Carinthia (state)
Encyclopedia
Carinthia is the southernmost Austrian state
or Land. Situated within the Eastern Alps
it is chiefly noted for its mountains and lakes.
The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Austro-Bavarian
group. There is a Slovene-speaking minority in Southern Carinthia.
Carinthia's main industries are tourism
, electronics
, engineering
, forestry
and agriculture
. The multinational corporation
s Philips
and Siemens
have large operations there.
The name is thought to be Celtic
in origin, though two roots have been proposed:
Carantania is also related to the old Slovenian Korotan, from which the modern name Koroška arose, and it derives from pre-Slavic "carantia".
and the mountain range
s of Upper Carinthia. The Carnic Alps
and the Karawanken
/Karavanke make up the border to the Italian region
of Friuli-Venezia Giulia
and Slovenia
. The Hohe Tauern
mountain range
with mount Grossglockner 3797 m (12,457.35 ft) separates it from the northern state of Salzburg
. To the north-east and east beyond the Packsattel
mountain pass
is the state of Styria (German: Steiermark, Slovenian: Štajerska). The main river is the Drau (Drava), it makes up a continuous valley with the East Tyrol
to the west. Tributaries to the Drau are the Gurk
, the Glan
, the Lavant
and the Gail
rivers. Carinthia's lakes including Wörther See, Millstätter See
, Ossiacher See
and Faaker See
are a major tourist attraction.
The capital city is Klagenfurt
, which in Slovenian language is called Celovec. The next important town is Villach
(Beljak), both strongly linked economically. Other towns are Althofen
, Bad Sankt Leonhard im Lavanttal
, Bleiburg
(Pliberk), Feldkirchen
(Trg), Ferlach
(Borovlje), Friesach
(Breže), Gmünd, Hermagor
(Šmohor), Radenthein
, Sankt Andrä
, Sankt Veit an der Glan
(Šentvid na Glini), Spittal an der Drau
, Straßburg
, Völkermarkt
(Velikovec), Wolfsberg (Volšperk). Some of these Slovene place names are official designations, the majority are Slovene colloquial usage.
Carinthia has a continental climate
, with hot and moderately wet summers and long harsh winters. In recent decades winters have been exceptionally arid
. The average amount of sunshine hours is the highest in Austria. In autumn and winter temperature inversion often dominates the climate, characterized by air stillness, a dense fog
covering the frosty valleys and trapping pollution to form smog
, while mild sunny weather is recorded higher up in the foothills and mountains.
stem duchy
under Duke Odilo
, whose son Duke Tassilo III
was finally deposed by Charlemagne
and his territories were incorporated into the Frankish Empire
. By the 843 Treaty of Verdun
, the former Carantanian lands fell to the kingdom of East Francia ruled by Charlemagne's grandson Louis the German
. The ritual of installation of the Carantanian dukes at the Prince's Stone
near Karnburg in Slovenian language was preserved until 1414, when Ernest the Iron
was enthroned as Duke of Carinthia.
The March of Carinthia
arose in 889 from the territory bequested by Louis's son Carloman
, king of Bavaria from 865 to 880, to his natural son Arnulf of Carinthia
. Arnulf had already assumed the title of a Carinthian duke in 880 and followed his uncle Charles the Fat
as King of Bavaria and East Francia in 887. The Duchy of Carinthia
was finally split from the vast Bavarian duchy in 976 by Emperor Otto II
, having come out victorious from his quarrels with Duke Henry II the Wrangler
. Carinthia therefore was the first newly created duchy of the Holy Roman Empire
and for a short while comprised lands stretching from the Adriatic Sea
almost to the Danube
. In 1040 the March of Carniola
was separated from it and c. 1180 Styria, the "Carinthian March", became a duchy in its own right. After the death of Duke Henry VI of Gorizia-Tyrol in 1335, Carinthia passed to Otto IV
, a member of the House of Habsburg, and was ruled by this dynasty until 1918. After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire 1806, Carinthia was incorporated in the Austrian Empire
's Kingdom of Illyria
which succeeded Napoleon's Illyrian Provinces
, but recovered its previous status in 1849 and in 1867 became one of the Cisleithania
n "crown land
s" of Austria-Hungary
.
for the German speaking territories of Austria met in Vienna to constitute a "Provisional National Council for German-Austria
". Prior to the meeting the delegates agreed that German-Austria should not include "Yugoslav areas of settlement", which referred to Lower Styria
and the two Slovene-speaking Carinthian valleys south of the Karawanken
range, Seeland (Slovenian: Jezersko
) and Mießtal (the valley of the Meža
river). On 12 Nov. 1918, when the Act concerning the foundation of the State of German-Austria was formally passed by the Provisional National Assembly in Vienna this was worded by the State Chancellor, Karl Renner
, "...to encounter the prejudices of the world as though we wanted to annex alien national property" The day before, on 11 Nov. 1918 the Provisional Diet of Carinthia had formally declared Carinthia's accession to the State of German-Austria. The Federal Act concerning the Extent, the Borders and the Relations of the State Territories of 22 Nov. 1918 then clearly stated in article 1: "...the duchies of Styria and Carinthia with the exclusion of the homogenous Yugoslav areas of settlement". Apart from one Social-Democrat, Florian Gröger, all the other delegates from Carinthia - Hans Hofer, Jakob Lutschounig, Josef Nagele, Alois Pirker, Leopold Pongratz, Dr. Otto Steinwender, Dr. Viktor Waldner - were members of German national parties and organizations.
invaded Carinthia and were then joined by Slovene troops under Rudolf Maister
. With the subsequent assistance of the regular Yugoslav army they occupied southern Carinthia claiming the area for the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Yugoslavia
). The Provisional State Government of Carinthia had fled to Spittal an der Drau
and in view of the on-going fighting between local volunteers and the invaders on 5 December decided to declare armed resistance. The resistance encountered by the Yugoslav forces especially north of the Drava
river around the town of Völkermarkt
with its violent fighting alarmed the victorious Allies
at the Paris Peace Conference
.
An Allied Commission headed by US-Lt.Col. Sherman Miles
inspected the situation in situ and recommended the Karawanken main ridge as a natural border to keep the Klagenfurt basin intact but, in agreement with item no. 10 of Woodrow Wilson
's Fourteen Points
, suggested a referendum in the disputed area. An armistice was agreed upon on 14 January and by 7 May 1919 the Yugoslav forces had left the state, but regular troops under Rudolf Maister
returned occupying Klagenfurt on 6 June. Upon the intervention of the Allied Supreme Council in Paris they retreated from the city but remained in the disputed part of Carinthia until 13 September 1920.
In the Treaty of Saint-Germain of 10 Sept.1919 the two smaller Slovene-speaking Carinthian valleys south of the Karawanken
range, Jezersko
and the valley around the Meža
river (Mežiška dolina) together with the town of Dravograd
— together 128 square miles or 331 km² (127.8 sq mi) — were attached to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later known as Kingdom of Yugoslavia
): These areas are today part of Koroška in the Republic of Slovenia, a traditional region also referred to as Carinthia
. The Kanaltal (Italian: Val Canale) as far south as Pontebba
, at that time an ethnically mixed German-Slovene area, with the border town of Tarvisio
and its holy place of pilgrimage of Maria Luschari (172 square miles or 445 km²), was ceded to Italy
and included in the Province of Udine
.
According to the same treaty a referendum
was to be held in southern Carinthia as suggested by the Allied Commission, which was to determine whether the area claimed by the SHS-State was to remain part of Austria or go to Yugoslavia. Much of southern Carinthia was divided into two zones. Zone A was formed out of predominantly Slovene-inhabited zones (approximately corresponding to today's District of Völkermarkt
, the district of Klagenfurt-Land
south of lake Wörthersee
, and the south-eastern part of the present district of Villach-Land
), while Zone B included the City of Klagenfurt, Velden am Wörthersee and the immediately surrounding rural areas where German speakers formed a vast majority. If the population in Zone A had decided for Yugoslavia, another referendum in Zone B would have followed. On October 10, 1920 the Carinthian Plebiscite
was held in Zone A, with almost 60% of the population voting to remain in Austria, which means that about 40% of the Slovene-speaking population must have voted against a division of Carinthia. In view of the close supervision of the referendum by foreign observers, as well as the Yugoslav occupation of the area until four weeks prior to the referendum, irregularities alleged by the deeply disappointed Yugoslav supporters would not have substantially altered the overall decision. Yet after the plebiscite the SHS-State again made attempts to occupy the area, but owing to demarches by Great Britain, France and Italy removed its troops from Austria so that by 22 November 1920 the State Diet of Carinthia was at last able to exercise its sovereignty over the entire state.
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Originally an agrarian country, Carinthia in the 1920s made efforts to establish a touristic infrastructure such as the Grossglockner High Alpine Road
and Klagenfurt Airport
as well as the opening up of the Alps
through the Austrian Alpine Club
. It was, however, hard hit by the Great Depression
around 1930, which pushed the political system
in Austria more and more towards extremism
. This phenomenon culminated at first in the years of Austrofascism
and then in 1938 in the annexation
of Austria by Nazi Germany
(Anschluss
). At the same time the Nazi party took power everywhere in Carinthia, which became, together with East Tyrol
, a Reichsgau
. and Nazi
leaders such as Franz Kutschera
, Hubert Klausner
and Friedrich Rainer
held the office of Gauleiter
and Reichsstatthalter
.
During World War II
, Slovene partisan resistance was active in the southern areas of the region, reaching around 3,000 armed men. The cities of Klagenfurt
and Villach
suffered from air raids
, but the Allied
forces did not reach Carinthia before May 8, 1945
. Toward the end of the war, Gauleiter Rainer tried to implement a Nazi plan for Carinthia to become part of the projected Nazi National Redoubt
(Alpenfestung); these efforts failed and the forces under Rainer's control surrendered to the forces of the British Army
. Once again as at the end of World War I, Yugoslav troops occupied parts of Carinthia including the capital city of Klagenfurt but were soon forced to withdraw by the British forces with the consent of the Soviet Union
.
