Gumpoldskirchen ( Central Bavarian: ''Gumpoidskiachn'') is a town in the district of

Mödling Mödling () is the capital of the Austrian Mödling (district), district of the same name located approximately 15 km south of Vienna. Mödling lies in Lower Austria's industrial zone (Industrieviertel). The Mödlingbach, a brook which rises ...

in the

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 ...

n state of

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

. Gumpoldskirchen borders on the municipalities

, Guntramsdorf, Gaaden,

Pfaffstätten Pfaffstätten is a town in the district of Baden in Lower Austria in Austria. Population Sights At the heart of the town is the Lilienfelderhof, a monastic grange owned by Lilienfeld Abbey, which is leased to the Kartause Gaming Private Founda ...

and Traiskirchen. The municipal area extends from the flats in the Vienna Basin to forest areas of the Anninger in the Vienna Woods. Gumpoldskirchen is very famous for its wine, especially its Spätrot-Rotgipfler blend, and "Heurigers" as it attracts many tourists from

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

to its hillside vineyards. Gumpoldskirchen derives its name from Gumpold of Passau.

Climate

Gumpoldskirchen has a mild, continental climate attributed to its proximity to the spa line in Austria. The nearby Vienna Woods directly to the west affect the climate as well. There are 250 weather stations for the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics that call Gumpoldskirchen home.

History

The

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

people settled the area about 6500 years ago. The Romans then settled in the area and it was found that an important road for transport went through the current city. Even from prehistoric times, earlier civilizations were cultivating wine on the slopes of the Eichkogel. In the 14th century, Gumpoldskirchen was already a market and court location. Gumpoldskirchen, like so many of its neighbor principalities, was devastated twice by the first and the second Turkish Sieges. By the end of the 18th Century, Gumpoldskirchen began to industrialize. It had many factories and greatly assisted the rapid industrialization of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After the 1938

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

, Gumpoldskirchen became a part of the Greater Vienna that the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

created. Toward the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the area around Gumpoldskirchen became an area of intense battle between the coming Soviet troops and the remaining 6th SS Panzer Army. Gumpoldskirchen was unfortunately caught up in the 1985 wine glycol scandal that saw many Austrian wine makers called out for inserting illegal (and potentially harmful) ingredients. The scandal caused harm to the Austrian wine industry that it is still fighting to overcome today.

Population

Sights

Church St. Michael

St. Michael's church is a gothic cathedral in Gumpoldskirchen. A recently discovered crypt was found lying under the church.

Teutonic Order Castle

This castle was first used by the

Teutonic Order The Teutonic Order is a religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious institution founded as a military order (religious society), military society in Acre, Israel, Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Sa ...

in 1241 and served as a fortress for the next few hundred years. The castle was rebuilt in 1931 and after the

, was converted to a research institute for winery. Damage occurred to the castle in the late years of

, and in 1946, it was given back to the church. In 1998 and 1999, the castle underwent renovations and today it serves as a popular guesthouse.

The Pillory

The

pillory The pillory is a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, used during the medieval and renaissance periods for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse. ...

stands just outside town hall. It is a large stone built in 1563 with inscriptions chiseled on it. The pillory was a symbol of the market rights of the city. It was also used to punish lawbreakers who were then chained to the stone and sometimes even tortured and killed.

Town Hall

The old town hall was built during the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

period and was originally a courthouse. The pillared hall can still be seen today on the second-floor. The town-hall still has old prison cells, however they are now used for storage.

References

External links

Official Gumpoldskirchen HomepageInformation about Gumpoldskirchen
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Mödling District