs around 740 was followed by a colonization by
Bavarians, who came to Carinthia in particular via the Neumarkt saddle.
In and around Friesach, a number of farms emerged. In 860, Ludwig the
German transferred several properties to Archbishop Adalwin of Salzburg,
including the Hof ad Friesah (before Friesach), which is the oldest
documented mention of the place.
Southeast of this courtyard,
Count Wilhelm founded a market between 1016 and 1028 on the basis of a
privilege granted by King Conrad II. After interim difficulties (between
1124 and 1130 the market was abandoned again) it rose to become an
important trading center thanks to its favorable location on one of the
main trade routes between Vienna and Venice. The place was a main depot
in Italy traffic. In 1215 the market was raised to the status of a town.
Friesach experienced its heyday under Archbishop Eberhard II (1200-1246)
and developed into the second largest city of the Archbishopric of
Salzburg and the most important city in what is now Carinthia. The
archbishops minted the Friesacher pfennig for the first time in 1130,
which remained a nationwide currency for over two centuries as far away
as eastern Hungary. Some of the silver used in the coin was mined in the
nearby Zeltschach.
Friesach was not only an economic but also a
religious center at that time. The Archbishops of Salzburg had a
residence built in Friesach and numerous religious orders settled there.
At the end of the 13th century, as a result of conflicts between the
Archbishops of Salzburg and the Habsburgs and Bohemia, the city was
conquered, plundered and destroyed by arson three times within a few
decades. On March 20, 1292, the uprising of the Landsberg League against
Duke Albrecht I was temporarily ended by the comparison of Friesach in
Friesach Castle, after the city had been stormed and burned by
Albrecht's troops.
The city remained part of the Prince
Archbishopric of Salzburg until 1803, but lost importance and was unable
to continue the economic and cultural heyday of the Middle Ages.
Since Friesach was constituted as a political municipality in 1850,
its scope has changed several times. The cadastral municipality of
Töschelsdorf (1873) as well as Zeltschach (1890) and Micheldorf (1892)
split off from the original municipality. On the occasion of the
community structure reform in 1973, the previously independent local
communities of St. Salvator, Zeltschach and Micheldorf were
incorporated; the latter became independent again in 1992.
In the
course of the emerging summer holiday tourism in Carinthia, a
beautification association was founded in Friesach in 1881, which among
other things had the aim of "preventing the destruction of ruins and the
deportation of antiquities". A sidewalk was built along Bahnhofstrasse,
the Roman and Jewish stones scattered throughout the city were
collected, park benches, tables and notice boards were set up, and
“Bengalese lighting” was provided on the town square and near the ruins.
At the beginning of the 1890s, a swimming pool was built, which was
taken over by the club in 1900, further sports facilities followed with
the installation of tennis courts and the organization of excursions by
the cycling club. In this way, important foundations of the tourism
infrastructure were laid in Friesach during this period.
The Carinthian State Exhibition of 2001, under the motto of the Middle Ages, showed the city in the Middle Ages as the central theme, which was to have a lasting impact on tourism. In May 2009, a construction site for a castle building project modeled on Guédelon was inaugurated on a hill south of the city. This project was intended to show how a castle could be built using medieval working methods. In 2011, however, the project organization was radically changed, the keep that had been started was blown up for structural reasons and the facility was continued with a more touristic focus.
At the time of the 2001 census, Friesach had 5,462 inhabitants, 96.2% of whom are Austrian citizens. 89.8% of the population belong to the Roman Catholic Church, 2.6% to the Evangelical Church and 1.5% to Islam. The Jehovah's Witnesses have a Kingdom Hall in Friesach. 4.8% of the population have no religious affiliation.
Friesach has small and medium-sized companies in the metalworking and textile industries. The Deutsch-Ordens-Krankenhaus and facilities of the Carinthian Caritas such as the Hemma-Haus point to the importance of the social service sector. The urban area is characterized by a large number of small, tourism-oriented businesses.
The Friesacher Straße (B 317) runs north-south through the municipal
area and connects Friesach with the provincial capital 45 km away in the
south and Styria in the north. From here, north of the city, a state
road branches off to the west, which runs through the Metnitz valley.
Friesach station is on the St. Michael–St. Veit/Glan of the Rudolf
Railway.
About 3 km south of the community center is the
Friesach/Hirt airfield. The Mayerhofen airfield near Friesach is located
about 4 km northwest of the community center.
Kindergarten: In the municipality of Friesach there are two
children's groups and a parish kindergarten.
Schools: The elementary
schools in Friesach and St. Salvator as well as the new middle school
provide for the school education of the young people.
