Afritz am See ( sl, Zobrce) is a municipality in Villach-Land District in the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n state of

Carinthia Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Bavarian group. Carin ...

Name

The name ''Afritz'' is ultimately derived from the Slovene prepositional phrase ''za brdce'' 'behind the small hill'. The Slovene phrase fused to yield *''Zabrdce'', which was borrowed into

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. Hig ...

as *''Zafriz'' (from which, in turn, ''Cobrc'' was borrowed back into Slovene). The initial ''z-'' was misunderstood as the Middle High German preposition ''ze'' 'at', yielding the modern German decomposition ''Afritz''.

Geography

It is located within the Gegend Valley surrounded by the

Nock Mountains The Nock Mountains (german: Nockberge or ''Nockgebirge'') are the westernmost and highest mountain range of the Gurktal Alps in Austria, spread over parts of the federal states of Carinthia, Salzburg and Styria. Their appearance is characterised ...

, the western part of the

Gurktal Alps The Gurktal Alps (german: Gurktaler Alpen, sl, Krške Alpe) is a mountain range located in the Central Eastern Alps in Austria, named after the valley of the Gurk river. The range stretches west to Lake Millstatt and east to Neumarkter Sattel ...

mountain range, on the southern shore of small Afritzer See (Lake Afritz). The municipal area comprises the cadastral communities of Afritz and Berg ob Afritz.

History

The remote valley was not settled until the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended ...

. ''Afritz'' itself was first mentioned in a 1408 deed, then an estate held by the

Counts of Ortenburg The Counts of Ortenburg (german: Grafen von Ortenburg) were a comital family in the mediaeval Duchy of Carinthia. Though they had roots in Bavarian nobility, an affiliation with the Imperial Counts of Ortenburg, a branch line of the Rhenish Fra ...

. In 1973 the municipality merged with neighbouring Feld am See, but since 1991 has again been a municipality in its own right. The appendix ''am See'' was added in 2000, mainly for

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism ...

reasons, though officially Lake Afritz belongs to the municipal area of Feld am See.

Politics

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

Freedom Party in Carinthia The Freedom Party in Carinthia (german: Die Freiheitlichen in Kärnten, FPK, alternative English translations: Carinthian Freedom Party, Freedom Party of Carinthia, The Freedomites in Carinthia, or Carinthia Freedom Party) was a political party ...

(

FPÖ The Freedom Party of Austria (german: Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Austria. It was led by Norbert Hofer from September 2019 to 1 June 2021.Staff (1 June 2021"A ...

): 9 *

Social Democratic Party of Austria The Social Democratic Party of Austria (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs , SPÖ), founded and known as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (german: link=no, Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs, SDAPÖ) unti ...

(SPÖ): 4 *

Austrian People's Party The Austrian People's Party (german: Österreichische Volkspartei , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since December 2021, the party has been led provisionally by Karl Nehammer. It is curre ...

(ÖVP): 2

References

{{authority control Cities and towns in Villach-Land District