Carinthia, East Tyrol and Styria then formed the UK occupation zone of Allied-administered Austria
. The area was witness to the turnover of German-allied Cossacks to the Red Army in 1945. The Allied occupation was terminated in 1955 by the Austrian State Treaty
, which restored Austria's sovereignty. The relations between the German- and the Slovene-speaking Carinthians remained somehow problematic. Divergent views over the implementation of minority protection rights guaranteed by Article 7 of the Austrian State Treaty have created numerous tensions between the two groups in the past fifty years.
(Bezirke), the latter being the statutory cities
(Statutarstädte) of Klagenfurt and Villach. There are 132 municipalities
, of which 17 are incorporated as town
s and 40 are of the lesser market towns (Marktgemeinden) status.
legislature
, which also elects the state governor
, whose ancient title is Landeshauptmann
("State Captain"). The other members of the cabinet
are elected under a system of proportional representation
based on the number of representatives of the political parties elected to the Landtag. The results of the 2009 elections were 44.9%/17 seats for the Alliance for the Future of Austria
(BZÖ), 28.8%/11 seats for the Social Democratic Party of Austria
(SPÖ), 16.8%/6 seats for the Austrian People's Party
(ÖVP) and 5.1%/2 seats for the Greens. The plurality of the national-liberal
BZÖ is unique among all Austrian states
, while the results of the conservative
-clerical
ÖVP are remarkably weak. In April 2005 the BZÖ had emerged from the Freedom Party of Austria
(FPÖ) and all but one FPÖ-MPs
had turned to the new party.
One of the BZÖ founders was former Landeshauptmann and long-time FPÖ-leader Jörg Haider
. Haider, a rather controversial figure, had been elected Carinthian governor in 1989 but was forced to resign two years later after remarks about a "proper employment policy" of the Third Reich during a debate in the state assembly. Nevertheless he was elected again Landeshauptmann in 1999 and in 2004, this time even with the consent of the representatives of both SPÖ and ÖVP. Haider was also reproached for repeated contempt for the Carinthian Slovenes
minority rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Austria
. He died in a car crash in 2008 and his party fellow Gerhard Dörfler
came into office. In the last election the BZÖ, strongly referring to its deceased constitutor, managed to retain and even enlarge its share of votes, while the FPÖ failed to enter the Landtag. On 16 December 2009 the majority of the Carinthian BZÖ branch formed The Freedomites in Carinthia political party (FPK), seeking for co-operation with the FPÖ.
is used as official language.
The people are predominantly German-speaking with a unique (and easily recognizable) Southern Austro-Bavarian
dialect
typical of which is that all short German vowels before double consonants have been lengthened ("Carinthian Vowel Stretching").
A Slovene-speaking minority, known as the Carinthian Slovenes
, is concentrated in the southern and south-eastern parts of the state. Its size cannot be determined precisely because the representatives of the ethnic group reject a count. Recommendations for a boycott of the 2001 census which asked for the language used in everyday communication make the figure obtained (12,554 people or 2.38% of a total population of 527,333 ) questionable.
Major sights include the cities of Klagenfurt
and Villach
and mediæval towns like Friesach
or Gmünd. Carinthia features numerous monasteries and churches such as the Romanesque Gurk Cathedral
or Maria Saal
in the Zollfeld plain, the abbeys of St Paul's
, Ossiach
, Millstatt
and Viktring
as well as castles and palaces like large-scale Hochosterwitz
, Griffen
or Porcia
.
Scenic highlights are the main bathing lakes Wörthersee
, Millstätter See
, Ossiacher See
and Faaker See
as well as a variety of smaller lakes and ponds. In winter Carinthia offers ski resorts such as the Nassfeld
near Hermagor, Gerlitzen mountain, Bad Kleinkirchheim
, Flattach
and Heiligenblut
at Austria's highest mountain, the Grossglockner as well as the Hohe Tauern
and Nock Mountains national park
s for all kind of alpine sports and mountaineering
.
States of Austria
Austria is a federal republic made up of nine states, known in German as Länder . Since Land is also the German word for a country, the term Bundesländer is often used instead to avoid ambiguity. The Constitution of Austria uses both terms...
or Land. Situated within the Eastern Alps
Eastern Alps
Eastern Alps is the name given to the eastern half of the Alps, usually defined as the area east of the Splügen Pass in eastern Switzerland. North of the Splügen Pass, the Posterior Rhine forms the border, and south of the pass, the Liro river and Lake Como form the boundary line.-Geography:The...
it is chiefly noted for its mountains and lakes.
The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Austro-Bavarian
Southern Austro-Bavarian
Southern Bavarian, or Southern Austro-Bavarian, is a cluster of Germanic dialects of the Bavarian group.They are primarily spoken in the Austrian federal-states of Tyrol, Carinthia and Styria, in the southern parts of Salzburg and Burgenland as well as in the Italian province of South Tyrol...
group. There is a Slovene-speaking minority in Southern Carinthia.
Carinthia's main industries are tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
, electronics
Electronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
, engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
, forestry
Forestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
and agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
. The multinational corporation
Multinational corporation
A multi national corporation or enterprise , is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation...
s Philips
Philips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
and Siemens
Siemens AG
Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company....
have large operations there.
Name
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
in origin, though two roots have been proposed:
- carant, meaning "friend" or "relation" - giving the meaning "land of friends", which may refer to an IllyrianIllyriansThe Illyrians were a group of tribes who inhabited part of the western Balkans in antiquity and the south-eastern coasts of the Italian peninsula...
tribe of the Bronze AgeBronze AgeThe Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
. - karanto (pre-Indo-European root), meaning "stone, rock". If this is the case, the name shares its root with such others as KarnburgMaria SaalMaria Saal is a market town in the district of Klagenfurt-Land in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is located in the east of the historic Zollfeld plain , the wide valley of the Glan river. The municipality includes the cadastral communes of Kading, Karnburg, Möderndorf, Possau and St...
, the KarawankenKarawankenKaravanke or Karawanken is an Alpine mountain range on the border between Slovenia and Austria. With a total length of 120 km, the Karavanke chain is one of the longest ranges in Europe....
and similar.
Carantania is also related to the old Slovenian Korotan, from which the modern name Koroška arose, and it derives from pre-Slavic "carantia".
Geography
Carinthia consists mostly of the Klagenfurt basinSedimentary basin
The term sedimentary basin is used to refer to any geographical feature exhibiting subsidence and consequent infilling by sedimentation. As the sediments are buried, they are subjected to increasing pressure and begin the process of lithification...
and the mountain range
Mountain range
A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...
s of Upper Carinthia. The Carnic Alps
Carnic Alps
The Carnic Alps are a range of the Southern Limestone Alps in East Tyrol, Carinthia, South Tyrol and Friuli . They extend from east to west for about between the Gail River, a tributary of the Drava and the Tagliamento, forming the border between Austria and Italy.They are named after the Roman...
and the Karawanken
Karawanken
Karavanke or Karawanken is an Alpine mountain range on the border between Slovenia and Austria. With a total length of 120 km, the Karavanke chain is one of the longest ranges in Europe....
/Karavanke make up the border to the Italian region
Regions of Italy
The regions of Italy are the first-level administrative divisions of the state, constituting its first NUTS administrative level. There are twenty regions, of which five are constitutionally given a broader amount of autonomy granted by special statutes....
of Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli–Venezia Giulia is one of the twenty regions of Italy, and one of five autonomous regions with special statute. The capital is Trieste. It has an area of 7,858 km² and about 1.2 million inhabitants. A natural opening to the sea for many Central European countries, the region is...
and Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
. The Hohe Tauern
Hohe Tauern
The Hohe Tauern or High Tauern are a mountain range on the main chain of the Central Eastern Alps, comprising the highest peaks east of the Brenner Pass. The crest forms the southern border of the Austrian state of Salzburg with Carinthia and East Tyrol, while a small part in the southwest belongs...
mountain range
Mountain range
A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...
with mount Grossglockner 3797 m (12,457.35 ft) separates it from the northern state of Salzburg
Salzburg (state)
Salzburg is a state or Land of Austria with an area of 7,156 km2, located adjacent to the German border. It is also known as Salzburgerland, to distinguish it from its capital city, also named Salzburg...
. To the north-east and east beyond the Packsattel
Packsattel
Packsattel is a high mountain pass in the Austrian Alps between the Lavant River valley in Carinthia and the Bundesland of Styria. It connects Pack & Preitenegg.-See also:* List of highest paved roads in Europe* List of mountain passes...
mountain pass
Mountain pass
A mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...
is the state of Styria (German: Steiermark, Slovenian: Štajerska). The main river is the Drau (Drava), it makes up a continuous valley with the East Tyrol
East Tyrol
East Tyrol, or East Tirol , is an exclave of the Austrian state of Tyrol, sharing no border with the main North Tyrol part of the state. It corresponds with the administrative district of Lienz....
to the west. Tributaries to the Drau are the Gurk
Gurk River
The Gurk is a river in Carinthia, Austria. It is the second longest river in that state after the Drava.A northern tributary of the river Drava, the 120 km long Gurk flows from under Nock Mountains, near the border of Austrian provinces of Styria and Carinthia. Its sources are two small lakes, the...
, the Glan
Glan (Gurk)
The Glan is a river in Carinthia, Austria, a right tributary of the Gurk.It rises north of the Wörthersee in the Ossiacher Tauern mountains, then running through Feldkirchen, going northeastwards passing Glanegg Castle until it reaches Sankt Veit where it bends sharply towards south...
, the Lavant
Lavant River
The Lavant is a left tributary of the Drava in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It originates in the small Lavantsee at the southern slope of the Zirbenkogel mountain in Styria, then turns southeastwards and after 7 miles reaches the border to Carinthia...
and the Gail
Gail River
Gail is the name of a river in the Southern Limestone Alps of southern Austria, a right tributary of the Drava River.Originating in the Tyrolean municipality of Obertilliach, it flows from west to east, reaching Carinthia in Lesachtal, running through the Gail Valley parallel to the borders with...
rivers. Carinthia's lakes including Wörther See, Millstätter See
Millstätter See
-General facts:Lake Millstatt is situated in the Central Eastern Alps, near the town of Spittal an der Drau. With a surface area of it is the second largest lake of Carinthia , though with by far the deepest and most voluminous. Its steep shore gives the lake a fjord-like character...
