Althofen ( sl, Stari Dvor) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares ...

in the district of

Sankt Veit an der Glan Sankt Veit an der Glan (; sl, Šentvid ob Glini) is a town in the Austrian state of Carinthia, the administrative centre of the Sankt Veit an der Glan District. It was the historic Carinthian capital until 1518. The famous chef Wolfgang Puck was ...

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.

Geography

The town is located about north of

and north of the state 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 ...

in the Krappfeld Valley between 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 in the west and the

Lavanttal Alps The Lavanttal Alps (german: Lavanttaler Alpen, sl, Labotniške Alpe) are part of the Central Eastern Alps in Austria and Slovenia, between the river Mur in the north and the Drava in the south. The mountains are named after the central valley o ...

in the east. The township consists of the cadastral communities Treibach, Althofen, and Töscheldorf.

History

There are some prehistoric finds in Althofen, namely two

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several part ...

axes, some Late

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

ceramics and a Hallstatt Age tumulus. Several small finds and some tombstones date from the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

era. From about 600 Althofen became a settlement area of Slavic people. ''Altanhouun'' in the

Duchy of Carinthia The Duchy of Carinthia (german: Herzogtum Kärnten; sl, Vojvodina Koroška) was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, and was the first newly created Imperial St ...

was first mentioned in a 1041 deed. Like in neighbouring

Friesach Friesach ( sl, Breže) is a historic town in the Sankt Veit an der Glan district of Carinthia, Austria. First mentioned in an 860 deed, it is known as the oldest town in Carinthia. Geography Location Friesach covers an area of 120.83 km2 ...

, the estates were held by the Archbishops of Salzburg. The local Salzburg bailiffs resided at Althofen Castle, which was devastated in the 15th century Austrian–Hungarian War and rebuilt from about 1500 as the ''Neues Schloss'' (New Castle) under Prince-Archbishop

Leonhard von Keutschach Leonhard von Keutschach (c. 1442 – 8 June 1519) was Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg from 1495 until his death, the last to rule in the feudal style. Biography He was probably born at Viktring in Carinthia, the son of Otto von Keutschach, a ...

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

church was first mentioned in 1307, then under the auspices of the Friesach parish. The present-day parish church with its massive steeple is the only one in Carinthia dedicated to

Saint Thomas of Canterbury Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then ...

, it was built about 1400, with Baroque ornamentation in the 18th century and

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

embellishment in 1908–10. In 1230 Althofen received

market rights A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

as an important trading venue, mainly for

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...

(

Noric steel Noric steel was a steel from Noricum, a Celtic kingdom located in modern Austria and Slovenia. The proverbial hardness of Noric steel is expressed by Ovid: ''"...durior ..ferro quod noricus excoquit ignis..."'' which roughly translates to "...h ...

) from the nearby mines of

Hüttenberg Hüttenberg is a municipality in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Hüttenberg lies about 6 km southeast of Wetzlar and 10 km southwest of Giessen south of the river Lahn. Neighbouring communities Hütten ...

. In 1897 the local ironworks were purchased by Baron

Carl Auer von Welsbach Carl Auer von Welsbach (1 September 1858 – 4 August 1929), who received the Austrian noble title of Freiherr Auer von Welsbach in 1901, was an Austrian scientist and inventor, who separated didymium into the elements neodymium and praseo ...

(1858–1929), the inventor of

ferrocerium Ferrocerium (also known in Europe as Auermetall) is a synthetic pyrophoric alloy of mischmetal ( cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, other trace lanthanides and some iron – about 95% lanthanides and 5% iron) hardened by blending in oxid ...

(''Auermetall''). He developed the iron mill to a

chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wit ...

plant, the later ''Treibacher Industrie AG'', the main employer in Althofen up to today. The municipality obtained

town privileges Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...

in 1993.

Population

Politics

Seats in the municipal assembly (''Gemeinderat'') as of 2009 local elections: *''Liste für Alle'' (LFA): 10 *

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): 6 *

Freedom Party of Austria 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"Au ...

( FPK): 4 * Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ): 1 *Independent: 2

Twin towns

Althofen is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: * Tamm,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

Gradisca d'Isonzo Gradisca d'Isonzo ( fur, Gardiscja or ''Gardiscje'', sl, Gradišče ob Soči, archaic german: Gradis am Sontig) is a town and ''comune'' of the Province of Gorizia in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, north-eastern Italy. The lawyer, linguist, philologist Ph ...

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 ...

References

External links

Official site

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Sankt Veit an der Glan District