Bad Kleinkirchheim
Encyclopedia
Bad Kleinkirchheim is a municipality in Spittal an der Drau
Spittal an der Drau (district)
The Bezirk Spittal an der Drau is an administrative district in Carinthia, Austria.Area of the district is 2,763.99 km², population is 81,719 , and population density 30 persons per km². It is Austria's second largest district by area...

, Carinthia
Carinthia (state)
Carinthia is the southernmost Austrian state or Land. Situated within the Eastern Alps it is chiefly noted for its mountains and lakes.The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Austro-Bavarian group...

, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

. Until the middle of the 20th century, agriculture was the dominant focus, but it is now a renowned spa and ski resort. Although records show people appreciating the area as a recreation area as early as the 11th century, and the first bathing guests arriving in the 17th century, it was only in the last few decades that Bad Kleinkirchheim began to move away from agriculture and focus on its potential for tourism.

Location

Bad Kleinkirchheim's is situated at an average altitude of 1,087m in a 5km stretch of the Gurk
Gurk River
The Gurk is a river in Carinthia, Austria. It is the second longest river in that state after the Drava.A northern tributary of the river Drava, the 120 km long Gurk flows from under Nock Mountains, near the border of Austrian provinces of Styria and Carinthia. Its sources are two small lakes, the...

 valley, between the Millstätter See
Millstätter See
-General facts:Lake Millstatt is situated in the Central Eastern Alps, near the town of Spittal an der Drau. With a surface area of it is the second largest lake of Carinthia , though with by far the deepest and most voluminous. Its steep shore gives the lake a fjord-like character...

 and the upper Gurk valley. The populated section lies between 980m and 1,380m, and the highest point in the area is the peak of the Klomnock, at 2,331m. North of Kleinkirchheim and St. Oswald, part of the Nockberge National Park is within the area’s boundaries.

To the north and south of the valley, the hills rise relatively steeply to an altitude of about 2,000 meters, so that the only way in and out is by the B88 road which links the area to Radenthein
Radenthein
Radenthein is a town in the district of Spittal an der Drau in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is situated in the Gegend valley of the Nock Mountains region of the Central Eastern Alps, north-east of Lake Millstatt. The municipality also includes the cadastral communes of Döbriach, Kaning,...

 in the west and Reichenau
Reichenau, Carinthia
Reichenau is a municipality in the district of Feldkirchen in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is situated in the high valley of the Gurk River within the Nock Mountains range, near the Turracher Höhe Pass leading to Styria...

 in the east. Bad Kleinkirchheim also borders Krems
Krems, Carinthia
Krems in Kärnten is a municipality in the district of Spittal an der Drau in Carinthia in Austria. It is not to be confused with the more famous Krems an der Donau in Lower Austria....

 in the northwest and Feld am See to the southwest.

Municipal arrangement

Bad Kleinkirchheim is divided into 3 Katastralgemeinden: Kleinkirchheim, Sankt Oswald, and Zirkitzen. It can be further divided into nine Ortschaften:
Kleinkirchheim Sankt Oswald Zirkitzen
Aigen (population: 57) Sankt Oswald (168) Rottenstein (99)
Bach (302) Staudach (167) Zirkitzen (418)
Kleinkirchheim (357)    
Obertschern (127)    
Unterschern (168)    

History

The settlement apparently didn't exist before Roman times. A minister was mentioned named Pabo in a document dated 5 July 1166, in which archbishop Konrad II of Salzburg
Salzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...

 confirms the donation of a chapel in the area. This is considered the first mention of Bad Kleinkirchheim.

In September 1473 the Turks broke into the region, robbing the town and plundering the valleys. On 25 June 1478 a group of about 600 farmers tried unsuccessfully to drive out their leaders. By 1480 the Turks had left, possibly as a result of an invasion of Hungarians.