, Ossiacher See
Lake Ossiach
Lake Ossiach is a lake in the Austrian state of Carinthia, situated in the Nock Mountains between the towns of Villach and Feldkirchen. It is the third largest lake in Carinthia, superseded only by Lake Wörth and Lake Millstatt....
and Faaker See
Faaker See
Faaker See or Lake Faak is an alpine lake in the Austrian state of Carinthia. With a surface of approximately 2.2 km² it is the state's fifth largest lake. Faaker See is a popular vacation and bathing destination, known for its clear turquoise water...
are a major tourist attraction.
Klagenfurt
-Name:Carinthia's eminent linguists Primus Lessiak and Eberhard Kranzmayer assumed that the city's name, which literally translates as "ford of lament" or "ford of complaints", had something to do with the superstitious thought that fateful fairies or demons tend to live around treacherous waters...
, which in Slovenian language is called Celovec. The next important town is Villach
Villach
Villach is the second largest city in the Carinthia state in the southern Austria, at the Drava River and represents an important traffic junction for Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the population is 58,480.-History:...
(Beljak), both strongly linked economically. Other towns are Althofen
Althofen
Althofen is a town in the district of Sankt Veit an der Glan in Carinthia in Austria.-References:...
, Bad Sankt Leonhard im Lavanttal
Bad Sankt Leonhard im Lavanttal
Bad Sankt Leonhard im Lavanttal is a town in the district of Wolfsberg in Carinthia in Austria.-References:...
, Bleiburg
Bleiburg
Bleiburg is a small town in the south Austrian state of Carinthia , south-east of Klagenfurt , in the district of Völkermarkt, some four kilometres from the border with Slovenia....
(Pliberk), Feldkirchen
Feldkirchen in Kärnten
Feldkirchen in Kärnten is a town in the Austrian state of Carinthia and the capital of the district of the same name. It consists of the Katastralgemeinden Fasching, Feldkirchen, Glanhofen, Gradisch, Hoefling, Klein Sankt Veit, Pernegg, Rabensdorf, Sankt Ulrich, Sittich, Tschwarzen and...
(Trg), Ferlach
Ferlach
Ferlach is the southernmost town in Austria, about 17 km south of the Carinthian capital Klagenfurt. It is situated in the Rosental/Rož Valley of the Drava River, at the northern slope of the Karawanken mountain range...
(Borovlje), Friesach
Friesach
Friesach is a historic town in the Sankt Veit an der Glan district of Carinthia, Austria. First mentioned in a 860 deed, it is known as the oldest town in Carinthia.-Location:...
(Breže), Gmünd, Hermagor
Hermagor-Pressegger See
Hermagor-Pressegger See is the administrative centre of the Hermagor district in the Austrian state of Carinthia. The town is named after Saint Hermagoras, the first bishop of Aquileia.-Location:...
(Šmohor), Radenthein
Radenthein
Radenthein is a town in the district of Spittal an der Drau in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is situated in the Gegend valley of the Nock Mountains region of the Central Eastern Alps, north-east of Lake Millstatt. The municipality also includes the cadastral communes of Döbriach, Kaning,...
, Sankt Andrä
Sankt Andrä
Sankt Andrä is a town in the district of Wolfsberg in Carinthia in Austria. It is named for Saint Andrew.- External links :*...
, Sankt Veit an der Glan
Sankt Veit an der Glan
Sankt Veit an der Glan is a town in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is the capital of a district with the same name.-Location:This town is a major point on the Glan River in the north of the Zollfeld Valley....
(Šentvid na Glini), Spittal an der Drau
Spittal an der Drau
Spittal an der Drau 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...
, Straßburg
Straßburg, Austria
Straßburg is a town in the district of Sankt Veit an der Glan in Carinthia, Austria.-Location:The municipality lies in Northern Carinthia in the Gurk Valley among the Nock Mountains and the Gurk.-Municipal arrangement:...
, Völkermarkt
Völkermarkt
Völkermarkt is a city of about 11,000 inhabitants in Carinthia, Austria.According to the 2001 census 2.6% of the population are Carinthian Slovenes....
(Velikovec), Wolfsberg (Volšperk). Some of these Slovene place names are official designations, the majority are Slovene colloquial usage.
Carinthia has a continental climate
Continental climate
Continental climate is a climate characterized by important annual variation in temperature due to the lack of significant bodies of water nearby...
, with hot and moderately wet summers and long harsh winters. In recent decades winters have been exceptionally arid
Arid
A region is said to be arid when it is characterized by a severe lack of available water, to the extent of hindering or even preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life...
. The average amount of sunshine hours is the highest in Austria. In autumn and winter temperature inversion often dominates the climate, characterized by air stillness, a dense fog
Fog
Fog is a collection of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. While fog is a type of stratus cloud, the term "fog" is typically distinguished from the more generic term "cloud" in that fog is low-lying, and the moisture in the fog is often generated...
covering the frosty valleys and trapping pollution to form smog
Smog
Smog is a type of air pollution; the word "smog" is a portmanteau of smoke and fog. Modern smog is a type of air pollution derived from vehicular emission from internal combustion engines and industrial fumes that react in the atmosphere with sunlight to form secondary pollutants that also combine...
, while mild sunny weather is recorded higher up in the foothills and mountains.
The Duchy
In A.D. 745 the former Slavic principality of Carantania became a margraviate of the BavarianHistory of Bavaria
The history of Bavaria stretches from its earliest settlement and its formation as a stem duchy in the 6th century through its inclusion in the Holy Roman Empires to its status as an independent kingdom and, finally, as a large and significant Bundesland of the modern Federal Republic of...
stem duchy
Stem duchy
Stem duchies were essentially the domains of the old German tribes of the area, associated with the Frankish Kingdom, especially the East, in the Early Middle Ages. These tribes were originally the Franks, the Saxons, the Alamanni, the Burgundians, the Thuringii, and the Rugii...
under Duke Odilo
Odilo of Bavaria
Odilo was an Alamannic nobleman, a son of Gotfrid of the house of the Agilolfings.He ruled Thurgau until 736, when with the death of Hugbert of Bavaria the older line of the Agilofing became extinct and he inherited the rulership of Bavaria, which he held until his death in 748.Odilo presided...
, whose son Duke Tassilo III
Tassilo III of Bavaria
Tassilo III was duke of Bavaria from 748 to 788, the last of the house of the Agilolfings.Tassilo, then still an infant, began his rule as a Frankish ward under the tutelage of the Merovingian Mayor of the Palace Pepin the Short after Tassilo's father, Duke Odilo of Bavaria, had died in 747 and...
was finally deposed by Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
and his territories were incorporated into the Frankish Empire
Frankish Empire
Francia or Frankia, later also called the Frankish Empire , Frankish Kingdom , Frankish Realm or occasionally Frankland, was the territory inhabited and ruled by the Franks from the 3rd to the 10th century...
. By the 843 Treaty of Verdun
Treaty of Verdun
The Treaty of Verdun was a treaty between the three surviving sons of Louis the Pious, the son and successor of Charlemagne, which divided the Carolingian Empire into three kingdoms...
, the former Carantanian lands fell to the kingdom of East Francia ruled by Charlemagne's grandson Louis the German
Louis the German
Louis the German , also known as Louis II or Louis the Bavarian, was a grandson of Charlemagne and the third son of the succeeding Frankish Emperor Louis the Pious and his first wife, Ermengarde of Hesbaye.He received the appellation 'Germanicus' shortly after his death in recognition of the fact...
. The ritual of installation of the Carantanian dukes at the Prince's Stone
Prince's Stone
The Prince's Stone is the reversed base of an ancient Ionic column that played an important role in the ceremony surrounding the installation of the princes of Carantania in the Early Middle Ages...
near Karnburg in Slovenian language was preserved until 1414, when Ernest the Iron
Ernest, Duke of Austria
Ernest the Iron was Duke of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola from 1406 until his death. He was a member of the Habsburg dynasty, of the Leopoldian line, whose head of the family he was from 1411 to 1424.-Biography:...
was enthroned as Duke of Carinthia.
The March of Carinthia
March of Carinthia
The March of Carinthia was a frontier district of the Carolingian Empire created in 889. Before it was a march, it had been a principality or duchy ruled by native-born Slavic princes at first independently and then under Bavarian and subsequently Frankish suzerainty...
arose in 889 from the territory bequested by Louis's son Carloman
Carloman of Bavaria
Carloman was the eldest son of Louis the German, king of East Francia , and Hemma, daughter of the count Welf...
, king of Bavaria from 865 to 880, to his natural son Arnulf of Carinthia
Arnulf of Carinthia
Arnulf of Carinthia was the Carolingian King of East Francia from 887, the disputed King of Italy from 894 and the disputed Holy Roman Emperor from February 22, 896 until his death.-Birth and Illegitimacy:...
. Arnulf had already assumed the title of a Carinthian duke in 880 and followed his uncle Charles the Fat
Charles the Fat
Charles the Fat was the King of Alemannia from 876, King of Italy from 879, western Emperor from 881, King of East Francia from 882, and King of West Francia from 884. In 887, he was deposed in East Francia, Lotharingia, and possibly Italy, where the records are not clear...
as King of Bavaria and East Francia in 887. The Duchy of Carinthia
Duchy of Carinthia
The Duchy of Carinthia was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, then the first newly created Imperial State beside the original German stem duchies....
was finally split from the vast Bavarian duchy in 976 by Emperor Otto II
Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto II , called the Red, was the third ruler of the Saxon or Ottonian dynasty, the son of Otto the Great and Adelaide of Italy.-Early years and co-ruler with Otto I:...
, having come out victorious from his quarrels with Duke Henry II the Wrangler
Henry II, Duke of Bavaria
Henry II , called the Wrangler or the Quarrelsome, in German Heinrich der Zänker, was the son of Henry I and Judith of Bavaria.- Biography :...
. Carinthia therefore was the first newly created duchy of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
and for a short while comprised lands stretching from the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
almost to the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
. In 1040 the March of Carniola
March of Carniola
The March of Carniola was a southeastern state of the Holy Roman Empire in the High Middle Ages, the predecessor of the Duchy of Carniola. It corresponded roughly to the central Carniolan region of present-day Slovenia...
was separated from it and c. 1180 Styria, the "Carinthian March", became a duchy in its own right. After the death of Duke Henry VI of Gorizia-Tyrol in 1335, Carinthia passed to Otto IV
Otto, Duke of Austria
Otto IV, the Merry was a Duke of Austria and the youngest son of Albert I of Germany and Elisabeth of Tirol.Otto was born in Vienna. He had two brothers, namely Frederick the Handsome and Albert II...
