Bregenz (; ) is the capital of

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( ; ; , , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the second-highest popu ...

, the westernmost

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. The city lies on the east and southeast shores of

Lake Constance Lake Constance (, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein (). These ...

, the third-largest freshwater lake in Central

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, between

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

in the west and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in the northwest. Bregenz is located on a plateau falling in a series of terraces to the lake at the foot of Pfänder mountain. It is a junction of the arterial roads from the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

valley to the German Alpine foothills, with cruise ship services on Lake Constance. It is famous for the annual summer music festival ''

Bregenzer Festspiele Bregenzer Festspiele (; Bregenz Festival) is a performing arts festival which is held every July and August in Bregenz in Vorarlberg (Austria). It features a large floating stage which is situated on Lake Constance. History The Festival becam ...

'', as well as the dance festival ''Bregenzer Spring''.

History

The first settlements date from 1500 BC. The Brigantii are mentioned by Strabo as a Celtic sub-tribe in this region of the Alps. In the 5th century BC, the

Celts The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

settled at Brigantion, which became one of their most heavily fortified locations. After a series of battles in 15 BC, the Romans conquered Brigantion and the city became a Roman camp. It was conferred the status of a municipality (Brigantium) around 50 AD. Brigantium was the seat of the Roman admiralty for

and included a

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

. In 259/60 Brigantium was destroyed by the

Alemanni The Alemanni or Alamanni were a confederation of Germanic peoples, Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River during the first millennium. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Roman emperor Caracalla of 213 CE ...

, Germanic peoples who settled in the area in around 450. From 610 to 612 Saint Columbanus and Saint Gall worked as missionaries in Bregenz. From 917 onwards the castle served as a residence of the Udalrichinger (ruling dynasty of Vorarlberg), who called themselves Counts of

Bregenz Bregenz (; ) is the capital of Vorarlberg, the westernmost states of Austria, state of Austria. The city lies on the east and southeast shores of Lake Constance, the third-largest freshwater lake in Central Europe, between Switzerland in the wes ...

. The house died out around 1150. The son of the first Ulrich was Saint Gebhard, born in 947. He became the Bishop of Konstanz. In around 1170 Hugo of Tübingen (Montfort) founded a town settlement (first documented in 1249), enlarged it in the 13th and 14th centuries and from 1650 to 1652. The city was sold in 1451, and again in 1523, to the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

s and continued under Austrian rule, with a brief occupation by Swedish forces under Carl Gustaf Wrangel during the 30 Years' War, until the 19th century. Bregenz was under

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

n rule from 1805 to 1814. From 1842 to 1850, the harbour on

was built, then enlarged in 1883 and from 1889 to 1891, and Austrian ship service was inaugurated in 1884. Railway services have existed since 1872, and since 1884 across the

Arlberg The Arlberg (, also: ''Arlberg Pass'') is a mountain pass between states of Tyrol and Vorarlberg in Austria. Ski resorts at the Arlberg include Lech, Zürs, Stuben, St. Christoph, St. Anton, Oberlech, Stubenbach, Zug, and Warth. It is the m ...

massif. Since 1726, Bregenz has been the main seat of Austrian administration in

(''Obervogtei'', in 1786 ''Kreisamt'', since 1861 seat of the Landtag, since 1918 seat of the

Landeshauptmann The Landeshauptmann (if male) or Landeshauptfrau (if female) (, "state captain", plural ''Landeshauptleute,'' ) is the chairman of a state government and the supreme official of an Austrian state and the Italian autonomous provinces of South Ty ...

). Rieden-Vorkloster and Fluh were incorporated into Bregenz in 1919 and 1946, respectively. The town was bombed by the Allies in 1945, and 72 houses were destroyed.

Population

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Main sights

Upper town

*Remains from the 13th and 16th centuries *Town walls *Old town hall (1662) *Martinsturm (Martin's Tower). Originally built by the Romans, it has a chapel with frescoes dating from 1362. Between 1599 and 1601 an additional storey was added. It has the largest bulb-shaped Baroque steeple in Central Europe, and houses the Museum of Military History. *Gothic parish church of St Gall: its Romanesque foundations date from before 1380, but it was rebuilt around 1480. Around 1737 it was converted to a Baroque style. *Herz-Jesu parish church (1905–1908).

