Pörtschach am Wörthersee

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Pörtschach am Wörther See

Coat of arms
Pörtschach am Wörther See
Location within Austria
Coordinates: 46°38′N 14°9′E / 46.633°N 14.150°E / 46.633; 14.150Coordinates: 46°38′N 14°9′E / 46.633°N 14.150°E / 46.633; 14.150
Country Austria
State Carinthia
District Klagenfurt-Land
Government
 • Mayor Franz Arnold
Area
 • Total 16.21 km2 (6.26 sq mi)
Elevation 461 m (1,512 ft)
Population (1 January 2013)[1]
 • Total 2,645
 • Density 160/km2 (420/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 9210
Area code 04272
Website www.poertschach.at

Pörtschach am Wörthersee (Slovene: Poreče) is a town in the district of Klagenfurt-Land in Carinthia in south-central Austria.

It was the site of an annual tennis tournament, the Hypo Group Tennis International, a part of the ATP Tour's International Series.

Geography

Geographical position

Pörtschach is located at 446–702 metres (1,463–2,303 ft) above mean sea level, on the northern shore of the Lake Wörth, about 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) west of the Carinthian capital Klagenfurt.

Pörtschach's municipal escutcheon in front of the municipal office
Pörtschach train station

Structure of the community

The community territory is subdivided into the two cadastral communities of Pörtschach at Lake Wörth (Poreče ob jezeru) and Sallach. Unique locality of the community is Pörtschach on Lake Wörth.

Neighbour communities

Pörtschach's neighbouring communities include Moosburg to the north, Techelsberg to the west, Krumpendorf to the east, and Maria Wörth to the south.

History

Pre-Celtic and Celtic period

Basin stone at the crossroads of Saint Oswald Street with Goritschach Street

Basin stones most presumably come from the stone age and can still be seen in many parts of Carinthia. There is also one to be seen in Pörtschach. It is located on Saint Oswald Street (Sankt-Oswalder-Straße), at the intersection with Goritschach Street (Goritschacher Weg), just next to a basswood tree with a park bench and next to a wooden cross. During the cultic ceremony the sacrifice, most probably blood, was placed in the little basin hole of the rock.

Antiquity and Middle Ages

According to findings, the Noric main road from Velden to Krumpendorf already led across the community's territory in the Roman period. About in the year 600 a settlement was founded by Slavic tribes, based on onmomastic evidence (porecah = 'at the people who live by the brook'). In 1150 Pörtschach was first attested in written sources. In those days the lake castle was set up, of which little else than some scant remains of a wall can be seen to this day.

The nearby Leonstain Castle had fallen into disrepair by the late twentieth century, but it has recently benefitted from a restoration programme. Around 1490 the Leonstain Castle was erected close to Pörtschach's center. Today part of the castle has been reborn as a hotel, owned by the Neuscheller family.

Modern times

A growing tourism industry started in the mid-19th century, accelerating after the establishment of the Lake Wörth navy in 1853. Shortly after that, in 1864, Pörtschach received a railway station on the new line from Vienna to 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 this: culture (International Johannes Brahms Competition), nature, and history.

Population

According to the census of 2001, the community of Pörtschach has 2,670 inhabitants. 90.3% have Austrian citizenship, the biggest groups among the foreign nationalities are Croatians (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% Muslims. About 10% of the people are without confession.

Lake villas

The most important representant of the Lake Wörth architecture was Franz Baumgartner. Listed below is a selection of his permanent works:

  • Villa Wladimir Turkovic (1913), Werftenstraße 57

  • Villa Stefanie Turkovic (1913), Werftenstraße 73

Prominent people from Pörtschach

Bust of Johannes Brahms at the Leonstein Castle Hotel
  • Johannes Brahms
  • 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

References

  1. ↑ Statistik Austria - Bevölkerung zu Jahres- und Quartalsanfang, 2013-01-01.

External links

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Municipalities in the district of Klagenfurt-Land
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