, a member of the House of Habsburg, and was ruled by this dynasty until 1918. After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire 1806, Carinthia was incorporated in the Austrian Empire
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
's Kingdom of Illyria
Kingdom of Illyria
The Kingdom of Illyria was an administrative unit of the Austrian Empire from 1816 to 1849. Its administrative centre was Ljubljana and it included the western and central part of present-day Slovenia, the present Austrian state of Carinthia, as well as some territories in north-western Croatia ...
which succeeded Napoleon's Illyrian Provinces
Illyrian provinces
The Illyrian Provinces was an autonomous province of the Napoleonic French Empire on the north and east coasts of the Adriatic Sea between 1809 and 1816. Its capital was established at Laybach...
, but recovered its previous status in 1849 and in 1867 became one of the Cisleithania
Cisleithania
Cisleithania was a name of the Austrian part of Austria-Hungary, the Dual Monarchy created in 1867 and dissolved in 1918. The name was used by politicians and bureaucrats, but it had no official status...
n "crown land
Crown land
In Commonwealth realms, Crown land is an area belonging to the monarch , the equivalent of an entailed estate that passed with the monarchy and could not be alienated from it....
s" of Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
.
Formation of the State
In late 1918 it became obvious that the break-up of the crumbling Habsburg monarchy was imminent, and on 21 October 1918 the members of the ReichsratReichsrat (Austria)
The Imperial Council of Austria from 1867 to 1918 was the parliament of the Cisleithanian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was a bicameral legislature, consisting of the Herrenhaus and the Abgeordnetenhaus...
for the German speaking territories of Austria met in Vienna to constitute a "Provisional National Council for German-Austria
German Austria
Republic of German Austria was created following World War I as the initial rump state for areas with a predominantly German-speaking population within what had been the Austro-Hungarian Empire, without the Kingdom of Hungary, which in 1918 had become the Hungarian Democratic Republic.German...
". Prior to the meeting the delegates agreed that German-Austria should not include "Yugoslav areas of settlement", which referred to Lower Styria
Lower Styria
Lower Styria or Slovenian Styria is a traditional region in northeastern Slovenia, comprising the southern third of the former Duchy of Styria. The population of Lower Styria in its historical boundaries amounts to around 705,000 inhabitants, or 34.5% of the population of Slovenia...
and the two Slovene-speaking Carinthian valleys south of the Karawanken
Karawanken
Karavanke or Karawanken is an Alpine mountain range on the border between Slovenia and Austria. With a total length of 120 km, the Karavanke chain is one of the longest ranges in Europe....
range, Seeland (Slovenian: Jezersko
Jezersko
Jezersko may refer to:* Jezersko, Slovenia, the village and municipality in northern Slovenia* Jezersko, Kežmarok District, the village and municipality in northern Slovakia* Seebergsattel, a mountain pass connecting Austria and Slovenia...
) and Mießtal (the valley of the Meža
Meža
The Meža is a long river in Carinthia, Slovenia. It has its source on the Austrian side of the state border near Mount Olševa, becomes subterranean a kilometer from its source, and reappears on the surface in Koprivna near Črna na Koroškem, Slovenia. It is the central river of the Mežica Valley...
river). On 12 Nov. 1918, when the Act concerning the foundation of the State of German-Austria was formally passed by the Provisional National Assembly in Vienna this was worded by the State Chancellor, Karl Renner
Karl Renner
Karl Renner was an Austrian politician. He was born in Untertannowitz in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and died in Vienna...
, "...to encounter the prejudices of the world as though we wanted to annex alien national property" The day before, on 11 Nov. 1918 the Provisional Diet of Carinthia had formally declared Carinthia's accession to the State of German-Austria. The Federal Act concerning the Extent, the Borders and the Relations of the State Territories of 22 Nov. 1918 then clearly stated in article 1: "...the duchies of Styria and Carinthia with the exclusion of the homogenous Yugoslav areas of settlement". Apart from one Social-Democrat, Florian Gröger, all the other delegates from Carinthia - Hans Hofer, Jakob Lutschounig, Josef Nagele, Alois Pirker, Leopold Pongratz, Dr. Otto Steinwender, Dr. Viktor Waldner - were members of German national parties and organizations.
Disputed Frontiers
After the end of the First World War, however, Carinthia became a contested region. On 5 Nov. 1918 the first armed militia units led by the Slovene volunteer Franjo MalgajFranjo Malgaj
Franjo Malgaj was a Slovenian soldier, military leader and poet. He was an officer of the Austro-Hungarian Army...
invaded Carinthia and were then joined by Slovene troops under Rudolf Maister
Rudolf Maister
Rudolf Maister was a Slovene military officer, poet and political activist. The soldiers who fought under Maister's command in northern Slovenia became known as "Maister's fighters"...
. With the subsequent assistance of the regular Yugoslav army they occupied southern Carinthia claiming the area for the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
). The Provisional State Government of Carinthia had fled to Spittal an der Drau
Spittal an der Drau
Spittal an der Drau 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...
and in view of the on-going fighting between local volunteers and the invaders on 5 December decided to declare armed resistance. The resistance encountered by the Yugoslav forces especially north of the Drava
Drava
Drava or Drave is a river in southern Central Europe, a tributary of the Danube. It sources in Toblach/Dobbiaco, Italy, and flows east through East Tirol and Carinthia in Austria, into Slovenia , and then southeast, passing through Croatia and forming most of the border between Croatia and...
river around the town of Völkermarkt
Völkermarkt
Völkermarkt is a city of about 11,000 inhabitants in Carinthia, Austria.According to the 2001 census 2.6% of the population are Carinthian Slovenes....
with its violent fighting alarmed the victorious Allies
Allies of World War I
The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...
at the Paris Peace Conference
Paris Peace Conference, 1919
The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918. It took place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and nationalities...
.
An Allied Commission headed by US-Lt.Col. Sherman Miles
Sherman Miles
Sherman Miles was a General of the U.S. Army. He was Chief of the Military Intelligence Division in 1941, when the attack on Pearl Harbor happened.- Life :...
inspected the situation in situ and recommended the Karawanken main ridge as a natural border to keep the Klagenfurt basin intact but, in agreement with item no. 10 of Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
's Fourteen Points
Fourteen Points
The Fourteen Points was a speech given by United States President Woodrow Wilson to a joint session of Congress on January 8, 1918. The address was intended to assure the country that the Great War was being fought for a moral cause and for postwar peace in Europe...
, suggested a referendum in the disputed area. An armistice was agreed upon on 14 January and by 7 May 1919 the Yugoslav forces had left the state, but regular troops under Rudolf Maister
Rudolf Maister
Rudolf Maister was a Slovene military officer, poet and political activist. The soldiers who fought under Maister's command in northern Slovenia became known as "Maister's fighters"...
returned occupying Klagenfurt on 6 June. Upon the intervention of the Allied Supreme Council in Paris they retreated from the city but remained in the disputed part of Carinthia until 13 September 1920.
In the Treaty of Saint-Germain of 10 Sept.1919 the two smaller Slovene-speaking Carinthian valleys south of the Karawanken
Karawanken
Karavanke or Karawanken is an Alpine mountain range on the border between Slovenia and Austria. With a total length of 120 km, the Karavanke chain is one of the longest ranges in Europe....
range, Jezersko
Jezersko
Jezersko may refer to:* Jezersko, Slovenia, the village and municipality in northern Slovenia* Jezersko, Kežmarok District, the village and municipality in northern Slovakia* Seebergsattel, a mountain pass connecting Austria and Slovenia...
and the valley around the Meža
Meža
The Meža is a long river in Carinthia, Slovenia. It has its source on the Austrian side of the state border near Mount Olševa, becomes subterranean a kilometer from its source, and reappears on the surface in Koprivna near Črna na Koroškem, Slovenia. It is the central river of the Mežica Valley...
river (Mežiška dolina) together with the town of Dravograd
Dravograd
Dravograd is a small town and a municipality in northern Slovenia, close to the border with Austria. It lies on the Drava River at the confluence with the Meža and the Mislinja. It is part of the traditional Slovenian province of Carinthia)....
— together 128 square miles or 331 km² (127.8 sq mi) — were attached to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later known as Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
): These areas are today part of Koroška in the Republic of Slovenia, a traditional region also referred to as Carinthia
Carinthia (province)
Slovenian Carinthia or Slovene Carinthia, most commonly simply Carinthia is a traditional region in the north of Slovenia. It has no official status as an administrative unit within Slovenia, although the association with an informal province is still quite common.The region is referred to as...
. The Kanaltal (Italian: Val Canale) as far south as Pontebba
Pontebba
Pontebba is a comune in the Province of Udine in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is located about 100 km northwest of Trieste and about 50 km north of Udine, on the border with Austria...
, at that time an ethnically mixed German-Slovene area, with the border town of Tarvisio
Tarvisio
Tarvisio is a town in the Province of Udine, in the northeastern part of the autonomous Friuli–Venezia Giulia region in Italy...
and its holy place of pilgrimage of Maria Luschari (172 square miles or 445 km²), was ceded to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and included in the Province of Udine
Province of Udine
The Province of Udine is a province in the autonomous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy, bordering Austria and Slovenia. Its capital is the city of Udine....
.
According to the same treaty a referendum
Carinthian Plebiscite
The Carinthian Plebiscite on 10 October 1920 determined the final southern border between the Republic of Austria and the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes after World War I.- History :...
was to be held in southern Carinthia as suggested by the Allied Commission, which was to determine whether the area claimed by the SHS-State was to remain part of Austria or go to Yugoslavia. Much of southern Carinthia was divided into two zones. Zone A was formed out of predominantly Slovene-inhabited zones (approximately corresponding to today's District of Völkermarkt
Völkermarkt (district)
Völkermarkt District is an administrative district in the Austrian State of Carinthia.-Municipalities:Völkermarkt is divided into 13 municipalities, of which 2 are towns and 3 market towns.-Towns:*Bleiburg...