Lower town

*Floating stage on lake Constance *Town hall, built in 1686 (façade from 1898) *Gothic Seekapelle (Lake Chapel) *Landhaus (built from 1973 to 1982 by W. Holzbauer) *Former Kornhausmarkt (built 1838 to 1940, altered 1951 to 1955); it now houses a theatre. *Protestant church of the Sacred Cross (1862–1864) *Church of St Kolumban (1962–1966) *Kunsthaus Bregenz (1991–1997) (modern art museum) *Tourismushaus (tourist centre) (1994–1998). Sights in the district of Vorkloster include the Maria Hilf parish church (1925–1931, by C. Holzmeister, interior from 1980) and the Cistercian monastery of Mehrerau. On the Gebhardsberg rock are remains of the fortress of Hohenbregenz (destroyed by the Swedes in 1647).

Businesses and services

Government

Bregenz is the seat of the Vorarlberg State Assembly (

Landtag A ''Landtag'' (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence ...

), and of most of the provincial authorities/institutions of Vorarlberg (e.g. school superintendent, police headquarters, department of human resources development (AMS), Office for Environmental Protection, Chamber of Labour, Economics Chamber, Chamber of Agriculture, Chamber of Pharmacists, military regional headquarters, military garrison, one of the main hospitals of the province (Landeskrankenhaus), as well as a sanatorium, farmers' health and social insurance office, VLV (Mutual Fire Insurance Institute).

Consulates

A consulate-general of Turkey, and honorary consulates of Belarus, France, Germany, Hungary, Norway, and Switzerland are located in Bregenz. Honorary consulates of Finland and the United Kingdom are located in nearby Lauterach, and an honorary consulate of Brazil in nearby Hard.

Schools and the arts

Bregenz is home to four Gymnasium secondary schools, a commercial college (HAK), a technical college (HTL), upper secondary business schools (Höhere Lehranstalt für wirtschaftliche Berufe), three Berufsschulen (vocational schools), crafts colleges, the Academy of Social Sciences, and a nursing school. Others include: an adult education centre, school boarding houses, state archives, a state library, a state museum,

Kunsthaus Bregenz The Kunsthaus Bregenz (KUB) presents temporary exhibitions of international contemporary art in Bregenz, Vorarlberg (Austria). History Commissioned by the State of Vorarlberg and designed by the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, the Kunsthaus Br ...

(modern arts centre), Künstlerhaus (art centre),

Thurn und Taxis The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis (, ) is a family of German nobility that is part of the ''Briefadel''. It was a key player in the mail, postal services in Europe during the 16th century, until the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, and ...

Palace, five monasteries, Heimatwerk (autonomous institution fostering the manufacturing of traditional craft products), and various newspapers.

Public facilities

Festival and Congress centre, Theater am Kornmarkt, casino, harbour for sailing boats and yachts, cable car up onto the Pfänder mountain.

Economy

The economy is mainly dominated by small businesses in the services, trade and industry sectors: these include the textile industry ( Wolford AG), fittings manufacturer Julius Blum GmbH, glass processing and machine construction. Bi-seasonal tourism is important; a major attraction is the Bregenz Festival (since 1946, floating stage since 1949, modernised in 1979, Festival and Congress Hall in 1980), winter sports on the Pfänder mountain.

Culture

Bregenzer Festspiele

The annual summer music festival

is world-famous, taking place in July and August each year on and around a stage on

. This festival attracts more than 150,000 people every year to Bregenz (2011: 166,453, 2016: 159,172) and has a budget of around EUR 20 million. The program changes every two years. In addition to the performances on the lake stage, orchestral concerts and operas also take place in the adjacent festival theatre. There is also a children's and youth program during and before the beginning of the festival. The lake stage (''Seebühne'') is the largest open-air lake stage theatre in the world, with an audience capacity of around 7,000.

Bregenz Jazz Festival

Since 2014, the Bregenz Jazz Festival has been held every year in June at the Kornmarktplatz. It is the successor of the ''New Orleans Festival'', which took place from 1999 to 2013, during the early summer, in the inner city of Bregenz, and which was no longer supported by the initiator Markus Linder. In addition to the change of name, there was also a musical genre change from blues to jazz. The location and the timing stayed roughly the same.

