Oberdrauburg

Oberdrauburg
Riverside and Carinthian Gate Riverside and Carinthian Gate
Coat of arms of Oberdrauburg Coat of arms
Oberdrauburg Location within Austria
Coordinates:
Country	Austria
State	Carinthia
District	Spittal an der Drau
Government
• Mayor	Hubert Schnedl (SPÖ)
Area
• Total	69.91 km2 (26.99 sq mi)
Elevation	632 m (2,073 ft)
Population (1 January 2014)
• Total	1,216
• Density	17/km2 (45/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	9781
Area code	04710
Website	www.oberdrauburg.at

Oberdrauburg is a market town in the district of Spittal an der Drau at the western rim of the Austrian state of Carinthia.

Geography

File:Oberdrauburg - Marktplatz.JPG

Market square

It is situated near the Kärntner Tor (Carinthian Gate), a narrow place in the Drava Valley between the Gailtal Alps in the south and the Kreuzeck group of the Hohe Tauern range in the north, where the river crosses the border from East Tyrol to Carinthia. Oberdrauburg is located about 20 km (12 mi) east of Lienz; in the west it shares border with the Tyrolian municipality of Nikolsdorf. The municipal area also includes the cadastral communities of Flaschberg and Zwickenberg.

Oberdrauburg is situated on the Drautal-Straße highway (Bundesstraße B 100) running from Spittal an der Drau to Lienz. Here the Plöckenpass-Straße B 110 highway branches off, leading via the Gailberg Saddle mountain pass to Kötschach-Mauthen in the Gail Valley. Rail transport is available at the Oberdrauburg Station of the Drautalbahn (Drava Valley Railway) line.

The name of the town corresponds with the town of Dravograd (Unterdrauburg) in Slovenia, where the Drava crosses the border from Carinthia to the historic Styria region.

History

File:Oberdrauburg Hohenburg 01.jpg

Hohenburg Castle

Archaeological findings indicate a continuous settlement of the area throughout Celtic and Roman times. Oberdrauburg Castle was first mentioned in a 1240 as a possession of the Carinthian duke Bernhard von Spanheim. During the 13th century a settlement arose beneath the castle near the branch-off of the Gailberg Saddle road.

In 1292 Oberdrauburg was held by the Meinhardiner House of Gorizia at Lienz, in 1308 it appears as a fief of the Archbishopric of Salzburg. It received market rights in 1325 and further benefitted from its convenient location at the crossroads. From 1385 it was held by the Counts of Ortenburg, and with the Ortenburg possessions it was inherited by Count Hermann II of Celje in 1418. Finally, upon the death of Hermann's grandson Count Ulrich II of Celje in 1456, it passed to the Austrian House of Habsburg. Archduke Ferdinand I of Austria enfeoffed the estates to his treasurer Gabriel von Salamanca in 1524.

Politics

File:Oberdrauburg - Rathaus.JPG

Town hall

Seats in the municipal assembly (Gemeinderat) as of 2009 local elections:

• Austrian People's Party (ÖVP): 5
• Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ): 5
• Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ): 3
• Initiative Aufschwung Oberdrauburg (Independent): 2

Twin towns

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Austria

Oberdrauburg is twinned with:

• Türkenfeld, Germany since 1990
• Signa, Italy since 1996

Personalities

Honorary citizens

• Franz Jochum (02 January 1944)

Sons and daughters of the town

• The Sculptor Hellmuth Marx (17 June 1915 - 1 January 2002)