, the district of Klagenfurt-Land
Klagenfurt-Land
Bezirk Klagenfurt-Land is a district of the state ofCarinthia in Austria.-Municipalities:Towns are indicated in boldface; market towns in italics; suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality are indicated in small characters.*Ebenthal **Aich an der Straße, Berg, Ebenthal,...
south of lake Wörthersee
Wörthersee
The Wörthersee is an alpine lake in the southern Austrian state of Carinthia.-General facts:The lake is elongated, about 20 km long and 1–2 km wide. It stretches from the Carinthian capital Klagenfurt in the east to Velden in the west...
, and the south-eastern part of the present district of Villach-Land
Villach-Land
Bezirk Villach-Land is a district of the state ofCarinthia in Austria.-Municipalities:Towns are indicated in boldface; market towns in italics; suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality are indicated in small characters.*Arnoldstein **Agoritschach, Arnoldstein, Erlendorf, Gailitz,...
), while Zone B included the City of Klagenfurt, Velden am Wörthersee and the immediately surrounding rural areas where German speakers formed a vast majority. If the population in Zone A had decided for Yugoslavia, another referendum in Zone B would have followed. On October 10, 1920 the Carinthian Plebiscite
Carinthian Plebiscite
The Carinthian Plebiscite on 10 October 1920 determined the final southern border between the Republic of Austria and the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes after World War I.- History :...
was held in Zone A, with almost 60% of the population voting to remain in Austria, which means that about 40% of the Slovene-speaking population must have voted against a division of Carinthia. In view of the close supervision of the referendum by foreign observers, as well as the Yugoslav occupation of the area until four weeks prior to the referendum, irregularities alleged by the deeply disappointed Yugoslav supporters would not have substantially altered the overall decision. Yet after the plebiscite the SHS-State again made attempts to occupy the area, but owing to demarches by Great Britain, France and Italy removed its troops from Austria so that by 22 November 1920 the State Diet of Carinthia was at last able to exercise its sovereignty over the entire state.
From 1920 to the Present
Grossglockner High Alpine Road
The Grossglockner High Alpine Road is a panoramic road in Austria, in the state of Salzburg. It connects the state of Salzburg with the state of Carinthia...
and Klagenfurt Airport
Klagenfurt Airport
Klagenfurt Airport is a small international airport in the state of Carinthia, Austria. It is located in the borough of Annabichl, only north northeast from the city centre of Klagenfurt. The airport is accessible by shuttle bus or city bus from Klagenfurt central station.- History :In 1905,...
as well as the opening up of the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
through the Austrian Alpine Club
Österreichischer Alpenverein
The Austrian Alpine Club has 377,000 members in 197 branches and is the largest mountaineering club in Austria. It is responsible for the upkeep of over 242 alpine huts in Austria and neighbouring countries...
. It was, however, hard hit by the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
around 1930, which pushed the political system
Political system
A political system is a system of politics and government. It is usually compared to the legal system, economic system, cultural system, and other social systems...
in Austria more and more towards extremism
Extremism
Extremism is any ideology or political act far outside the perceived political center of a society; or otherwise claimed to violate common moral standards...
. This phenomenon culminated at first in the years of Austrofascism
Austrofascism
Austrofascism is a term which is frequently used by historians to describe the authoritarian rule installed in Austria with the May Constitution of 1934, which ceased with the forcible incorporation of the newly-founded Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938...
and then in 1938 in the annexation
Annexation
Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...
of Austria by Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
(Anschluss
Anschluss
The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....
). At the same time the Nazi party took power everywhere in Carinthia, which became, together with East Tyrol
East Tyrol
East Tyrol, or East Tirol , is an exclave of the Austrian state of Tyrol, sharing no border with the main North Tyrol part of the state. It corresponds with the administrative district of Lienz....
, a Reichsgau
Reichsgau
A Reichsgau was an administrative subdivision created in a number of the areas annexed to Nazi Germany between 1938 and 1945...
. and Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
leaders such as Franz Kutschera
Franz Kutschera
Franz Kutschera was an SS General and Gauleiter of Carinthia...
, Hubert Klausner
Hubert Klausner
Hubert Klausner was an NSDAP Gauleiter and a Landeshauptmann of Carinthia....
and Friedrich Rainer
Friedrich Rainer
Friedrich W. Rainer was a leader in the Nazi Party, as well as an Austrian State governor of Salzburg and Carinthia. He is the only Austrian governor who has ever held the same office in two separate states...
held the office of Gauleiter
Gauleiter
A Gauleiter was the party leader of a regional branch of the NSDAP or the head of a Gau or of a Reichsgau.-Creation and Early Usage:...
and Reichsstatthalter
Reichsstatthalter
The term Reichsstatthalter was used twice for different offices, in the imperial Hohenzollern dynasty's German Empire and the single-party Nazi Third Reich.- "Statthalter des Reiches" 1879-1918 in Alsace-Lorraine :...
.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Slovene partisan resistance was active in the southern areas of the region, reaching around 3,000 armed men. The cities of Klagenfurt
Klagenfurt
-Name:Carinthia's eminent linguists Primus Lessiak and Eberhard Kranzmayer assumed that the city's name, which literally translates as "ford of lament" or "ford of complaints", had something to do with the superstitious thought that fateful fairies or demons tend to live around treacherous waters...
and Villach
Villach
Villach is the second largest city in the Carinthia state in the southern Austria, at the Drava River and represents an important traffic junction for Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the population is 58,480.-History:...
suffered from air raids
Strategic bombing during World War II
Strategic bombing during World War II is a term which refers to all aerial bombardment of a strategic nature between 1939 and 1945 involving any nations engaged in World War II...
, but the Allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
forces did not reach Carinthia before May 8, 1945
Victory in Europe Day
Victory in Europe Day commemorates 8 May 1945 , the date when the World War II Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. The formal surrender of the occupying German forces in the Channel Islands was not...
. Toward the end of the war, Gauleiter Rainer tried to implement a Nazi plan for Carinthia to become part of the projected Nazi National Redoubt
National Redoubt
A national redoubt is a general term for an area to which the forces of a nation can be withdrawn if the main battle has been lost—or even beforehand if defeat is considered inevitable...
(Alpenfestung); these efforts failed and the forces under Rainer's control surrendered to the forces of the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
. Once again as at the end of World War I, Yugoslav troops occupied parts of Carinthia including the capital city of Klagenfurt but were soon forced to withdraw by the British forces with the consent of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
Carinthia, East Tyrol and Styria then formed the UK occupation zone of Allied-administered Austria
Allied-administered Austria
The Allied occupation of Austria lasted from 1945 to 1955. Austria had been regarded by Nazi Germany as a constituent part of the German state, but in 1943 the Allied powers agreed in the Declaration of Moscow that it would be regarded as the first victim of Nazi aggression, and treated as a...
. The area was witness to the turnover of German-allied Cossacks to the Red Army in 1945. The Allied occupation was terminated in 1955 by the Austrian State Treaty
Austrian State Treaty
The Austrian State Treaty or Austrian Independence Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state. It was signed on May 15, 1955, in Vienna at the Schloss Belvedere among the Allied occupying powers and the Austrian government...
, which restored Austria's sovereignty. The relations between the German- and the Slovene-speaking Carinthians remained somehow problematic. Divergent views over the implementation of minority protection rights guaranteed by Article 7 of the Austrian State Treaty have created numerous tensions between the two groups in the past fifty years.
Administrative divisions
The state is divided into eight rural and two urban districtsDistricts of Austria
Austria is divided into 84 political districts , and 15 Statutarstädte which form their own districts.-Function:The Austrian Bezirk is roughly equivalent to the Landkreis in Germany and County in the United States. The administrative office of a district, the Bezirkshauptmannschaft is headed by the...
(Bezirke), the latter being the statutory cities
Statutory city
A Statutory city is a city with its own municipal law or city statute.-Austria:...
(Statutarstädte) of Klagenfurt and Villach. There are 132 municipalities
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
, of which 17 are incorporated as town
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
s and 40 are of the lesser market towns (Marktgemeinden) status.
Statutory cities
- KlagenfurtKlagenfurt-Name:Carinthia's eminent linguists Primus Lessiak and Eberhard Kranzmayer assumed that the city's name, which literally translates as "ford of lament" or "ford of complaints", had something to do with the superstitious thought that fateful fairies or demons tend to live around treacherous waters...
(licence plate codeAustrian car number plates- Appearance :The license plates are made of metal. On the left there is a blue bar like in other EU countries ; the text is in black letters on a white background. On the top and bottom, there are red-white-red stripes, which are the national colors of Austria...
: K) - VillachVillachVillach is the second largest city in the Carinthia state in the southern Austria, at the Drava River and represents an important traffic junction for Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the population is 58,480.-History:...
(VI)
Rural districts
- Spittal an der DrauSpittal an der Drau (district)The Bezirk Spittal an der Drau is an administrative district in Carinthia, Austria.Area of the district is 2,763.99 km², population is 81,719 , and population density 30 persons per km². It is Austria's second largest district by area...
(SP) - HermagorHermagorThe Bezirk Hermagor is an administrative district in Carinthia, Austria.The district has an area of 808.02 km² and a population of . Hermagor's population density is nearly people per km²...
(HE) - Villach-LandVillach-LandBezirk Villach-Land is a district of the state ofCarinthia in Austria.-Municipalities:Towns are indicated in boldface; market towns in italics; suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality are indicated in small characters.*Arnoldstein **Agoritschach, Arnoldstein, Erlendorf, Gailitz,...
(VL) - FeldkirchenFeldkirchen (district)Bezirk Feldkirchen is a district of the state of Carinthia in Austria.-Municipalities:Towns are indicated in boldface; suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality are indicated in small characters.* Albeck Bezirk Feldkirchen is a district of the state of Carinthia in...
(FE) - St. Veit an der Glan (SV)
- Klagenfurt-LandKlagenfurt-LandBezirk Klagenfurt-Land is a district of the state ofCarinthia in Austria.-Municipalities:Towns are indicated in boldface; market towns in italics; suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality are indicated in small characters.*Ebenthal **Aich an der Straße, Berg, Ebenthal,...
(KL) - VölkermarktVölkermarkt (district)Völkermarkt District is an administrative district in the Austrian State of Carinthia.-Municipalities:Völkermarkt is divided into 13 municipalities, of which 2 are towns and 3 market towns.-Towns:*Bleiburg...