Bregenzer Frühling

Since 1987, Bregenzer Spring, a dance festival, has been held every year between March and June in the Festival Hall of Bregenz (Festspielhaus). Dance ensembles from all over the world perform their new productions, along with Austrian premieres. With a budget of around EUR 500,000 and up to 10,000 visitors, Bregenzer Spring is one of the most important dance festivals in Austria.

Others

* In 2013/2019 a Roman Theatre was excavated in Bregenz. * The Galgenbihl (gallow hill) is almost forgotten.

Climate

Transport

There are three railway stations within the municipality. Bregenz railway station is an intermediate stop on the Vorarlberg railway line (), which traverses Vorarlberg in a north-south direction. The harbour of Bregenz is adjacent to Bregenz Hafen railway station, which is situated on the same railway line. A third station, is situated further south on the Vorarlberg line. Bregenz station is called at by the S1 and S3 regional train services of Vorarlberg S-Bahn, S7 service of St. Gallen S-Bahn, REX 1 and long-distance

EuroCity EuroCity (EC) is an international Train categories in Europe, train category and brand for European inter-city rail, inter-city trains that cross international borders and meet criteria covering comfort, speed, food service, and cleanliness. E ...

and Railjet trains, while the other two stations are only served by regional trains (S1, S3, REX 1). The regional train services are also part of Bodensee S-Bahn. The '' Pfänderbahn'' is an aerial tram to Pfänder mountain, with its valley station located in Bregenz.

Sport

* A1 Bregenz HB is a

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

team. * SC Bregenz is the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team of the town, competing in the Austrian Regional League (Third Division).

Notable people

Public service & commerce

* Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau (1559 in Lochau – 1617), Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg, 1587/1612 *

Josef Fessler Josef Fessler (1813-1872) was Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Bishop of Sankt Pölten in Austria, a secretary of the First Vatican Council and an authority on patristics. Biography and works Josef Fessler was born to a peasant family on 2 ...

(1813 in Lochau – 1872), Roman Catholic Bishop of Sankt Pölten. * Victor von Ebner (1842 – 1925), Austrian

anatomist Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

and histologist *

Johann Georg Hagen Johann (John) Georg Hagen (March 6, 1847 – September 6, 1930) was an Austrian Society of Jesus, Jesuit priest and astronomer. After serving as Director of the Georgetown University Astronomical Observatory, Georgetown University Observator ...

(1847–1930), Jesuit priest and astronomer * Jodok Fink (1853 in Andelsbuch – 1929), farmer and politician, first

Vice-Chancellor of Austria The vice-chancellor of Austria is a member of the Government of Austria and is the deputy to the Chancellor. It is functionally equivalent to a deputy prime minister in other countries with parliamentary systems. The current vice-chancellor ...

, 1919 to 1920. * Valentin Feurstein (1885–1970), Austrian general in the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

during World War II. * Lorenz Bohler (1885 in Wolfurt – 1973), surgeon, an innovator of accident surgery, Nazi * Maria Stromberger (1898 in Metnitz–1957), nurse, supported the inmates at Auschwitz, lived and died locally * Irmfried Eberl (1910–1948), psychiatrist and commander of

Treblinka extermination camp Treblinka () was the second-deadliest extermination camp to be built and operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II. It was in a forest north-east of Warsaw, south of the village of Treblinka in what is now the Mas ...

* Hermann Gmeiner (1919 in Alberschwende – 1986),

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

and founder of

SOS Children's Villages SOS Children's Villages is an independent, non-governmental, nonprofit international development organization headquartered in Innsbruck, Austria. The organization provides humanitarian and developmental assistance to families facing difficultie ...

* Fritz Mayer, (DE Wiki) (1933–1988), politician, mayor of Bregenz, 1970 to 1988 * Herbert Sausgruber (born 1946 in Bludenz), governor of

, 1997-2011 * İlber Ortaylı (born 1947), Turkish historian and professor of history * Günter Bischof (born 1953 in Mellau), Austrian-American historian and university professor *

Ernst Fehr Ernst Fehr (born 21 June 1956 in Hard, Austria) is an Austrian-Swiss behavioral economist and neuroeconomist and a Professor of Microeconomics and Experimental Economic Research, as well as the vice chairman of the Department of Economics at the ...