During the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

, many farmers in the area became Lutheran, however by the late 16th century freedom of religion had been bestowed on the residents. But when Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand II , a member of the House of Habsburg, was Holy Roman Emperor , King of Bohemia , and King of Hungary . His rule coincided with the Thirty Years' War.- Life :...

 rose to power, he made Roman Catholicism
Roman Catholicism in Austria
The Catholic Church of Austria, part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, is under the leadership of the Pope, the curia in Rome, and the Conference of Austrian Bishops. The Austrian church is the largest Christian denomination of Austria, with, according to the 2001 census, 5.9 million people...

 the official religion. However, Protestants still managed to smuggle books and hold secret meetings, and in 1781 a Protestant or Jew would have nearly all the rights of a Catholic.

Bad Kleinkirchheim was shortly ruled by France during the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

. The Revolution of 1848 also affected the area, as farmers (which then made up most of the town's population) got more rights.

Finally, in 1973, Bad Kleinkirchheim officially had the "Bad" (bath, spa) attached to its name, Kleinkirchheim, a reference to the popular hot spring.

Demographics

Bad Kleinkirchheim officially has a population of 1,863 people, as of the census of 2001. Following is a list of the population increase since 1869:
YearInhabitants
1869 915
1880 968
1890 970
1900 968
1910 1,062
1923 944
1934 1,055
1939 1,043
1951 1,268
1961 1,352
1971 1,731
1981 1,783
1991 1,889
2001 1,863

Bad Kleinkirchheim has a population density of 25 people per square kilometer, which is thinly settled compared to Carinthia being 59 and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

 as a whole being 98. The decrease in population between 1910 and 1923 was caused by World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, and the rise between 1951 and 1971 was due to an increase in tourism.

93.4% of the inhabitants of Bad Kleinkirchheim are Austrian by nationality. The largest portion of the foreign population comes from South-East Europe (Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....

 1.7%, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

 1.0%, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...

 0.5%) as well as from Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 (1.4 %). 95.2% of the population speak German, 1.8% Serbian and 1.0% Croatian. 62.3% of the population admit themselves to Roman Catholicism, 30.8% are Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...

s and 2.0% Orthodox
Orthodox Christianity
The term Orthodox Christianity may refer to:* the Eastern Orthodox Church and its various geographical subdivisions...

, 0.8% are Muslims, 3.5% are without religious confession.

Buildings

This town is most famous for its church, built circa 1492. There are also a lot of farms and mills.

Sports

The town is known for its ski resorts, offering skiable slopes of 185 km, as well as 16 km of tracks for cross-country skiing. The Alpine Skiing World Cup
Alpine skiing World Cup
The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup is the top international circuit of alpine skiing competitions, launched in 1966 by a group of ski racing friends and experts which included French journalist Serge Lang and the alpine ski team directors from France and the USA...

 is also held here often. The local ski club, the Ski Club Kleinkirchheim, was established in 1947 and has about 2,000 members, a population larger than the town itself.

Besides skiing
Skiing
Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....

, other less popular sports include football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

, golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

, and tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

. The town also has a chess club
Chess club
A chess club is a club formed for the purpose of playing the board game of chess. Chess clubs provide for both informal games and timed games, often as part of an internal competition or in a league.-Organisation:...

.

Politics

The Mayor of the town is Matthias Krenn (FPÖ
FPO
FPO may refer to:*Fleet Post Office, a "city" designation in military mail *Field post office, a term for military post offices in military mail systems *For position only, a designation for placeholder graphics...

). The local council consists of 15 members. Of those members, 7 are FPÖ, 4 SPÖ
SPO
- Technology :SPO: Microsoft SharePoint Online, Microsoft Cloud Computing, Office 365. See Microsoft Online Services-Economics:* Secondary Public Offering, an equity capital market instrument...

, 3 ÖVP
OVP
OVP is a three-letter abbreviation that may refer to:*The Office of the Vice President of the United States*The Office of the Vice President of the Philippines*OVP , a light sub-machine gun developed in Italy...

, and the last is independent.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK