Oberpullendorf (Hungarian: Felsõpulya) is a city in Central Burgenland, Austria with around 3,000 inhabitants and a high proportion of Hungarian-speaking population. The Hungarian name of the city, Fensõpulya, is given on the bilingual place-name sign.
Catholic parish church of St. Klemens Maria Hofbauer in
Oberpullendorf
Catholic hll. Simon and Judas in Mitterpullendorf
Franziskuskirche, actually chapel of St. Francis of Assisi (built in
1707 and thus the oldest building in Oberpullendorf)
Oberpullendorf Castle: Former fort of the Rohonczy family, today an
education and conference center for the Eisenstadt diocese
“Prehistoric and early historical iron industry” showroom in the
town hall
New Year's Concert with the
Ambassade Orchestra Vienna (Ensemble of the Vienna Symphony
Orchestra)
Kappl meetings of the carnival guild Oberpullendorf
Art.Contact.Textile (exhibition of textile art)
Pottery in the
quarry
Pullenale (Oberpullendorfer Kulturtage)
Events of the
Hungarian cultural association
Imperial oak festival of the
Rohonzy scout group
Events are held regularly on the main square
in the city center with a children's playground and event stage.
Oberpullendorf has:
a sports center with 7 sand and
4 indoor tennis courts, 4 bowling alleys, 3 squash courts, 1 sports
and multi-purpose hall for football, basketball, etc.
a newly
built stadium with over 550 seats
an outdoor pool with sports
pool (33.3 meters), children's paddling pool, non-swimmer area, 1
meter diving board, water slide, beach volleyball court, table
tennis table, children's play equipment and 2 sandboxes
an event
area with a “skater park” and “street soccer” option as well as a
model airfield and a dog training area.
Among the hiking
trails through the nearby forests there is a “barefoot adventure
trail”, plus bike paths and two fish ponds with fishing
opportunities.
The Oberpullendorfer train station of the
Burgenland Railway is also the starting point for a trolley tour.
The local soccer club SC Oberpullendorf currently plays in the
2nd regional league (2nd division middle).
Main square in the city center: children's
playground and event stage (regular events)
Sports center with 7
sand and 4 indoor tennis courts, 4 bowling alleys, 3 squash courts,
1 sports and multi-purpose hall for football, basketball, etc.
Stadium with approx. 550 seats
Outdoor pool with sports pool
(33.3 meters), children's paddling pool, non-swimmer area, 1 meter
diving board, water slide, beach volleyball court, table tennis
table, children's play equipment and 2 sand boxes
Event area with
skate park and street soccer, model airfield and dog training area.
Barefoot adventure trail
two fish ponds with the possibility of
fishing.
library
Three-screen cinema
Bicycle Draisinentour:
Start from the former Oberpullendorfer station of the Burgenland
Railway
The Oberpullendorf district has been settled since the Neolithic
Age. During the younger Iron Age (Celts) there was a flourishing
iron industrial area in the district. The Oberpullendorf master
gardener and local researcher Josef Polatschek carried out the
systematic mapping of the prehistoric sites.
Before the birth
of Christ, the area was part of the Celtic Kingdom of Noricum and
belonged to the surroundings of the Celtic hill settlement Burg on
the Schwarzenbacher Burgberg. After the kingdom was incorporated
into the Roman Empire, the area of today's Oberpullendorf was
assigned to the Roman province of Pannonia.
The first written
mention of the Hungarian border guards settlement of the Gyepűsystem
from the end of the 10th century comes from the year 1225. The most
important noble landlords were the counts Cseszneky and the barons
Rohonczy.
In 1853, Oberpullendorf became the location of a
Hungarian tax office. In 1893, on the occasion of the Güns imperial
maneuvers, Emperor Franz Joseph and the monarch of the German
Empire, Wilhelm II, as well as Georg von Rohonczy on the general
staff as major general in Oberpullendorf were present. Like all of
Burgenland, the place belonged to Hungary (German West Hungary)
until 1920/21. After the end of the First World War, after tough
negotiations, German-West Hungary was awarded to Austria in the
Treaties of St. Germain and Trianon in 1919. The place has belonged
to the newly founded federal state of Burgenland since 1921 (see
also the history of Burgenland).
Just a few decades ago, the
place was dominated by agriculture. In 1958 the municipalities of
Oberpullendorf and Mitterpullendorf were amalgamated. Oberpullendorf
has been a municipality since 1975.
Geographical location
Oberpullendorf is located in Central
Burgenland, in the center of the administrative district of the same
name. The Stooberbach flows through the municipality from northwest
to southeast.
The hilltop (Fenyős erdő) west of the center of
Oberpullendorf belongs to the Oberpullendorf volcano. This volcano
consists of two superimposed lava flows. It is dated to the time
before or around Sarmat, so it is around twelve million years old.
Church organization
The municipality includes the following
two localities (residents as of January 1, 2021):
Mitterpullendorf (1204)
Oberpullendorf (2061)
The
municipality of Oberpullendorf consists of the cadastral
municipalities of Oberpullendorf and Mitterpullendorf (Hungarian:
Középpulya, Croatian: Sridnja Pulja). The cadastral area of around
1265 hectares is divided into agriculturally used areas with approx.
850 hectares and forestry areas with approx. 320 hectares, while the
remaining area of approx. 95 hectares is neither used for
agriculture nor forestry (e.g. building land and Traffic areas).
The municipality of Oberpullendorf can be reached directly via
the Burgenland expressway S 31, junction Oberpullendorf or
Oberpullendorf Süd.
Oberpullendorf is an important traffic
junction in Burgenland. The Burgenland Straße B 50, which runs
through Burgenland from north to south, the Günser Straße B 61,
which opens into the border crossing Rattersdorf / Kőszeg (H) and
then leads to Szombathely (H) and the Großwarasdorferstraße L 229,
which over Deutschkreutz connects with Sopron (H), run through the
urban area.
A rail connection (Burgenlandbahn) is available,
but has been limited to freight traffic since 1988. On December 15,
2013, the freight traffic was also discontinued and as a result, the
entire route from Deutschkreutz to Oberloisdorf was sold by the
Austrian Federal Railways to the sonnenland draisinentour. Along
with Oberwart, Güssing, Zwettl and Waidhofen an der Thaya,
Oberpullendorf is one of the five district capitals in Austria
without any connection to public rail passenger transport.
Oberpullendorf is very well connected to the state capital
Eisenstadt and the federal capital Vienna by public transport. Buses
of the Verkehrsverbund Ostregion run to these two cities almost
every hour.
In 2005 the barrier-free main street in the
center of the city was redesigned and equipped with over 800 parking
spaces.
A few kilometers from Oberpullendorf, in Großwarasdorf, there is the Kuga, a Burgenland-Croatian cultural center, where interesting events (folk dance to rock concerts) regularly take place.
1 SPORT-HOTEL-KURZ,
Stadiongasse 16, 7350 Oberpullendorf. Tel .: +43 2612 432 33, email:
ober@kurz.cc. Price: from €
52.
2 Weingasthof Krail, 7350 Oberpullendorf, Hauptstrasse 37.
Tel .: +43 2612 42220, email:
weingasthof@krail.at. Price: from € 37.
Today
Oberpullendorf presents itself as the administrative, school and
economic center of the Central Burgenland region. In the technology
area, a competence center for environmental technology, recycling
and renewable energies was established. In the health sector, a
hospital as well as a physics institute, an X-ray center and an
allergy outpatient clinic as well as various specialists meet
regional needs.
The city is home to over 200 commercial
enterprises, the majority of which are small and medium-sized
enterprises. Numerous large companies also have their headquarters
or branches in Oberpullendorf. The number of jobs is high compared
to the number of inhabitants: a resident population of 2793 citizens
compared to 3267 employees in the 2001 census.
The largest
employers in Oberpullendorf include:
Waste management:
Headquarters of Umweltdienst Burgenland GmbH, a 100% subsidiary of
the Burgenland Garbage Association with 195 employees and a turnover
of 28.1 million euros (2006)
Construction: Headquarters of the
construction company Pfnier & Co GmbH, with around 500 employees
Telecommunications: Telekom Austria's customer care center
Automotive supplier: Kromberg and Schubert Austria GmbH & Co KG
("Kroschu"), subsidiary of the German Kromberg & Schubert GmbH, with
around 170 employees
Tourism: Founding location of Blaguss Reisen
GmbH, bus company with numerous travel agencies throughout Austria
Health: A.Ö. Oberpullendorf Hospital with around 400 employees
Oberpullendorf is the location of various educational institutions:
General public elementary school and special school
General public
secondary school / new middle school
Central Music School
Polytechnic School
Public general secondary school: federal high
school, federal high school and high school
Public vocational middle
and higher schools: Federal Commercial School and Federal Commercial
Academy
Special Education Center
Community College
Education
and conference center: "Haus St. Stefan"
library
The city library
and a cinema with three screening rooms also offer entertainment.
Matthias Bleyer (born 1969), soccer player
Patrik Fazekas (born
1990), politician (ÖVP)
Claudia Fuchs (* 1979), legal scholar,
university lecturer
Christoph Gross (born 1988), American football
player
Kurt Gross (1912–1977), politician
Christian Kallinger
(born 1982), professional darts player
Gerhard Karner (born 1990),
soccer player
Paul Kiss (born 1947), secondary school teacher and
politician
Sándor Kozina (1808–1873), painter
Alexander Kulman
(born 1950), teacher and politician (SPÖ)
Elizabeth Kulman (born
1973), singer
Lemo (born 1985), musician
Milan Linzer (1937-2019),
politician (ÖVP), Deputy President of the Federal Council and Member of
the European Parliament
Paul Mayrhofer (* 1972), university professor
at the TU Vienna
Hannes Ochsenhofer (born 1985), basketball player
Elisabeth Pratscher (born 1984), opera singer (soprano)
Martin Rasner
(born 1995), soccer player
Jonathan Reiner (born 1994), musician,
singer-songwriter
Waltraud Riegler (born 1959), Managing Director of
the EAW and LGBT activist
Noah Saavedra (born 1991), film actor
Julian Salamon (born 1991), footballer
Doris Schamp (born 1983),
designer and cartoonist
Andreas Spechtl (born 1984), musician
Horst Steiger (1970–1995), soccer player
Stephanie (born 1990), folk
music and pop singer
Jutta Driver (born 1949), author
Christopher
Trimmel (born 1987), soccer player
Elisabeth Trummer (* 1966),
politician (SPÖ), member of the state parliament, deputy mayor
Thomas
Vollnhofer (born 1984), soccer goalkeeper
David Weichenberger (born
1985), unicycle athlete and artist
Michael Linzer (born 1989), tennis
player
Miriam Ziegler (born 1994), figure skater