Gmünd

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For the city in Germany, see Schwäbisch Gmünd.
For the town in Lower Austria, see Gmünd, Lower Austria.
Gmünd
Coat of arms Location
Coat of arms of Gmünd
Gmünd is located in Austria
Administration
Country  Austria
State Carinthia
District Spittal an der Drau
Mayor Josef Jury (BZÖ)
Basic statistics
Area 31.59 km2 (12.2 sq mi)
Elevation 741 m  (2431 ft)
Population 2,605  (28 November 2009)
 - Density 82 /km² (214 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal code 9853
Area code 04732
Website www.stadt-gmuend.at

Coordinates: 46°54′0″N 13°32′0″E / 46.9°N 13.533333°E / 46.9; 13.533333
city view
Main street in winter

Gmünd (Slovene: Sovodenj ) is a town in the district of Spittal an der Drau, in the Austrian state of Carinthia.

The municipality is situated within the valley of the Lieser river, a left tributary of the Drava, east of the Hohe Tauern mountain range.

Contents

[edit] Municipality breakdown

The municipality is divided into three parts for cadastral, but not for political, purposes: Gmünd, Kreuschlach and Landfrass. There are the following constituent villages (2001 pop. in parentheses):

  • Burgwiese (16)
  • Gmünd (1,547)
  • Grünleiten (15)
  • Karnerau (56)
  • Landfrass (216)
  • Moos (20)
  • Moostratte (94)
  • Oberbuch (27)
  • Oberkreuschlach (65)
  • Perau (98)
  • Platz (37)
  • Treffenboden (245)
  • Unterbuch (108)
  • Unterkreuschlach (61)

[edit] History

Once a mansio at the Roman road leading to the Katschberg Pass and Iuvavum (Salzburg), the town of Gmünd was probably founded by Archbishop Eberhard II of Salzburg, as it was first documented in 1252. Laid out as a southern outpost of the archbishopric, a market was mentioned in 1273 and Gmünd received town privileges in 1346.

Gmünd Castle

To avoid Allied bomb raids the Porsche vehicle manufactoring company from 1944 on was headquartered in Gmünd until it moved back to the Zuffenhausen district of Stuttgart in 1950. Here in a former sawmill Ferdinand Porsche together with Erwin Komenda designed and built the first Porsche 356 sports cars, including the prototype "No.1" from 1948.

[edit] Main sights

Above the old town with the Baroque palace of the Lodron noble family from 1654 are the ruins of Gmünd Castle from the 13th century, destroyed by the troops of Matthias Corvinus of Hungary and rebuilt about 1506 under Archbishop Leonhard von Keutschach; now it is used for theatrical performances, concerts and lectures.

Near the former Porsche factory, a private museum today shows a choice of historic Porsche cars. This museum has a collection of Porsche 356's, including several rare and very valuable examples.

Kreuzbichl

North of the town is the Kreuzbichl divided chapel from 1588. The historic Roman road runs right between the altar and the nave, which was added in 1784.

[edit] Politics

Seats in the municipal assembly (Gemeinderat) as of 2009 elections:

[edit] Transportation

Gmünd has access to the Tauern Autobahn running from Salzburg to Villach. The nearest train station is at the Tauernbahn railway line in Spittal an der Drau.

[edit] International relations

Main article: List of twin towns and sister cities in Austria

[edit] Twin towns — Sister cities

Gmünd is twinned with:

[edit] External links

Search Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gmünd in Kärnten


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Municipalities in the district of Spittal an der Drau
Lage des Bezirkes Spittal an der Drau innerhalb Kärntens


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