Pörtschach Am Wörthersee
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Pörtschach am Wörthersee () is a municipality in the district of
Klagenfurt-Land Bezirk Klagenfurt-Land () is a Districts of Austria, district of the States of Austria, state of Carinthia (state), Carinthia in Austria.:de:Bezirk Klagenfurt-Land Municipalities Towns (''Städte'') are indicated in boldface; market towns (''Ma ...
in
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 ...
,
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 ...
. It is an established summer
resort A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that aims to provide most of a vacationer's needs. This includes food, drink, swimming, accommodation, sports, entertainment and shopping, on the premises. A hotel ...
and lakeside town on
Wörthersee Wörthersee (; Slovene: ''Vrbsko jezero'', ) is a lake in the southern Austrian state of Carinthia. The bathing lake is a main tourist destination in summer. Geography Wörthersee is Carinthia's largest lake. It is elongated, about long and ...
.


Geography

Pörtschach is located at above mean sea level, on the northern shore of Lake Wörth, about west of the Carinthian capital Klagenfurt. The municipal territory is subdivided into the two cadastral communities of Pörtschach on the Lake () and Sallach. Unique locality of the municipality is Pörtschach on Lake Wörth. Pörtschach's neighbouring communities include
Moosburg Moosburg an der Isar ( Central Bavarian: ''Mooschbuag on da Isa'') is a town in the ''Landkreis'' Freising of Bavaria, Germany. The oldest town between Regensburg and Italy lies on the river Isar at an altitude of 421 m (1381 ft). It ...
to the north, Techelsberg to the west, Krumpendorf to the east, and
Maria Wörth Maria Wörth () is a municipality in the district of Klagenfurt-Land in the Austrian state of Carinthia (state), Carinthia. The centre of the resort town is situated on a peninsula at the southern shore of the Wörthersee. In the east, the munici ...
to the south.


History

Basin stones with
cup marks Cup and ring marks or cup marks are a form of prehistoric art found in the Atlantic seaboard of Europe (Ireland, Wales, Northern England, Scotland, France (Brittany), Portugal, and Spain ( Galicia) – and in Mediterranean Europe – Italy (in Al ...
most presumably come from 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 ...
and can still be seen in many parts of Carinthia. There is also one to be seen in Pörtschach, just next to a basswood tree with a park bench and next to a wooden cross. During the cultic ceremony the sacrifice, most probably blood, was placed in the little basin hole of the rock. According to archaeological findings, the
Noricum Noricum () is the Latin name for the kingdom or federation of tribes that included most of modern Austria and part of Slovenia. In the first century AD, it became a province of the Roman Empire. Its borders were the Danube to the north, R ...
main road from Velden to Krumpendorf already led across the community's territory in the
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
period. During the
Slavic settlement of the Eastern Alps The settlement of the Eastern Alps region by early Slavs took place during the 6th to 8th centuries CE. It formed part of the southward expansion of early Slavs which would result in the South Slavic group, and would ultimately result in the ethno ...
about 600 a settlement was founded, based on onomastic evidence (
Slavic Slavic, Slav or Slavonic may refer to: Peoples * Slavic peoples, an ethno-linguistic group living in Europe and Asia ** East Slavic peoples, eastern group of Slavic peoples ** South Slavic peoples, southern group of Slavic peoples ** West Slav ...
''porecah'' = 'at the people who live by the brook'). In 1150 Pörtschach in 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 ...
was first attested in written sources. In those days a lake castle was set up, of which little else than some scant remains of a wall can be seen to this day. A parish church was first mentioned in 1328, initially a
filial church A filial church, in the Roman Catholic Church, is a church to which is annexed the cure of souls, but which remains dependent on another church. The term comes from the Latin ''filialis'', from ''filia'', “daughter”. Description The term ''fi ...
of
Maria Wörth Maria Wörth () is a municipality in the district of Klagenfurt-Land in the Austrian state of Carinthia (state), Carinthia. The centre of the resort town is situated on a peninsula at the southern shore of the Wörthersee. In the east, the munici ...
, the present-day building was erected in 1787 and restored in a
Neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ar ...
style in 1904/06. The nearby medieval Leonstein Castle had already fallen into disrepair by the late 17th century, but it has recently benefited from a restoration programme. It was replaced around 1490, when neighbouring Leonstain Castle was erected close to Pörtschach's centre. Today part of 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 ...
castle has been reborn as a hotel. A growing tourism industry started in the mid-19th century, accelerating after the establishment of the Lake Wörth navy in 1853. Shortly after that, in 1864, Pörtschach received a railway station on the new Southern Railway line 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
Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
; this made it a favoured tourist destination. Famous tourists from Vienna included Emperor
Franz Josef I of Austria Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death in 1916. In the early part of his reig ...
,
Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic music, Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and ...
, and
Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...
, who worked on his Second Symphony and his
Violin Concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...
here. After the tourism boom years in Carinthia of the 1960s and 1970s, a revival in Pörtschach as an events centre is under way. The goal is to develop as a " sustainable tourist attraction" affiliated to nature, culture and history.


