Dornbirn
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Dornbirn | |
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| Coat of arms | Location |
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| Administration | |
| Country |  Austria |
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| State | Vorarlberg |
| District | Dornbirn |
| Mayor | Wolfgang Rümmele (ÖVP) |
| Basic statistics | |
| Area | 120.97 km² (46.7 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 437 m (1434 ft) |
| Population | 45,973 (30/09/2007) |
| - Density | 380 /km² (984 /sq mi) |
| Other information | |
| Time zone | CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) |
| Licence plate | DO |
| Postal code | 6850 |
| Area code | 05572 |
| Website | www.dornbirn.at |
| Location of Dornbirn within Vorarlberg | |
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Dornbirn is a city in Vorarlberg, Austria. It is the administrative center of the district (Bezirk) Dornbirn, which also includes the city of Hohenems, and the market town Lustenau.
The largest and busiest city in Vorarlberg and the tenth largest in all of Austria, Dornbirn is an important commercial center and shopping mecca. The regional ORF (Austrian Broadcasting Institution), the Fachhochschule (University of Applied Sciences), two General Education Secondary Schools, the Higher Technical Vocational College (HTL). Many large companies are situated there. The city was formerly a major centre of the textiles industry, which has been in decline since the 1980s.
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[edit] Geography
[edit] Geographical Situation
Dornbirn is located in western Vorarlberg at 437 meters above sea level in the Rhine Valley at the foot of the Bregenzerwaldgebirges at the edge of the Eastern Alps. It is near the borders to Switzerland, Germany and Liechtenstein. The Dornbirner Ach river flows through the city and later into Lake Constance.
[edit] Municipal arrangement
Dornbirn once only contained 4 "quarters": Markt, Hatlerdorf, Oberdorf and Hazeltown. By the 20th century Dornbirn had annexed two formerly independent villages from the west: Rohrbach and Schoren, thus bringing the total number of districts to 6.
[edit] Neighboring municipalities
The Town of Dornbirns constitutes almost 70% of the surface of the district Dornbirn and has accordingly numerous borders to other municipalities. As well as bordering the two other municipalities in the district Dornbirn (Hohenems and Lustenau), the town borders 15 municipalities of the district Bregenz (Lauterach, Wolfurt, Schwarzach, Bildstein, Alberschwende, Schwarzenberg, Reuthe, Mellau, Damüls) and 4 to the district Feldkirch (Laterns, Zwischenwasser, Viktorsberg, Fraxern).
[edit] History
The earliest proofs for human presence in what is today Dornbirn can be dated into the Mesolithic era. The name "Dornbirn" derives from 'torrin puirron', meaning the 'Settlement of Torro' (the name of an Alemannic farmer living there and thus has nothing to do with "pears" (German "Birnen"), although this fruit is prominently portrayed on the city emblem. This name is mentioned for the first time in 895, in a document from St. Gallen (Switzerland).
Dornbirn became part of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1380. In 1793 it was elevated to a market community. It was not given municipal status until 1901. In 1932 the mountain village of Ebnit was added. In 1969 Dornbirn became the seat of the new Dornbirn district administrative authority.
[edit] Politics
[edit] Municipal Council
The Dornbirn Municipal Council has 36 seats and the following party mandates:
- 21 ÖVP
- 8 SPÖ
- 4 Die Grünen
- 3 FPÖ
The current mayor (sine 1999) is Wolfgang Rümmele (ÖVP).
[edit] Twin towns
Dornbirn is twinned with
[edit] People
- Angelika Birck, psychologist
- Reinhard Eugen Bösch, politician
- Karl Cordin, ski racer
- Artur Doppelmayr, cable car constructor
- Margret Dünser, journalist
- Ingrid Eberle, ski racer
- Wolfgang Flatz, artist, scenic designer, musician and composer
- Elfi Graf, singer
- Ulrich Ilg, politician, Governor of Vorarlberg
- August Paterno, TV priest
- Tamira Paszek, WTA Tennis Player
[edit] Transportation
Located in the center of the Rhine valley, Dornbirn is a notable junction of regional and interregional bus lines, connecting Bregenz in the north, Feldkirch in the south, and the Bregenzerwald in the east. The A14 Rheintal Autobahn passes to the west, with two exits. The Achrein Tunnel between Dornbirn and Wolfurt, which currently is under construction, will directly connect the northern exit with the Bregenzerwald. Dornbirn also is a junction of the Federal highways B 190, B 200, and B 204. Within the city there is a network of city buses.
Dornbirns railway station is of comparably lesser importance, though all trains along the line will stop at Dornbirn. With four stops along this line Dornbirn also has the most stops of Vorarlberg's municipalities.
A small airport is located at nearby Hohenems, and near the coast of Lake Constance there are a number of gliding clubs.
[edit] External links
- City of Dornbirn
- Dornbirn.com
- College of Applied Sciences
- Natural History Museum (Inatura)
- Rolls Royce Museum
- Tiscover Dornbirn
- Spielboden Cultural Events
- Worldgymnaestrada
- PhotoGlobe - Dornbirn offers high quality photos together with GPS coordinates
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