Landeck () is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be de ...

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

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

, the capital of the district of Landeck.

Geography

Landeck is located in the Tyrolean Oberland in the west of the state at an elevation of about . The town is situated in the valley of the

Inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...

River at the confluence with the Sanna tributary, between the Lechtal Alps, part of the Northern Limestone Alps in the north, and the Ötztal Alps and

Samnaun Alps The Samnaun Alps are a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps, named after the Swiss municipality of Samnaun. They are located at the border of the Austrian state of Tyrol and the Graubünden canton of Switzerland. The Samnaun Alps are separ ...

ranges of the Central Eastern Alps in the south. The Inn valley is an important transport route from Tyrol to the west across the Arlberg massif. In the south, the Reschen Pass at the main chain of the Alps leads to the Vinschgau region in Italian South Tyrol.

Climate

History

In ancient times, the '' Via Claudia Augusta'' ran across the Reschen Pass and through the Inn Valley Landeck, connecting the Roman ''

Italia 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 ...

'' peninsula with the '' Raetia'' province conquered in 15 BC. Throughout the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

the valley remained an important junction of trade routes leading to

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the '' ...

via the Fern Pass and westwards across the Arlberg. From the late 13th century onwards the Meinhardiner counts of

controlled the area from their stronghold at Landeck Castle. Until 1867 Landeck (then spelled ''Landek'') formed part of the Habsburg monarchy (

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central- Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...

from 1804), except for a short period during the Napoleonic wars (1806-1814) when it was ceded to the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German E ...

along with the rest of Tyrol. From 1867 (following the

compromise of 1867 The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 (german: Ausgleich, hu, Kiegyezés) established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. The Compromise only partially re-established the former pre-1848 sovereignty and status of the Kingdom of Hungar ...

) it formed part of the

Cisleithania Cisleithania, also ''Zisleithanien'' sl, Cislajtanija hu, Ciszlajtánia cs, Předlitavsko sk, Predlitavsko pl, Przedlitawia sh-Cyrl-Latn, Цислајтанија, Cislajtanija ro, Cisleithania uk, Цислейтанія, Tsysleitaniia it, Cislei ...

n (Austrian) part of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

; the spelling was also changed to ''Landeck'' in that year. After 1893 the name was officially changed again to ''Landeck in Tirol''. Throughout these periods it was the capital of the district of the same name, one of the 21 ' in the

province.Die postalischen Abstempelungen auf den österreichischen Postwertzeichen-Ausgaben 1867, 1883 und 1890, Wilhelm KLEIN, 1967 From 1782 a first pass road was built across the Arlberg at the behest of Emperor Joseph II; it was significantly enlarged until 1824. Landeck received access to the Arlberg railway in 1883. In 1904 it was elevated to the status of a

market town A market town is a Human settlement, 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 marketplace, market; this distinguished it from a village or ...

, and finally was granted

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 1923. Landeck was also used as a military base for Austrian mountain troops before the second world war, later, they became a unit of the German Wehrmacht. During the Austrian ''

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the Nazi Germany, German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "Ger ...

'' to

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, Landeck was merged with neighboring Zams in 1939; however, both municipalities again split after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Landeck was also the site of a UNRRA displaced person camp in the French sector of Allied-occupied Austria.

Population

Personalities

Raoul Schrott Raoul Schrott (born 17 January 1964) is an Austrian poet, writer, literary critic, translator and broadcast personality. Schrott was raised in Tunis where his father served as an Austrian sales representative. He attended the universities of N ...

(born 1964), author

Transport

Landeck, viadukt in de stad foto1 2012-08-14 12

Landeck-Zams station is an important hub for regional coach lines as well as a noteworthy stop for international trains on the Arlberg railway from the Tyrolean capital Innsbruck via the Arlberg Railway Tunnel to Bludenz in

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label= Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost 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 ...

. Landeck is also the terminus of the parallel Inn Valley Autobahn, which continues as ''S 16 Schnellstraße'' to the

Arlberg Road Tunnel The Arlberg Road Tunnel (german: Arlberg Straßentunnel), with a length of , is Austria's longest road tunnel. When it was inaugurated, it was the longest road tunnel in the world. It carries the S16 Arlberg Schnellstraße (German for "Arlberg Hi ...

in the west.

References

External links

alte 1939 und 1940 agfacolor farbdias aus Landeck. (vintage color slides)
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Landeck District Lechtal Alps Landeck District Populated places on the Inn (river)