Health: Several
general practitioners and specialists are available to provide health
care for the population. In Friesach there is a pharmacy and a hospital
run by the Teutonic Order.
Nursing: The Carinthian Caritas
Association operates a nursing home in the city center.
City Council and Mayor
The City Council (city government) consists
of six members. Directly elected mayor is Josef Kronlechner (SPÖ).
The municipal council consists of 23 members.
After the municipal
council elections in 2015, it was made up as follows: 12 SPÖ, 5 ÖVP, 5
FPÖ and 1 BFF (Bürgerforum Friesach).
After the municipal council
elections in 2021, it will be composed as follows: 12 SPÖ, 5 FPÖ, 4 ÖVP
and 2 LMS.
Cormons, Italy
Bad Griesbach i. Rottal, Germany
Blazon: "In red, a city fortification forming a pentagon, which
tapers downwards to a double-gate building with a button-crowned tent
roof, enclosing an equally covered tower on the right and left and
surmounted by a large crenellated tower flanked by two small crenellated
towers."
Reason for coat of arms: The coat of arms of Friesach is
based on the oldest surviving seal on a document from the year 1265. It
shows in a highly stylized form the Friesach town fortifications with
the Olsator in the middle, the Neumarkt and St. Veit gates on the sides,
and the red tower at the back.
The flag of Friesach is red and white
with an integrated coat of arms.
Franz Schiffer, provost
1890: Eduard Gaston Pöttickh von Pettenegg
for establishing the Deutsch-Ordensspital
1894: Franz Kornke, parish
priest
1896: Max Ritter von Grabmayr, District Governor
1902: Paul
Grueber, Chief Building Officer, for services to structural development
Johann Hödl, deputy mayor
1924: Josef Pernegger, mayor
1927:
August Jaksch von Wartenhorst (1859–1932), historian
1927: Arnold
Luschin von Ebengreuth (1841–1932), legal historian and numismatist
1934: Kurt Schuschnigg, dictatorial Chancellor
1934: Ernst Rüdiger
Starhemberg, Heimwehr leader
1934: Michael Paulitsch, clergyman,
journalist, politician, for his services to road construction
1937:
Otto von Habsburg
Charles of Friesach († 1260), Bishop of Lavant
Almerich
Grafendorfer (* before 1251; † 1267), bishop of Lavant
Gerold von
Friesach († 1333), Bishop of Gurk
Sigmund Bleibtreu (1819–1894),
Hofburg actor, father of Hedwig Bleibtreu
Hubert Hauser (1856–1913),
businessman, founder of the town beautification association
Marius
Kaiser (1877–1969), hygienist
Georg Pranckh (born 1952), politician
(FPÖ) and farmer
Peter Moser (* 1959), mining scientist
Klaus
Hubert Auer (* 1962), politician (ÖVP) and forester
Gernot Krapinger
(* 1962), lawyer and classical philologist
Nik P. (born Nikolaus
Presnik, born 1962), pop singer and composer
Hermann Jantschgi (*
1964), innkeeper and politician (FPÖ)
Josef Bucher (* 1965),
politician (BZÖ)
Eva Brunner (born 1966), film and theater actress
Axel Kassegger (* 1966), politician (FPÖ) and entrepreneur
Michael
Fleischhacker (born 1969), journalist and TV presenter
Andreas
Thierry (born 1970), far-right politician and journalist
Gerda
Hofstätter (born 1971), pool player
Gert Prohaska (born 1976), ice
hockey player
Michael Pink (born 1977), actor, singer and voice actor
Robert Notsch (born 1979), actor, director and stage designer
Josef
Ofner (* 1979), politician (FPÖ)
Willi Gabalier (born 1981), dancer
Robert Stadlober (born 1982), actor, voice actor, musician and singer
Miriam H. Auer (* 1983), writer and lecturer in English and American
Studies
Andreas Gabalier (born 1984), singer
Jürgen Säumel (born
1984), football player and coach
Anja Stadlober (born 1984), actress
and voice actress
Michael Reiner (* 1985), politician (FPÖ)
Nicole
Schmidhofer (born 1989), alpine skier
Christian Ilić (born 1996),
soccer player
Heinz Gärtner (1922-2019), politician (SPÖ) and elementary school
director
Christopher Hinterhuber (* 1973 in Klagenfurt, grew up in
Friesach), pianist
Emilie von Kalchberg (1796–1877), educator and
writer
Adi Peichl (1945–2020), actor and director
John Wray
(writer) (born 1971), novelist