Lochau is a municipality in the westernmost

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

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 ...

. It is located on

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 ...

, in the

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 ...

district, near the border to

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 ...

. About 50.3% of the municipality's area is

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

. The Pfänder, the landmark mountain of the neighboring municipality of Bregenz, also lies within Lochau's boundaries. In the west, the Leiblach river forms the border to the German county (Landkreis) of

Lindau Lindau (, ''Lindau am Bodensee''; ; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Lindou'') is a major Town#Germany, town and Lindau (island), island on the eastern side of Lake Constance (''Bodensee'' in German) in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital ...

History

The Habsburgs ruled over their Vorarlberg lands alternately from Tyrol and Further Austria. From 1805 to 1814 Lochau belonged to

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 ...

, then reverted to

. In 1861 it became part of the Austrian Federal State of

. During

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 ...

, a subcamp of Dachau concentration camp was located there. Between 1945 and 1955 the municipality was part of the French occupation zone in Austria.

Population

Transport

Lochau-Hörbranz railway station serves Lochau and Hörbranz. It is located on Vorarlberg's main line, which runs in north-south direction. The station is served by the S1 regional train service of Vorarlberg S-Bahn and a regional express train (REX 1), both operated by Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB).

References

* :de:KZ-Außenlager Lochau KZ Dachau Außenlager Lochau

External links

Town of Lochau
Cities and towns in Bregenz District {{Vorarlberg-geo-stub