Gurk (town)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Coat of Arms | Map |
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| Basic Information | |
| Country: | Austria |
| State: | Carinthia |
| District: | Sankt Veit an der Glan (SV) |
| Area: | 39.67 km² |
| Population: | 1,311 (15 May 2001) |
| Population density: | 33 /km² |
| Elevation: | 662 m |
| Area Code: | 04266 |
| Postal Code: | 9342 |
| Coordinates: | 46° 52′ N, 14° 17′ E |
| Official Website: | www.gurk.at |
| Politics | |
| Mayor: | Siegfried Kampl (FPÖ) |
Gurk (Slovene: Krka) is a market town and former episcopal see in the District of Sankt Veit an der Glan, Carinthia.
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[edit] Geography
[edit] Location
The community of Gurk is surrounded by alpine meadows and vast high forests. It marks the center of the sparsely populated Gurk Valley. Downstream on the Gurk, lies the small town of Straßburg, from whose fortress the Prince-Bishops of Gurk reigned.
[edit] Municipal Arrangement
Boroughs: Pisweg, Gruska, Gurk
Districts: Dörfl, Finsterdorf, Föbing, Gassarest, Glanz, Gruska, Gurk, Gwadnitz, Hundsdorf, Kreuzberg, Krön, Masternitzen, Niederdorf, Pisweg, Ranitz, Reichenhaus, Straßa, Sutsch, Zabersdorf, Zedl, Zedroß, Zeltschach
[edit] History
The name Gurk ("die Gurgelnde" or "the Gurgling one") comes from the river of the same name. The area was settled around 2000 years ago, but it only achieved any importance after Carinthia was incorporated by Bavaria.
After the death of her husband and her sons, Saint Hemma of Gurk founded a religious house on the market place of what is now Gurk. However, Gurk Abbey did not have a long existence: its site was used in 1072 for the cathedral and bishop's palace of the newly-founded diocese of Gurk by the Archbishop of Salzburg, whose seat was in the northern part of Carinthia. Gurk was the bishop's seat until 1787; his residence is now located in Klagenfurt.
On June 25, 1988, Pope John Paul II visited the cathedral and prayed in the crypt at the grave of Saint Hemma. The first papal visit in the history of Carinthia was a big media event and brought a thousand men to an open-air mass in front of the cathedral.
Gurk was named a "European Municipality" by the Council of Europe in 1998.
[edit] Ecclesiastical history
It was of some importance when the title of a homonymous Catholic prince-bishopric, as described in the article in the [Encyclopaedia]: Diocese of Gurk (Gurkensis) A prince-bishopric of Carinthia, suffragan to the Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg, erected by Archbishop Gebhard of Salzburg, with the authorization of Pope Alexander II (21 March, 1070) and Emperor Henry IV (4 February, 1072). The first bishop installed was Günther von Krapffeld (1072-90). The right of appointment, consecration, and investiture of the Bishop of Gurk was reserved to the Archbishop of Salzburg. The episcopal residence was not at Gurk, but in the neighbouring castle at Strasburg.
The boundaries of the diocese were only defined in 1131, by Archbishop Konrad I of Salzburg. Originally the territory embraced was small, but the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Gurk extended beyond the limits of his diocese, inasmuch as he was also vicar-general of that part of Carinthia under the Archbishop of Salzburg.
Under Bishop Roman I (1132-67) the cathedral chapter obtained the right to elect the bishop, and only after a contest of a hundred years the metropolitan regained the right of appointment. Dissensions did not cease, for later the Austrian sovereign claimed the right of investiture. Finally, on 25 October, 1535, the Archbishop of Salzburg, Matthäus Lang, concluded with the Habsburg house of Austria a long-lasting agreement, according to which the nomination of the Bishop of Gurk is to rest twice in succession with the Sovereign and every third time with the Archbishop of Salzburg; under all circumstances the archbishop was to retain the right of confirmation, consecration and investiture.
The diocese received an accession of territory under Emperor Joseph II in 1775, and again in 1786. The ?present extent of the diocese, embracing the whole of Carinthia, dates only from the reconstitution of the diocese in 1859. The episcopal residence was transferred in 1787 to the capital of Carinthia, Klagenfurt. A prominent modern prince-bishop was Valentin Wiery (1858-80).
The following needs to be chequed and/or updated: According to the census of 1906, the Catholic population of the diocese was 369,000, of whom three-fourths German and the rest Slovenes. The 24 deaneries embraced 345 parishes. The cathedral chapter at Klagenfurt consisted of three mitred dignitaries; five honorary and five stipendiary canons. Among the institutions of religious orders the Benedictine Abbey of St. Paul (founded in 1091; suppressed in 1782; restored in 1807) holds first place. There were also Jesuits at Klagenfurt and St. Andrä; Dominicans at Friesach; Capuchins at Klagenfurt and Wolfsberg; Franciscans at Villach; Olivetans at Tanzenberg; Servites at Kötsehach; Brothers of Mercy at St. Veit on the Glan (in charge of an immense hospital founded in 1877); and a number of religious communities of women for the care of the sick and the instruction of youth.
The clergy are trained in the episcopal seminary at Klagenfurt, which has been, since 1887, under the direction of the Jesuits. The professors are Benedictines from the Abbey of St. Paul and Jesuits. The education of aspirants to the priesthood is provided for at Klagenfurt, in a preparatory seminary established by Bishop Wiery in 1860 and enlarged by Bishop Kahn. At St. Paul's the Benedictines conduct a private gymnasium with the privileges of a government school. At Klagenfurt there is also a Catholic teachers' seminary under ecclesiastical supervision.
Chief among the examples of ecclesiastical architecture, both in point of age and artistic interest, is the cathedral at Gurk, which dates back to the beginnings of the diocese, having been completed about 1220. Also worthy of note are the Gothic cloister of the church at Milstadt and, as monuments of Gothic architecture, the parish churches at St. Leonard in the Lavant-Thal, Heiligenblut, Villach, Völkermarkt, Grades (St. Wolfgang), and Waitschach. One of the largest and most beautiful churches of Carinthia is the recently renovated (1884-90) Dominican church at Friesach. The present cathedral at Klagenfurt was built in 1591 by the Protestants; in 1604 it was acquired by the Jesuits, and consecrated in honour of the Apostles Saints Peter and Paul.
Prominent among the places of pilgrimage in the diocese is Maria Saal, visited annually by from 15,000 to 20,000 pilgrims. Among Catholic associations special mention should be made of those for the advancement of the Catholic Press and for the diffusion of good books: for the German population, the St. Joseph's Verein founded at Klagenfurt in 1893, and the St. Joseph's Book Confraternity; for the Slovenes, the St. Hermagoras Verein, established in 1852 (1860), with its headquarters at Klagenfurt, and widely established among Slovenes in other dioceses.
[edit] Landmarks
[edit] People
- Saint Hemma of Gurk
[edit] Sources and references
- this article is partially based on a translation of its German equivalent.
- This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.
[edit] External links
- (English) Entry at aeiou.at