(VK) - WolfsbergWolfsberg (district)Bezirk Wolfsberg is a district of the state ofCarinthia in Austria.-Municipalities:Towns are indicated in boldface; market towns in italics; suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality are indicated in small characters.*Bad Sankt Leonhard im Lavanttal**Bad St...
(WO)
Politics
The state assembly Kärntner Landtag, ("Carinthian State Diet"), is a unicameralUnicameralism
In government, unicameralism is the practice of having one legislative or parliamentary chamber. Thus, a unicameral parliament or unicameral legislature is a legislature which consists of one chamber or house...
legislature
Legislature
A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...
, which also elects the state governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
, whose ancient title is Landeshauptmann
Landeshauptmann
Landeshauptmann is a former German gubernatorial title equivalent to that of a governor of a province or a state....
("State Captain"). The other members of the cabinet
Cabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
are elected under a system of proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
based on the number of representatives of the political parties elected to the Landtag. The results of the 2009 elections were 44.9%/17 seats for the Alliance for the Future of Austria
Alliance for the Future of Austria
The Alliance for the Future of Austria , abbreviated to BZÖ, is a conservative liberal political party in Austria. The party has sixteen seats in the National Council....
(BZÖ), 28.8%/11 seats for the Social Democratic Party of Austria
Social Democratic Party of Austria
The Social Democratic Party of Austria is one of the oldest political parties in Austria. The SPÖ is one of the two major parties in Austria, and has ties to trade unions and the Austrian Chamber of Labour. The SPÖ is among the few mainstream European social-democratic parties that have preserved...
(SPÖ), 16.8%/6 seats for the Austrian People's Party
Austrian People's Party
The Austrian People's Party is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Austria. A successor to the Christian Social Party of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it is similar to the Christian Democratic Union of Germany in terms of ideology...
(ÖVP) and 5.1%/2 seats for the Greens. The plurality of the national-liberal
National liberalism
National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining nationalism with some liberal policies, especially regarding economic liberalism. The roots of it are to be found in the 19th century, when conservative liberalism was the ideology of the political classes in most European countries, then...
BZÖ is unique among all Austrian states
Distribution of seats in the Austrian Landtage
Eight political parties are represented in the Landtage legislative assemblies of the nine Austrian states. Currently the Austrian People's Party , the Social Democratic Party of Austria and The Greens are represented in all state diets, while the Freedom Party of Austria lost its seats in the...
, while the results of the conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
-clerical
Clericalism
Clericalism is the application of the formal, church-based, leadership or opinion of ordained clergy in matters of either the church or broader political and sociocultural import...
ÖVP are remarkably weak. In April 2005 the BZÖ had emerged from the Freedom Party of Austria
Freedom Party of Austria
The Freedom Party of Austria is a political party in Austria. Ideologically, the party is a direct descendant of the German national liberal camp, which dates back to the 1848 revolutions. The FPÖ itself was founded in 1956 as the successor to the short-lived Federation of Independents , which had...
(FPÖ) and all but one FPÖ-MPs
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
had turned to the new party.
One of the BZÖ founders was former Landeshauptmann and long-time FPÖ-leader Jörg Haider
Jörg Haider
Jörg Haider was an Austrian politician. He was Governor of Carinthia on two occasions, the long-time leader of the Austrian Freedom Party and later Chairman of the Alliance for the Future of Austria , a breakaway party from the FPÖ.Haider was controversial within Austria and abroad for comments...
. Haider, a rather controversial figure, had been elected Carinthian governor in 1989 but was forced to resign two years later after remarks about a "proper employment policy" of the Third Reich during a debate in the state assembly. Nevertheless he was elected again Landeshauptmann in 1999 and in 2004, this time even with the consent of the representatives of both SPÖ and ÖVP. Haider was also reproached for repeated contempt for the Carinthian Slovenes
Carinthian Slovenes
Carinthian Slovenes are the Slovene-speaking population group in the Austrian State of Carinthia. The Carinthian Slovenes send representatives to the National Ethnic Groups Advisory Council...
minority rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Austria
Constitution of Austria
The Constitution of Austria is the body of all constitutional law of the Republic of Austria on the federal level. It is split up over many different acts...
. He died in a car crash in 2008 and his party fellow Gerhard Dörfler
Gerhard Dörfler
Gerhard Dörfler is an Austrian politician, who is currently serving as Governor of Carinthia from October 27, 2008 , following Governor Jörg Haider's sudden death in a car accident....
came into office. In the last election the BZÖ, strongly referring to its deceased constitutor, managed to retain and even enlarge its share of votes, while the FPÖ failed to enter the Landtag. On 16 December 2009 the majority of the Carinthian BZÖ branch formed The Freedomites in Carinthia political party (FPK), seeking for co-operation with the FPÖ.
Language
Austrian GermanAustrian German
Austrian German , or Austrian Standard German, is the national standard variety of the German language spoken in Austria and in the autonomous Province of South Tyrol...
is used as official language.
The people are predominantly German-speaking with a unique (and easily recognizable) Southern Austro-Bavarian
Southern Austro-Bavarian
Southern Bavarian, or Southern Austro-Bavarian, is a cluster of Germanic dialects of the Bavarian group.They are primarily spoken in the Austrian federal-states of Tyrol, Carinthia and Styria, in the southern parts of Salzburg and Burgenland as well as in the Italian province of South Tyrol...
dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
typical of which is that all short German vowels before double consonants have been lengthened ("Carinthian Vowel Stretching").
A Slovene-speaking minority, known as the Carinthian Slovenes
Carinthian Slovenes
Carinthian Slovenes are the Slovene-speaking population group in the Austrian State of Carinthia. The Carinthian Slovenes send representatives to the National Ethnic Groups Advisory Council...
, is concentrated in the southern and south-eastern parts of the state. Its size cannot be determined precisely because the representatives of the ethnic group reject a count. Recommendations for a boycott of the 2001 census which asked for the language used in everyday communication make the figure obtained (12,554 people or 2.38% of a total population of 527,333 ) questionable.
Tourist attractions
Klagenfurt
-Name:Carinthia's eminent linguists Primus Lessiak and Eberhard Kranzmayer assumed that the city's name, which literally translates as "ford of lament" or "ford of complaints", had something to do with the superstitious thought that fateful fairies or demons tend to live around treacherous waters...
and Villach
Villach
Villach is the second largest city in the Carinthia state in the southern Austria, at the Drava River and represents an important traffic junction for Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the population is 58,480.-History:...
and mediæval towns like Friesach
Friesach
Friesach is a historic town in the Sankt Veit an der Glan district of Carinthia, Austria. First mentioned in a 860 deed, it is known as the oldest town in Carinthia.-Location:...
or Gmünd. Carinthia features numerous monasteries and churches such as the Romanesque Gurk Cathedral
Gurk Cathedral
thumb|Gurk CathedralGurk Cathedral is an Austrian basilica in Gurk , Carinthia, that was built in the high Romanesque style from 1140 to 1200. It is considered to be one of the most important Romanesque church buildings in Europe. The long building has a west front with two towers, a gallery, a...
or Maria Saal
Maria Saal
Maria Saal is a market town in the district of Klagenfurt-Land in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is located in the east of the historic Zollfeld plain , the wide valley of the Glan river. The municipality includes the cadastral communes of Kading, Karnburg, Möderndorf, Possau and St...
in the Zollfeld plain, the abbeys of St Paul's
St. Paul's Abbey in the Lavanttal
St. Paul's Abbey in the Lavanttal is a Benedictine monastery in the village of Sankt Paul im Lavanttal in the Austrian state of Carinthia.-History:...
, Ossiach
Ossiach Abbey
Ossiach Abbey is a former Benedictine monastery in Ossiach near Feldkirchen in Kärnten in the Austrian state of Carinthia.-History:...
, Millstatt
Millstatt Abbey
Millstatt Abbey is a former monastery at Millstatt in the Austrian state of Carinthia, which was established about 1070 and finally abolished in 1773....
and Viktring
Viktring Abbey
Viktring Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery in the Austrian state of Carinthia. Stift Viktring is now the name of the Roman Catholic parish in Viktring, since 1973 a district of the Carinthian capital Klagenfurt.-History:...
as well as castles and palaces like large-scale Hochosterwitz
Hochosterwitz Castle
Hochosterwitz Castle is considered to be one of Austria's most impressive medieval castles. It is situated on a Dolomite rock near Sankt Georgen am Längsee, east of the town of Sankt Veit an der Glan in the state of Carinthia...
, Griffen
Burgruine Griffen
The Burg Griffen is a castle on a 130m/427ft-high limestone mountain above the town of Griffen in the Austrian state of Carinthia.- History :The castle was built between 1124 and 1146 by order of Bishop Otto of Bamberg...
or Porcia
Schloss Porcia
Schloss Porcia is a castle in Spittal an der Drau, in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is one of the most significant Renaissance buildings in Austria....
.
Scenic highlights are the main bathing lakes Wörthersee
Wörthersee
The Wörthersee is an alpine lake in the southern Austrian state of Carinthia.-General facts:The lake is elongated, about 20 km long and 1–2 km wide. It stretches from the Carinthian capital Klagenfurt in the east to Velden in the west...
, Millstätter See
Millstätter See
-General facts:Lake Millstatt is situated in the Central Eastern Alps, near the town of Spittal an der Drau. With a surface area of it is the second largest lake of Carinthia , though with by far the deepest and most voluminous. Its steep shore gives the lake a fjord-like character...
, Ossiacher See
Lake Ossiach
Lake Ossiach is a lake in the Austrian state of Carinthia, situated in the Nock Mountains between the towns of Villach and Feldkirchen. It is the third largest lake in Carinthia, superseded only by Lake Wörth and Lake Millstatt....
and Faaker See
Faaker See
Faaker See or Lake Faak is an alpine lake in the Austrian state of Carinthia. With a surface of approximately 2.2 km² it is the state's fifth largest lake. Faaker See is a popular vacation and bathing destination, known for its clear turquoise water...
as well as a variety of smaller lakes and ponds. In winter Carinthia offers ski resorts such as the Nassfeld
Nassfeld
Nassfeld or Naßfeld is an ski-resort in the Austrian state of Carinthia , district Hermagor. It is located at the Naßfeld Pass and contains over 220 snow machines for creating artificial snow, 110 km of ski tracks and 30 ski lifts...
near Hermagor, Gerlitzen mountain, Bad Kleinkirchheim
Bad Kleinkirchheim
Bad Kleinkirchheim is a municipality in Spittal an der Drau, Carinthia, Austria. Until the middle of the 20th century, agriculture was the dominant focus, but it is now a renowned spa and ski resort...
