Preitenegg () is a municipality in the district of Wolfsberg 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

Carinthia Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...

Geography

Preitenegg lies on the northeastern rim of Carinthia in the upper Lavant valley. The municipality stretches along the slopes of the Packalpe and

Koralpe The Koralpe (, , or ), also referred to as ''Koralm'' (), is a mountain range in southern Austria which separates eastern Carinthia from southern Styria. The southern parts of the range extend into Slovenia. Running from north to south, it drain ...

mountain ranges, both part of the

Lavanttal Alps The Lavanttal Alps (, ) 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 of Lavanttal and the Lavant River which runs i ...

. In the east, the

Pack Saddle ] A pack saddle is any device designed to be secured on the back of a horse, mule, or other working animal so it can carry heavy loads such as luggage, firewood, small cannons, or other things too heavy to be carried by humans. Description Ide ...

mountain pass marks the boundary with the state of

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

. Due to its picturesque setting, the mountain village today strongly relies on tourism, including

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing whereby skiers traverse snow-covered terrain without use of ski lifts or other assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreational activity; however, some still use it as a m ...

in winter. The municipal area comprises the cadastral communities of Kleinpreitenegg, Oberauerling, Oberpreitenegg, Preitenegg, Unterauerling, and Unterpreitenegg.

History

From the 11th century onwards, the upper Lavant valley belonged to the

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia district in Bavaria, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main (river), Main. Bamberg had 79,000 inhabitants in ...

ecclesiastical estates within the

Duchy of Carinthia The Duchy of Carinthia (; ; ) 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 State after the original German stem duchies. Car ...

, ruled by episcopal ''

ministeriales The ''ministeriales'' (singular: ''ministerialis'') were a legally unfree but socially elite class of knights, administrators, and officials in the High Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire, drawn from a mix of servile origins, free commoners, and ...

'' residing at Waldenstein Castle near Wolfsberg. The local St Nicholas Church was first mentioned in 1288, when the bailiwick (''

Vogt An , sometimes simply advocate, (German, ), or (French, ), was a type of medieval office holder, particularly important in the Holy Roman Empire, who was delegated some of the powers and functions of a major feudal lord, or for an institutio ...

ei'') passed to the Bishop of Lavant. Preitenegg itself first appeared in a 1328 deed. The linear village arose on the historic country road (''Packer Straße''), originally only a mule track, that ran from Carinthia across the Pack Saddle to the Styrian capital

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

. In 1695 the Waldenstein estates were acquired by the noble

House of Schönborn The House of Schönborn () is the name of an ancient noble and formerly sovereign family of the Holy Roman Empire. As a former ruling and mediatized family, it belongs to the ''Hochadel'' (high nobility). Various members of the family have held ...

, in 1852 they passed to

Henckel von Donnersmarck The Henckel von Donnersmarck family is an Austro-German noble family that originated in the former region of Spiš in Upper Hungary (now in Slovakia). The founder of the family was Henckel de Quintoforo in the 14th century. The original seat of th ...

family. The present-day municipality was established in 1849. From 1930 to 1936 the Pack Saddle road was upgraded as a ''

Bundesstraße ''Bundesstraße'' (, ), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways. Germany Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km. German ''Bundesstraßen'' are labelled with re ...

'' federal highway. Preitenegg later was relieved of heavy traffic by the opening of the parallel

Süd Autobahn The Süd Autobahn (A2) ('South Motorway') is a Controlled-access highway, motorway (''Autobahns of Austria, Autobahn'') in Austria. Completed in 1999, it runs from the outskirts of Vienna south via the cities of Graz and Klagenfurt to the border ...

motorway in the 1980s.

Politics

Seats in the municipal assembly (''Gemeinderat'') as of 2015 local elections: *

Austrian People's Party The Austrian People's Party ( , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since January 2025, the party has been led by Christian Stocker (as an acting leader). It is currently the second-largest p ...

(ÖVP): 5 *

Social Democratic Party of Austria The Social Democratic Party of Austria ( , SPÖ) is a social democratic political party in Austria. Founded in 1889 as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (, SDAPÖ) and later known as the Socialist Party of Austria () from 1945 unt ...

(SPÖ): 4 *

Freedom Party of Austria The Freedom Party of Austria (, FPÖ) is a political party in Austria, variously described as far-right, right-wing populist, national-conservative, and Eurosceptic. It has been led by Herbert Kickl since 2021. It is the largest of five part ...

(FPÖ): 2

Notable people

Maria Schell Maria Margarethe Anna Schell (15 January 1926 – 26 April 2005) was an Austrian-Swiss actress. She was one of the leading stars of German cinema in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1954, she was awarded the Cannes Best Actress Award for her performance ...

(1926–2005), actress, died at her home in Oberpreitenegg *

Maximilian Schell Maximilian Schell (8 December 1930 – 1 February 2014) was a Swiss actor. Born in First Austrian Republic, Austria, his parents were involved in the arts and he grew up surrounded by performance and literature. While he was still a child, his fa ...

(1930–2014), actor, received honorary citizenship in 2005

References

Cities and towns in Wolfsberg District {{Carinthia-geo-stub