Braunau am Inn

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For other places with the same name, see Braunau.

Coat of Arms	Location

Base data
Federal state:	Upper Austria
District:	Braunau am Inn
NUTS-Region:	Innviertel (311)
Municipality type:	city
Municipality number:	40404

Postal code:	5280
Area code:	07722
License plate number:	`BR`
Address of the town administration:	Stadtplatz 38 5280 Braunau am Inn
Website:	www.braunau.at
E-Mail-Address:	rathaus@braunau.ooe.gv.at
Population
Total:	16,372 (15.05.2001)
Density:	660.2/km²
Geography
Municipalities:	Braunau am Inn, Osternberg Ranshofen
Area:	24.8 km²
Levitation:	351 meters above sea level
Latitude: Longitude:	48°15'29'' N 13°02'01'' E
Politics
Mayor:	Gerhard Skiba (SPÖ)
Mandates in the district council (37 Seats):	SPÖ 25, ÖVP 7 FMU 5, FPÖ 4

Braunau am Inn is a city in the Innviertel region of Upper Austria (Oberösterreich), the north-western state of Austria. It lies about 90 km west of Linz and about 60 km north of Salzburg, on the border with the German state of Bavaria. The population in 2001 was 16,372. A port of entry, it is connected by bridges over the Inn River with its Bavarian counterpart, Simbach am Inn.

The town was first mentioned around 810 and received the city statute in 1260, which makes it one of the oldest cities in Austria. It became a fortress and important trading route junction, dealing with the salt trade and with ship traffic on the River Inn. Through its history it changed hands four times. It was Bavarian until 1779 and became an Austrian town under the terms of the treaty of Teschen, which settled the War of the Bavarian Succession. As a major Bavarian city the town played an outstanding role in the Bavarian uprising against the Austrian occupation during the War of the Spanish Succession, when it hosted the Braunau Parliament, a provisional Bavarian Parliament in 1705 headed by Sebastian Plinganser. Again between 1809 and 1816 it was a Bavarian town under the terms of the treaty of Bratislava. In 1816 Bavaria ceded the town to Austria, when Europe was reorganised after the Napoleonic Wars. Ever since then it has been an Austrian city. Bavaria was compensated in advance by the gain of Aschaffenburg.

Braunau has a remarkable 15th-century church with a 99m-high spire, as well as castle remains housing a museum, and parts of the former town walls.

Braunau was the birthplace in 1889 of Adolf Hitler. Outside the building in which he was born is a memorial stone commemorating the dead of the Second World War. The stone is made of granite from Mauthausen concentration camp. It says: ‘Für Frieden Freiheit und Demokratie Nie wieder Faschismus Millionen Tote mahnen’.

Braunau has a full range of schools and colleges; industries including electronics, metal (AMAG) and woodworking, and glass. After two successful seasons, the local football team, S.V. Braunau, reached the Austrian 1st Division before suddenly going bankrupt in 2000. The team was refounded as F.C. Braunau.