, Flattach
Flattach
Flattach is a municipality in the district of Spittal an der Drau in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It consists of the Katastralgemeinden Flattach and Fragrant....
and Heiligenblut
Heiligenblut
Heiligenblut is a municipality in the district of Spittal an der Drau in the Austrian state of Carinthia. Situated in the high-Alpine region of the Hohe Tauern mountain range at 1,288 meters, Heiligenblut is located at the foot of the Großglockner, the highest mountain in Austria, and the Pasterze...
at Austria's highest mountain, the Grossglockner as well as the Hohe Tauern
Hohe Tauern
The Hohe Tauern or High Tauern are a mountain range on the main chain of the Central Eastern Alps, comprising the highest peaks east of the Brenner Pass. The crest forms the southern border of the Austrian state of Salzburg with Carinthia and East Tyrol, while a small part in the southwest belongs...
and Nock Mountains national park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
s for all kind of alpine sports and mountaineering
Mountaineering
Mountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...
.
Born in Carinthia
- Arnulf of CarinthiaArnulf of CarinthiaArnulf of Carinthia was the Carolingian King of East Francia from 887, the disputed King of Italy from 894 and the disputed Holy Roman Emperor from February 22, 896 until his death.-Birth and Illegitimacy:...
, Holy Roman Emperor, born about 850, grew up in MoosburgMoosburg, AustriaMoosburg is a market town in the Klagenfurt-Land district in the Austrian state of Carinthia, northwest of its capital Klagenfurt. It consists of the Katastralgemeinden Bärndorf, Gradenegg, Kreggab, Moosburg , St...
, died December 8, 899 in RegensburgRegensburgRegensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate...
. - Pope Gregory VPope Gregory VPope Gregory V, né Bruno of Carinthia , Pope from May 3, 996 to February 18, 999, son of the Salian Otto I, Duke of Carinthia, who was a grandson of the Emperor Otto I the Great . Gregory V succeeded Pope John XV , when only twenty-four years of age...
, né Brun or Bruno of Carinthia, born about 972, place unknown, died February 18, 999, in RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. - Saint Hemma of GurkHemma of GurkHemma of Gurk is a saint and a founder of religious houses in Austria.-Life:Hemma was a member of the noble family of Peilenstein , related to the Liutpoldings of Bavaria and thus to Emperor Henry II. She was born Countess of Zeltschach and was brought up at the Imperial court in Bamberg by the...
, born about 980, probably at Zeltschach, FriesachFriesachFriesach is a historic town in the Sankt Veit an der Glan district of Carinthia, Austria. First mentioned in a 860 deed, it is known as the oldest town in Carinthia.-Location:...
, died June 27, 1045 in GurkGurk (town)Gurk is an Austrian market town and former episcopal see in the District of Sankt Veit an der Glan, Carinthia.thumb|left|180px|Gurk Cathedral.- Location :...
. - Heinrich von dem Tuerlin, minnesinger and epic poet, early 13th century, probably born at Sankt Veit an der GlanSankt Veit an der GlanSankt Veit an der Glan is a town in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is the capital of a district with the same name.-Location:This town is a major point on the Glan River in the north of the Zollfeld Valley....
. - Ulrich von dem Türlin, 13th century epic poet, probably born at St. Veit an der Glan
- Henry of CarinthiaHenry I of BohemiaHenry VI of Carinthia from the House of Meinhardin was King of Bohemia in 1306 and again from 1307 until 1310 as well as Count of Tyrol and Duke of Carinthia and Carniola from 1295 until his death.-Life:...
, king of BohemiaKingdom of BohemiaThe Kingdom of Bohemia was a country located in the region of Bohemia in Central Europe, most of whose territory is currently located in the modern-day Czech Republic. The King was Elector of Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806, whereupon it became part of the Austrian Empire, and...
(Jindřich Korutanský) and titular king of Poland, born about 1265, died April 2, 1335 at Castle TyrolCastle TyrolTirol Castle or Castle Tyrol is a castle near Meran, Italy. It was the ancestral seat of the counts of Tyrol and gave the region of Tyrol its name.- History :...
. - Joseph StefanJoseph StefanJoseph Stefan was a physicist, mathematician, and poet of Slovene mother tongue and Austrian citizenship.- Life and work :...
, physicist, born March 24, 1835, in the vicinity of KlagenfurtKlagenfurt-Name:Carinthia's eminent linguists Primus Lessiak and Eberhard Kranzmayer assumed that the city's name, which literally translates as "ford of lament" or "ford of complaints", had something to do with the superstitious thought that fateful fairies or demons tend to live around treacherous waters...
, died January 7, 1893, in ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. - Robert MusilRobert MusilRobert Musil was an Austrian writer. His unfinished long novel The Man Without Qualities is generally considered to be one of the most important modernist novels...
, author, born November 6, 1880, in Klagenfurt, died April 15, 1942, in GenevaGenevaGeneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
. - Anton Wiegele, painter, born February 23, 1887, at Nötsch im GailtalNötsch im GailtalNötsch im Gailtal is a town in the district of Villach-Land in Carinthia in Austria.-References:...
, died December 17, 1944, at Nötsch im Gailtal. - Herbert Boeckl, painter, born June 3, 1894, in Klagenfurt, died January 20, 1966, in Vienna.
- Rudolf KattniggRudolf KattniggRudolf Kattnigg was an Austrian composer, pianist and conductor.Kattnigg studied composition under Joseph Marx at the Vienna State Academy for music and visual arts. After completing his music studies, he was given a post as a professor there in the 1920s...
, composer, born April 9, 1895 in TreffenTreffenTreffen is a market town in the district of Villach-Land in Carinthia in south central Austria....
, died September 2, 1955, in Vienna. - Josef KlausJosef KlausJosef Klaus was an Austrian Christian/Conservative politician of the Peoples Party and the Federal Chancellor from 1964 to 1970. In 1934 graduated from law school. He married in 1936...
, politician, born August 15, 1910, at Kötschach-MauthenKötschach-MauthenKötschach-Mauthen is a municipality in the district of Hermagor in Carinthia in Austria.-Geography:The municipality lies 34 km in the west of Hermagor at the transition of the upper Gailtal into Lesachtal...
, died July 25, 2001, in Vienna. - Heinrich HarrerHeinrich HarrerHeinrich Harrer was an Austrian mountaineer, sportsman, geographer, and author.He is best known for his books Seven Years in Tibet and The White Spider .-Athletics:...
, mountaineer and ethnographer, born July 6, 1912, at Obergossen, HüttenbergHüttenberg, AustriaHüttenberg is a town in the district of Sankt Veit an der Glan in Carinthia in Austria. Heinrich Harrer was born in the town and a museum is dedicated to him today.-References:...
, died January 7, 2006, at FriesachFriesachFriesach is a historic town in the Sankt Veit an der Glan district of Carinthia, Austria. First mentioned in a 860 deed, it is known as the oldest town in Carinthia.-Location:...
. - Christine LavantChristine LavantChristine Lavant was an Austrian poet and novelist.- Life :...
, poet, born July 4, 1915, in Großedling, WolfsbergWolfsbergPlaces named Wolfsberg include:*Wolfsberg, Carinthia, a district capital in Carinthia, Austria*Wolfsberg , a district of Carinthia, Austria*Wolfsberg im Schwarzautal, a municipality in Styria, Austria...
, died June 7, 1973, at Wolfsberg. - Maria LassnigMaria LassnigMaria Lassnig is an Austrian artist. Her paintings are an exploration of the body, a central theme which she calls "body awareness"....
, painter, born September 9, 1919, in Kappel am KrappfeldKappel am KrappfeldKappel am Krappfeld is a town in the district of Sankt Veit an der Glan in Carinthia in Austria.-References:...
. - Paul WatzlawickPaul WatzlawickPaul Watzlawick was an Austrian-American psychologist and philosopher. A theoretician in communication theory and radical constructivism, he has commented in the fields of family therapy and general psychotherapy...
, psychologistPsychologistPsychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
, born July 25, 1921, in VillachVillachVillach is the second largest city in the Carinthia state in the southern Austria, at the Drava River and represents an important traffic junction for Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the population is 58,480.-History:...
, died March 31, 2007, in Palo Alto. - Felix ErmacoraFelix ErmacoraFelix Ermacora was the leading human rights expert of Austria and a member of the Austrian People's Party...
, specialist in international law, born October 13, 1923, in KlagenfurtKlagenfurt-Name:Carinthia's eminent linguists Primus Lessiak and Eberhard Kranzmayer assumed that the city's name, which literally translates as "ford of lament" or "ford of complaints", had something to do with the superstitious thought that fateful fairies or demons tend to live around treacherous waters...
, died February 24, 1995, in ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. - Ingeborg BachmannIngeborg BachmannIngeborg Bachmann was an Austrian poet and author.-Biography:Bachmann was born in Klagenfurt, in the Austrian state of Carinthia, the daughter of a headmaster. She studied philosophy, psychology, German philology, and law at the universities of Innsbruck, Graz, and Vienna...
, poet and writer, born June 25, 1926, in Klagenfurt, died October 17, 1973, in Rome. - Gerhard Lampersberg, composer, born July 5, 1928, at HermagorHermagor-Pressegger SeeHermagor-Pressegger See is the administrative centre of the Hermagor district in the Austrian state of Carinthia. The town is named after Saint Hermagoras, the first bishop of Aquileia.-Location:...
, died May 29, 2002, in Klagenfurt. - Günther DomenigGünther DomenigGünther Domenig is an Austrian architect.Domenig studied architecture at the Technische Universität, Graz , and after working as an architectural assistant, set up in practice with Eilfried Huth , producing highly regarded buildings in a brutalist vein...
, architect, born July 6, 1934, in Klagenfurt. - Udo JürgensUdo JürgensUdo Jürgens is an Austrian composer and singer of popular music whose career spans over fifty years...
, singer and composer, born September 30, 1934, in Klagenfurt. - Kiki KogelnikKiki KogelnikKiki Kogelnik was an Austrian painter, sculptor and printmaker. Born in a small town in southern Austria, she studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and moved to New York in 1961....
