Maria Wörth is a municipality in the district of

Klagenfurt-Land Bezirk Klagenfurt-Land is a district of the state of Carinthia in Austria. :de:Bezirk Klagenfurt-Land Municipalities Towns (''Städte'') are indicated in boldface; market towns (''Marktgemeinden'') in ''italics''; suburbs, hamlets and other sub ...

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. The centre of the resort town is situated on a peninsula at the southern shore of the

Wörthersee Wörthersee (; Slovene: ''Vrbsko jezero'', en, Lake WörthTesch, F. W. 1977. ''The Eel: Biology and Management of Anguillid Eels''. Transl. Jennifer Greenwood. London: Chapman and Hall, p. 195.) is a lake in the southern Austrian state of Carin ...

. In the east, the municipal area borders the Carinthian capital

Klagenfurt Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. Jänner 2008, Stück 1, Nr. 1: ''Gesetz vom 25. Oktober 2007, mit dem die Kärntner Landesverfassung und das Klagenfurter Stadtrecht 1998 geändert werden.'/ref> (; ; sl, Celovec), usually ...

. The municipality consists of the two

Katastralgemeinde A cadastral community or cadastral municipality, is a cadastral subdivision of municipalities in the nations of Austria,Cadastral Template for Austria, web-pageCT-AT Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, ...

n Maria Wörth and Reifnitz.

History

A first St. Mary's Church was erected in about 875 during the

Christianization Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, conti ...

in former Carantania, led by the Bishops of Freising based at

Innichen Abbey Innichen Abbey (German: ''Stift Innichen'') is a former Benedictine monastery in Innichen, South Tyrol in northern Italy. Founded in the 8th century, its collegiate church dedicated to Saint Candidus, rebuilt in the 12th–13th centuries, is consid ...

. It was first mentioned in an 894 deed as ''Maria Werd''—because the site was at that time an island. (The

Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...

term ''Wörth'' or ''Werder'', like the Slovene ''Otok'', denotes a piece of land surrounded by water.) The church served for the

translation Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

of the relics of Saints

Primus and Felician Saints Primus and Felician (Felicianus) ( it, Primo e Feliciano) were brothers who suffered martyrdom about the year 297 during the Diocletian persecution. The ''"Martyrologium Hieronymianum"'' (ed. G. B. de Rossi- L. Duchesne, 77) gives under Ju ...

and played an important role within the

Christian mission A Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such as ...

in the Duchy of Carinthia. In about 1150 Bishop

Otto of Freising Otto of Freising ( la, Otto Frisingensis; c. 1114 – 22 September 1158) was a German churchman of the Cistercian order and chronicled at least two texts which carries valuable information on the political history of his own time. He was Otto I ...

founded a college of canons here, and had the small ''Winterkirche'' chapel built beside the

collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by ...

. In 1399 both churches were destroyed by fire, and afterwards rebuilt in the present late Gothic style. The Freising Prince-Bishops gradually lost their influence in Carinthia, and about 1500 the college finally became an annex of

Millstatt Abbey Millstatt Abbey (german: Stift Millstatt) is a former monastery in Millstatt, Austria. Established by Benedictine monks about 1070, it ranks among the most important Romanesque buildings in the state of Carinthia. The Benedictines were succeeded ...

, led from 1598 by

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

. With the

Suppression of the Society of Jesus The suppression of the Jesuits was the removal of all members of the Society of Jesus from most of the countries of Western Europe and their colonies beginning in 1759, and the abolishment of the order by the Holy See in 1773. The Jesuits were ...

in 1773, Millstatt Abbey was dissolved and Maria Wörth passed to the re-established Bendectine

St. Paul's Abbey in the Lavanttal Saint Paul's Abbey in Lavanttal (german: Stift St. Paul im Lavanttal) is a Benedictine monastery established in 1091 near the present-day market town of Sankt Paul im Lavanttal in the Austrian state of Carinthia. The premises centered on the Rom ...

in 1809. Not until 1903 the present-day municipality was established on territory of neighbouring Schiefling and Keutschach.

Sights

Maria Wörth is a centre of Austrian and European summer tourism, with 330,000 arrivals (although these numbers have declined sharply since the 1950s). Today's parish church Saints Primus and Felician stands on the highest point of the peninsula, with the neighbouring ''Winterkirche'' beneath it. It is a major

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

site and, due to its romantic setting, a popular wedding church. Another tourist attraction is the nearby

Pyramidenkogel Pyramidenkogel is an mountain in Carinthia, Austria. It is located to the south of the Wörthersee and near the town of Maria Wörth, in an area that is a boundary between speakers of German and Slovenian. In nearby Slovenia the mountain is known ...

, an 851-meter high mountain with a 54-meter high observation platform, the Pyramidenkogel Tower. Maria Wörth Sekirn Mahler Komponierhäuschen 27062006 01

Maria Wörth Sekirn Mahler Komponierhäuschen 27062006 01

In 1901 the composer Gustav Mahler built a villa near the hamlet of Maiernigg, on the lakeside in the east of the municipality, where he was already using a " composing hut" in which most of his works written between 1900 and 1907 were composed, including his Symphonies No. 5-8. The hut is now open as a small museum. Through his friendship with

Alma Mahler Alma Maria Mahler Gropius Werfel (born Alma Margaretha Maria Schindler; 31 August 1879 – 11 December 1964) was an Austrian composer, author, editor, and socialite. At 15, she was mentored by Max Burckhard. Musically active from her early yea ...

, the composer's widow, Alban Berg also composed at Maiernigg, which was visited by many of the

Viennese Viennese may refer to: * Vienna, the capital of Austria * Viennese people, List of people from Vienna * Viennese German, the German dialect spoken in Vienna * Music of Vienna, musical styles in the city * Viennese Waltz, genre of ballroom dance * V ...

artistic elite.

Notable people

* Adolf Heinrich Bercht, (German Wiki) (1875 - 1940) was owner of Schloss Reifnitz, (German Wiki) and

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

of the capital of federal state of Carinthia,

between 1926 and 1931. He is interred in the Bercht family grave in Maria Wörth.

Twin towns

Freising Freising () is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Freising ''Landkreis'' (district), with a population of about 50,000. Location Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Codroipo Codroipo ( fur, Codroip) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region Friuli Venezia Giulia, located about northwest of Trieste and about southwest of Udine. Codroipo borders the following municipalities: Basiliano, Bertiolo, Camino a ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Aretxabaleta Aretxabaleta is a town in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country, northern Spain. It is located on the Bergara road, almost adjacent to its larger northern neighbor, the city of Arrasate, and the smaller Eskoriat ...

, Basque Country,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

References

External links

Gemeinde Maria Wörth
- Official site of the municipality (German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Worth Cities and towns in Klagenfurt-Land District