Pörtschach am Wörthersee
Encyclopedia
Pörtschach am Wörthersee (Slovene: Poreče), or Poertschach, is a town in the district of Klagenfurt-Land
in Carinthia
in south central Austria
.
It is the site of an annual tennis
tournament, the Hypo Group Tennis International
, which is part of the ATP Tour's International Series.
, about 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) west of the Carinthian capital Klagenfurt
.
to the east and Maria Wörth
to the south.
Basin stones most presumably come from the stone age
which still can be seen in many parts of Carinthia. There is also one to be visited in the community territory of Pörtschach. The location is directly by the Saint-Oswalder-street, at the cross-road with the Goritschach lane, just close to a basswood-tree with a park-bench and next to a wooden cross. During the cultic ceremony the sacrifice donation, most probably blood
, was filled into the little basin hole of the rock.
period. About in the year 600 a settlement was founded by Slavic tribes, due to the onomastic ("porecah" = "at the people who live by the brook"). In the year 1150 Pörtschach was first vouched. In those days the lake castle was set up, of which little else than some skimpy wall-rests remains to this day.
The nearby Leonstain castle had fallen into disrepair by the later twentieth century, but it has recently benefitted from a restoration programme. Around the year 1490 the château Leonstain was erected close to Pörtschach's center. Today a part of the castle has been reborn as a hotel
, owned by the Neuscheller family.
industry started in the mid-19th century, accelerating after the establishment of the Lake Woerth navy in 1853. Shortly after that, in 1864, Pörtschach received a railway station on the new line from Vienna
towards Venice
: this made it a favoured tourist destination. Famous tourists from Vienna included Emperor Franz Joseph I, Gustav Mahler
and Johannes Brahms
who worked on his second symphony here. After the tourism boom years in Carinthia of the 1960s and 1970s, a revival in Pörtschach as an events centre is under way. The goal is to develop a "soft tourism", which is the best outlook for the future, because Pörtschach has the qualification for that: culture (International Johannes Brahms Competition), nature and history.
ns (3.0 %), Germans
(2.3 %) and Bosnia-Herzegovinians
(1.3 %).
In terms of religion, the majority of the people are Roman Catholics (75%), followed by 10% Protestants and 1.6% Muslim
s. About 10% of the people are without confession.
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,...
in Carinthia
Carinthia (state)
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...
in south central Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
.
It is the site of an annual tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
tournament, the Hypo Group Tennis International
Hypo Group Tennis International
The Hypo Group Tennis International was an annual tennis tournament held in Pörtschach, Austria. The event was part of the ATP Tour's ATP International Series. The tournament had been held since 1981, on clay courts.-List of singles winners:...
, which is part of the ATP Tour's International Series.
Geographical position
Pörtschach is situated at 446–702 m (1,463.3–2,303.1 ft) above mean sea level, on the northern shore of the Lake WoerthWörthersee
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...
, about 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) west of the Carinthian capital 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...
.
Structure of the community
The community territory is subdivided into the two cadastral communities of Pörtschach at the Lake Woerth (Poreče ob jezeru) and Sallach. Unique locality of the community is Pörtschach on the Lake Woerth.Neighbour communities
Pörtschach's neighbour communities include Moosburg to the north, Techelsberg to the west, KrumpendorfKrumpendorf
Krumpendorf am Wörther See is a town in the district of Klagenfurt-Land in Carinthia in south central Austria.- External links :* - city website...
to the east and Maria Wörth
Maria Wörth
Maria Wörth is a municipality in the district of Klagenfurt-Land in the Austrian state of Carinthia. The centre of the resort town is situated on a peninsula at the southern shore of the Wörthersee. In the east the municipal area borders the Carinthian capital Klagenfurt. The municipality consists...
to the south.
Pre-celtic and celtic period
Stone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
which still can be seen in many parts of Carinthia. There is also one to be visited in the community territory of Pörtschach. The location is directly by the Saint-Oswalder-street, at the cross-road with the Goritschach lane, just close to a basswood-tree with a park-bench and next to a wooden cross. During the cultic ceremony the sacrifice donation, most probably blood
Blood
Blood is a specialized bodily fluid in animals that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells....
, was filled into the little basin hole of the rock.
Antiquity and Middle Ages
According to findings the Noric mainroad from Velden to Krumpendorf already led across the community territory in the RomanAncient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
period. About in the year 600 a settlement was founded by Slavic tribes, due to the onomastic ("porecah" = "at the people who live by the brook"). In the year 1150 Pörtschach was first vouched. In those days the lake castle was set up, of which little else than some skimpy wall-rests remains to this day.
The nearby Leonstain castle had fallen into disrepair by the later twentieth century, but it has recently benefitted from a restoration programme. Around the year 1490 the château Leonstain was erected close to Pörtschach's center. Today a part of the castle has been reborn as a hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
, owned by the Neuscheller family.
Modern times
A growing tourismTourism
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...
industry started in the mid-19th century, accelerating after the establishment of the Lake Woerth navy in 1853. Shortly after that, in 1864, Pörtschach received a railway station on the new line from Vienna
Vienna
Vienna 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...
towards Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
: this made it a favoured tourist destination. Famous tourists from Vienna included Emperor Franz Joseph I, Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
and Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
who worked on his second symphony here. After the tourism boom years in Carinthia of the 1960s and 1970s, a revival in Pörtschach as an events centre is under way. The goal is to develop a "soft tourism", which is the best outlook for the future, because Pörtschach has the qualification for that: culture (International Johannes Brahms Competition), nature and history.
Population
According to the population census in 2001 the community Pörtschach has 2670 inhabitants. 90.3 % have Austrian citizenship, the biggest groups among the foreign nationalities are CroatiaCroatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
ns (3.0 %), Germans
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
(2.3 %) and Bosnia-Herzegovinians
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
(1.3 %).
In terms of religion, the majority of the people are Roman Catholics (75%), followed by 10% Protestants and 1.6% Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s. About 10% of the people are without confession.
Lake villas
The most important representant of the Lake Woerth-architecture was Franz Baumgartner. Listed below is a selection of his permanent producing:Famous people from Pörtschach
- Johannes BrahmsJohannes BrahmsJohannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
- Wilhelm Loisel
- Carl Ernst David Wahliss
- Georg Graber
- Josef Tichy
Literature
- Österreichische Kunst-Topographie. (Austrian art topography) Volume I.: Herzogthum Karnten (Dutchy Carinthia), Wien 1889, S. 284; in Commission bei Kubasta & Voigt, of the K. K. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei.
- DEHIO Kärnten - Topographisches Denkmälerinventar (Topografic monument inventory), S. 636-644. Editorial Anton Schroll & Co, Wien 2001, ISBN 3-7031-0712-X
- Kärntner Sagen (Carinthian sagas), a selection by Dr. Georg Graber, 1949; S. 50-52, Kärntner Heimatverlag (Carinthian homeland editorial).
- Die Kärntner Gemeindewappen (The Carinthian community coat of arms) by Dr. Wilhelm Deuer, S. 216-217; Klagenfurt 2006, Editorial of the Carinthian country archive, ISBN 3-900531-64-1