(born 1956 in Hard) Austrian behavioral economist and neuroeconomist * Anton Amann (1956 – 2015), Austrian chemist and professor of chemistry at the Innsbruck Medical University * Hans-Peter Martin (born 1957), journalist and politician, (SPOe),

member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

* Hanni Rützler (born 1962), nutritional scientist, food trends researcher, author and health psychologist.

The Arts

* Johann Conrad Dorner (1810 in Egg – 1866), Austrian painter * Kaspar Albrecht (1889 in Au – 1970), architect and sculptor * Karl Michael Vogler (1928 in Remscheid – 2009), actor, raised in Bregenz * Sieghardt Rupp (1931–2015), actor in films, television and theatre. *

Robert Schneider Robert Peter Schneider (born March 9, 1971) is an American musician and mathematician. He is the lead singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer of rock/pop band the Apples in Stereo and has produced and performed on albums by Neutral Milk ...

(born 1961), writer of novels and poetry * Stefan Sagmeister (born 1962),

graphic designer A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming ...

, storyteller, and typographer * Markus Gasser (born 1967), literary scientist and author * Arno Geiger (born 1968 in Wolfurt), Austrian novelist * Roman Rafreider (born 1969), Austrian television host and journalist * Christof Unterberger (born 1970),

cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

and film composer * Maria Anwander (born 1980), conceptual artist, performance and installation art * Lukas Birk (born 1982), photographer * Kian Soltani (born 1992), principal cellist in

Daniel Barenboim Daniel Moses Barenboim (; born 15 November 1942) is an Argentines, Argentine-Israeli classical pianist and conductor based in Berlin, who also has Spain, Spanish and State of Palestine, Palestinian citizenship. From 1992 until January 2023, Bare ...

's West-Eastern Divan Orchestra * Jakob Kasimir Hellrigl (born 1992), known as '' Candy Ken'', rapper

Sport

* Georg Bilgeri (1873–1934), Austro–Hungarian Army officer, mountaineer, and Austrian pioneer of skiing. * Max Sick (1882–1961), German strongman and gymnast, performed as ''Maxick''. * Patrick Ortlieb (born 1967), former World Cup alpine ski racer and gold medalist at the

1992 Winter Olympics The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Albertville '92 (Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile '92''), were a winter multi-sport event held from 8 to 23 February 1992 in and aroun ...

* Aleksandar Đorđević (born 1981), an Austrian footballer with over 300 club caps * Lucas Mayer (born 1983), an Austrian former handball player, who played 78 games for

* Robert Weber (born 1985), handball player with 213 caps for

, the third highest * Philipp Netzer (born 1985), an Austrian football coach and former player who played 394 games. * Dario Baldauf (born 1985), an Austrian footballer who has played over 320 games * Martin Kobras (born 1986), an Austrian football goalkeeper, played 341 games for SC Rheindorf Altach * Lukas Katnik (born 1989), an Austrian footballer who had played over 310 games * Manuel Sutter (born 8 1991), an Austrian footballer who has played over 330 games * Barbara Gasser (born in 1989), an Austrian gymnast who represented Austria in London 2012 Olympics

Twin towns

Bregenz is twinned with: * Bangor,

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

– various exchange trips take place between the two places. *

Acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

References

External links

* * http://www.bregenz.at Official site (in German) * http://www.pfaender.at Official site (German/English/Italiano/Français) of the Pfänder Mountain * http://www.pfaenderbahn.at (in German) * http://www.scbregenz.at Official site (in German) of local Football Club
Bregenzer Festspiele/ Bregenze Festival website

* See https://www.stampsoftheworld.co.uk/wiki/Bregenz_(AT) for an history of BREGENZ post and postmarks. {{Authority control Austrian state capitals Cities and towns in Bregenz District Populated places on Lake Constance Populated places established in the 2nd millennium BC Vorarlberg Further Austria