, painter, born January 22, 1935, at BleiburgBleiburgBleiburg is a small town in the south Austrian state of Carinthia , south-east of Klagenfurt , in the district of Völkermarkt, some four kilometres from the border with Slovenia....
, died February 1, 1997, in Vienna. - Bruno GironcoliBruno GironcoliBruno Gironcoli was one of Austria's most famous modern artists.Born in Villach, Gironcoli began training as a goldsmith in 1951 in Innsbruck, completing his apprenticeship in 1956. Between 1957 and 1962 he studied in the University of Applied Arts Vienna...
, sculptor, born September 27, 1936, at VillachVillachVillach is the second largest city in the Carinthia state in the southern Austria, at the Drava River and represents an important traffic junction for Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the population is 58,480.-History:...
. - Engelbert Obernosterer, writer, born December 28, 1936, at Sankt Lorenzen, LesachtalLesachtalThe Lesachtal is a valley in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is the uppermost part of the valley formed by the Gail River, and stretches from the border between East Tyrol and Carinthia to Kötschach-Mauthen ....
. - Dagmar KollerDagmar KollerDagmar Koller is an Austrian actress and singer.Born in Klagenfurt, she is recognized as the leading German language musical star of her time. She married Austrian journalist and politician, Helmut Zilk, in 1978, and became the first lady of Vienna while he served as mayor...
, actress and singer, born August 26, 1939, in Klagenfurt. - Peter HandkePeter HandkePeter Handke is an avant-garde Austrian novelist and playwright.-Early life:Handke and his mother lived in the Soviet-occupied Pankow district of Berlin from 1944 to 1948 before resettling in Griffen...
, playwright and writer, born December 6, 1942, at GriffenGriffen, AustriaGriffen is a town in the district of Völkermarkt in Carinthia in Austria, home to the Griffen Abbey. It is the birthplace of Austrian writer Peter Handke....
. - Arnulf Komposch, mirror artist, born 1942 in Klagenfurt.
- Peter TurriniPeter TurriniPeter Turrini is an Austrian leftist playwright.Born in Carinthia, Turrini has been writing since 1971, when his play Rozznjogd premiered at the Volkstheater, Vienna. A versatile author, he has written plays, screenplays, poems, and essays...
, playwright, born September 26, 1944, at St. Margarethen im Lavanttal, WolfsbergWolfsberg, AustriaWolfsberg is the capital of the Wolfsberg district in the Austrian state of Carinthia.The town consists of the Katastralgemeinden Aichberg, Auen, Forst, Gräbern-Prebl, Gries, Hartelsberg, Hattendorf, Hintertheißenegg, Kleinedling, Kleinwinklern, Lading, Leiwald, Michaelsdorf, Oberleidenberg,...
. - Gert JonkeGert JonkeGert Jonke was an Austrian poet, playwright and novelist.-Life:Jonke was born and educated in Klagenfurt, Austria. He attended the Gymnasium and the Conservatory...
, playwright, born February 8, 1946 in Klagenfurt, died January 4, 2009 . - Werner Kofler, writer, born July 23, 1947, in Villach.
- Wolfgang PetritschWolfgang PetritschWolfgang Petritsch is an Austrian diplomat of Slovene ethnicity. He was born to a Carinthian Slovene family in Klagenfurt and spent his childhood in a partially Slovene, partially German-speaking environment. He has a PhD from the University of Vienna and was a Fulbright Scholar at the University...
, diplomat, born August 26, 1947, in Klagenfurt. - Erik SchineggerErik SchineggerErik Schinegger is an Austrian intersexual skier. He was the world champion women's downhill skier in 1966, at which time he was recognized as female and known as Erika Schinegger.-Life:...
, intersexed alpine skier, born June 19, 1948, at Agsdorf, Sankt UrbanSankt UrbanSankt Urban is a town in the district of Feldkirchen in Carinthia in Austria.-Neighboring Municipalities:-References:...
. - Wolfgang PuckWolfgang PuckWolfgang Johannes Puck is an Austrian-American celebrity chef, restaurateur, businessman and occasional actor. Wolfgang Puck restaurants, catering services, cookbooks and licensed products are run by Wolfgang Puck Companies, with three divisions...
, celebrity chef, born July 8, 1949, in Sankt Veit an der Glan - Franz KlammerFranz KlammerFranz Klammer is a former champion alpine ski racer. Klammer overwhelmingly dominated the downhill event for four consecutive World Cup seasons . He was the gold medalist at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, winning the downhill at Patscherkofel in dramatic fashion...
, alpine skier, born December 3, 1953, at Mooswald, FresachFresachFresach is a town in the district of Villach-Land in Carinthia in Austria....
. - Ursula PlassnikUrsula PlassnikUrsula Plassnik is an Austrian diplomat and politician. She was Foreign Minister of Austria between October 2004 and December 2008.-Early life and career:...
, politician, born May 23, 1956, in Klagenfurt. - Peter LöscherPeter LöscherPeter Löscher is an Austrian manager and former President, Global Human Health at global pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. He was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Siemens AG on May 20, 2007 as the successor of Klaus Kleinfeld, and was selected to take on the new position on July 1, 2007...
, manager, born September 17, 1957, in Villach. - Janko Ferk, author, born December 11, 1958, at Sankt Kanzian am Klopeiner SeeSankt Kanzian am Klopeiner SeeSankt Kanzian am Klopeiner See is a municipality in the district of Völkermarkt in Carinthia in Austria.-References:...
. - Martin Kušej, stage director, born May 14, 1961 at Wolfsberg.
- Lydia Mischkulnig, writer, born August 2, 1963, in Klagenfurt.
- Patrick FriesacherPatrick FriesacherPatrick Friesacher is an Austrian racing driver who drove for the Minardi Formula One team during the first half of the 2005 season.-Early career:...
, Formula one driver, born September 26, 1980 in WolfsbergWolfsbergPlaces named Wolfsberg include:*Wolfsberg, Carinthia, a district capital in Carinthia, Austria*Wolfsberg , a district of Carinthia, Austria*Wolfsberg im Schwarzautal, a municipality in Styria, Austria...
. - Gerhard Freidl, Male Model, born December 28, 1983 in AlthofenAlthofenAlthofen is a town in the district of Sankt Veit an der Glan in Carinthia in Austria.-References:...
. - Willibald Ruch, Professor of Personality and Assessment (Humor research), born 22 . 07. 1956 at Kuhnsdorf.
Died in Carinthia
- Modestus, missionary, born about 720 in IrelandIrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, died about 772 probably at Maria SaalMaria SaalMaria Saal is a market town in the district of Klagenfurt-Land in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is located in the east of the historic Zollfeld plain , the wide valley of the Glan river. The municipality includes the cadastral communes of Kading, Karnburg, Möderndorf, Possau and St...
. - Bolesław II the Bold, king of Poland, born about 1042, according to legend died at OssiachOssiachOssiach is a municipality in the Feldkirchen district in Carinthia, Austria. It is located at the southern shore of Lake Ossiach, on the slope of the small Ossiacher Tauern range within the Nock Mountains at the road between Villach and Feldkirchen...
March 22, 1081 ](?). - Carl Auer von WelsbachCarl Auer von WelsbachCarl Auer Freiherr von Welsbach was an Austrian scientist and inventor who had a talent for not only discovering advances, but turning them into commercially successful products...
, chemicist and inventor, born September 1, 1858, in Vienna, died August 4, 1929, at MölblingMölblingMölbling is a municipality on the Gurk River in the district of Sankt Veit an der Glan in the Austrian state of Carinthia. The commune comprises the Katastralgemeinden of Dielach, Gunzenberg, Meiselding, Rabing and Rastenfeld.-Politics:...
. - Anton Kolig, painter, born July 1, 1886, at Neutitschein (today Nový JičínNový JicínNový Jičín is a town in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has ca. 26,500 inhabitants. The city is situated on the spurs of the Carpathian Mountains about from the Czech Republic's 3rd biggest city, Ostrava...
, Czech Republic), died May 17, 1950, at Nötsch im Gailtal. - Werner Berg, painter, born April 4, 1911, in ElberfeldElberfeldElberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929.-History:The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "elverfelde" was in a document of 1161...
, now WuppertalWuppertalWuppertal is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in and around the Wupper river valley, and is situated east of the city of Düsseldorf and south of the Ruhr area. With a population of approximately 350,000, it is the largest city in the Bergisches Land...
, Germany, died September 7, 1981, in Sankt Veit im Jauntal, Sankt Kanzian am Klopeiner SeeSankt Kanzian am Klopeiner SeeSankt Kanzian am Klopeiner See is a municipality in the district of Völkermarkt in Carinthia in Austria.-References:...
. - Milivoj Ašner, born April 21, 1913 in DaruvarDaruvarDaruvar is a town in central Croatia, population 9,815 , total municipality population 13,243 ....
, Croatia, died 14 June 2011, accused UstašeUstašeThe Ustaša - Croatian Revolutionary Movement was a Croatian fascist anti-Yugoslav separatist movement. The ideology of the movement was a blend of fascism, Nazism, and Croatian nationalism. The Ustaše supported the creation of a Greater Croatia that would span to the River Drina and to the border...
war criminal.
See also
- Slovenian Carinthia
- Carinthia (statistical region in Slovenia)
- Carinthian PlebisciteCarinthian PlebisciteThe Carinthian Plebiscite on 10 October 1920 determined the final southern border between the Republic of Austria and the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes after World War I.- History :...
- Carinthian SlovenesCarinthian SlovenesCarinthian Slovenes are the Slovene-speaking population group in the Austrian State of Carinthia. The Carinthian Slovenes send representatives to the National Ethnic Groups Advisory Council...
External links
- Official website of the Carinthian government (in German)
- Carinthia Travel Guide
- Kaernten.at, Tourism information, 360º Panoramas, Webcams and much more (in English, German, Italian, Dutch and other languages)
- Consuming Carinthia
- Carinthia Events
- Arno Tausch (2008), "308 Billion Euros into the Sand? The Debacle of the EU's Regional Policy" [308 Milliarden € in den Sand? Zum Debakel der EU-Regionalpolitik]. Available at the Social Science Research Network, New York and the Global Development Network, Sussex University