Sachsenburg
| Sachsenburg | ||
|---|---|---|
|
St. Margaret parish church | ||
| ||
  Sachsenburg Location within Austria | ||
| Coordinates: 46°49′N 13°21′E / 46.817°N 13.350°ECoordinates: 46°49′N 13°21′E / 46.817°N 13.350°E | ||
| Country | Austria | |
| State | Carinthia | |
| District | Spittal an der Drau | |
| Government | ||
| • Mayor | Wilfried Pichler | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 42.57 km2 (16.44 sq mi) | |
| Elevation | 557 m (1,827 ft) | |
| Population (1 January 2014)[1] | ||
| • Total | 1,319 | |
| • Density | 31/km2 (80/sq mi) | |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | |
| Postal code | 9751 | |
| Area code | 04769 | |
| Website | www.sachsenburg.at | |
- For the Nazi concentration camp, see Sachsenburg (concentration camp).
Sachsenburg is a market town on the Drava river in the Spittal an der Drau district in Carinthia, Austria. The municipality comprises the Katastralgemeinden of Sachsenburg and Obergottesfeld.
History
The origin of the name is uncertain: an affiliation with the far apart mediæval Duchy of Saxony has never been established; however the coat of arms probably awarded in the 16th century shows a Saxe, a kind of pan formerly used for gold prospecting within the nearby Hohe Tauern mountain range.
Two fortresses at the strategically important narrow place of the Drava valley (Sachsenburger Klause) were first mentioned in a 1213 deed. Sachsenburg is documented as the administrative seat of a Salzburg exclave within the Duchy of Carinthia in 1292. It was therefore often under attack by the forces of the Carinthian dukes as well as by the Counts of Gorizia at Lienz. The Salzburg archbishops granted the settlement market rights in 1326, it also received city fortifications, that were not razed until in 1813, when Upper Carinthia belonged to the French-occupied "Illyrian Provinces".
During the Revolutions of 1848, several citizens on March 20 proclaimed an independent "Republic of Sachsenburg", they were however immediately suppressed by the Austrian military.
Politics
Seats in the municipal assembly (Gemeinderat) as of 2009 elections:
- Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ): 8
- Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ): 4
- Austrian People's Party (ÖVP): 3
Twin towns
Sachsenburg is twinned with:
Spilimbergo, Italy 
Sachsenburg, Frankenberg, Saxony, Germany
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sachsenburg, Kärnten. |