Population

According to the census of 2001, the community of Pörtschach has 2,670 inhabitants. 90.3% have Austrian citizenship, the biggest groups among the foreign nationalities are
Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
ns (3.0%),
Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...
(2.3%), and Bosnia-Herzegovinians (1.3%). In terms of religion, the majority of the people are
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
s (75%), followed by 10%
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
s and 1.6%
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
s. About 10% of the people do not affiliate with any religion.


Lake villas

In the late 19th and early 20th century, numerous villas were erected in the so-called Wörthersee style, according to
Friedrich Achleitner Friedrich Achleitner (23 May 1930 – 27 March 2019) was an Austrian poet and architecture critic. As a member of the Wiener Gruppe, he wrote concrete poems and experimental literature. His magnum opus is a multi-volume documentation of 20th-cent ...
a mix of
Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...
,
German Romanticism German Romanticism () was the dominant intellectual movement of German-speaking countries in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, influencing philosophy, aesthetics, literature, and criticism. Compared to English Romanticism, the German vari ...
,
Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
and
mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...
architecture. The most important representants of this specific building style were Franz Baumgartner (1876–1946), Wilhelm Heß (1846–1916), Josef Victor Fuchs, and Carl Langhammer (1840–1906).


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): 7 *
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): 6 *
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 * Green Party of Austria (Grüne): 2


Twin towns — sister cities

Pörtschach is twinned with: *
Rivignano Rivignano was a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Udine in the Italy, Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about northwest of Trieste and about southwest of Udine. Since January 1, 2014 Rivignano has been merged with Teor, ...
,
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...


Notable people

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...
spent the summers of 1877 to 1879 in Pörtschach. In a letter to
Clara Schumann Clara Josephine Schumann (; ; née Wieck; 13 September 1819 – 20 May 1896) was a German pianist, composer, and piano teacher. Regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic music, Romantic era, she exerted her influence o ...
he recounted how he stopped off on his voyage to Vienna for overnight lodging and found the next day so pleasant that on the second day he decided to stay for the time being. Pörtschach is the site of an annual International Johannes Brahms Competition.


Literature

* ''Österreichische Kunst-Topographie. (Austrian art topography) Volume I.: Herzogthum Karnten'' (Dutchy Carinthia), Wien 1889, S. 284; in Commission bei Kubasta & Voigt, of the K. K. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei. * ''DEHIO Kärnten - Topographisches Denkmälerinventar'' (Topografic monument inventory), S. 636–644. Editorial Anton Schroll & Co, Wien 2001, * ''Kärntner Sagen'' (Carinthian sagas), a selection by Dr. Georg Graber, 1949; S. 50–52, Kärntner Heimatverlag (Carinthian homeland editorial). * ''Die Kärntner Gemeindewappen'' (The Carinthian community coat of arms) by Dr. Wilhelm Deuer, S. 216–217; Klagenfurt 2006, Editorial of the Carinthian country archive,


References


External links

*
Municipal site
*
Tourist site

International Johannes Brahms Competition



Pörtschach Info&News
{{DEFAULTSORT:Portschach am Worthersee Cities and towns in Klagenfurt-Land District