Villach

Villach (; ; ; ) is the seventh-largest city in Austria and the second-largest in the federal state of Carinthia. It is an important traffic junction for southern Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the population is 61,887.

Together with other Alpine towns Villach engages in the Alpine Town of the Year Association for the implementation of the Alpine Convention to achieve sustainable development in the Alpine Arc.
In 1997, Villach was the first town to be awarded Alpine Town of the Year.

Geography

Villach is a statutory city, on the Drau River near its confluence with the Gail tributary, at the western rim of the Klagenfurt basin. The municipal area stretches from the slopes of the Gailtal Alps (Mt. Dobratsch) down to Lake Ossiach in the northeast.

The Villach city limits comprise the following districts and villages:

In 1905 a part of the municipal area St. Martin was incorporated. In 1973 the city area was further enlarged through the incorporation of Landskron, Maria Gail and Fellach.

Climate

Villach has a cool summer humid continental climate (Köppen ''Dfb'').

History

The oldest human traces found in Villach date back to the late Neolithic. Many Roman artifacts have been discovered in the city and its vicinity, as it was near an important Roman road (today called ''Römerweg'') leading from Italy into the Noricum province established in 15 BC. At the time, a mansio named ''Sanctium'' was probably located at the hot spring in the present-day Warmbad quarter south of the city centre. After the Migration Period and the Slavic settlement of the Eastern Alps about 600 AD, the area became part of the Carantania principality.

When about 740 Prince Boruth enlisted the aid of Duke Odilo of Bavaria against the invading Avars, he had to accept Bavarian overlordship. An 878 deed of donation, issued by the Carolingian ruler Carloman of Bavaria, mentioned a bridge (''ad pontem Uillach'') near the royal court of Treffen, in what is today Villach. In 979 Emperor Otto II enfeoffed Bishop Albuin of Brixen with the Villach manor. After his death, King Henry II in 1007 ceded the settlement to the newly established Bishopric of Bamberg. The bishops also held the adjacent estates along the strategically important route to Italy up to Pontafel, which they retained until 1759 while the surrounding Carinthian ducal lands passed to the Austrian House of Habsburg in 1335.

Villach received market rights in 1060, though it was not mentioned as a town in records until about 1240. The parish church dedicated to St. James was first documented in 1136. Emperor Frederick II conferred the citizens the right to hold an annual fair on the feast of 25 July (''Jakobitag'') in 1222. The 1348 Friuli earthquake devastated large parts of the town; another devastating earthquake occurred in 1690. There were also several fires in Villach, which destroyed many buildings. The first documented mayor took office in the 16th century.

From 1526 onwards, many citizens turned Protestant and the Villach parish became a centre of the new faith within the Carinthian estates, which entailed harsh Counter-Reformation measures by the ecclesiastical rulers. From about 1600, numerous residents were forced to leave the town, precipitating an economic decline. In 1759 the Habsburg empress Maria Theresa formally purchased the Bamberg territories in Carinthia for a price of one million florins. Villach was incorporated into the "hereditary lands" of the Habsburg monarchy and became the administrative seat of a Carinthian district.

During the Napoleonic Wars, the city was occupied by French troops and became part of the short-lived Illyrian Provinces from 1809, until it was re-conquered by the forces of the Austrian Empire in 1813 and incorporated into the Austrian Kingdom of Illyria by 1816. The city's economy was decisively promoted by a western branch of the Southern Railway line, which finally reached Villach in 1864, providing growth and expansion. By 1880, the town had a population of 6,104. In World War I, Villach near the Italian front was the seat of the 10th Army command of the Austro-Hungarian Army.

The town obtained statutory city status during the interwar period on 1 January 1932. After the Austrian ''Anschluss'' to Nazi Germany in 1938, the mayor of Villach was Oskar Kraus, an enthusiastic Nazi. On 9 November 1938 Villach was a site of the nationwide ''Kristallnacht'' pogroms with violent attacks on the Jewish population. A memorial for the 1919 border conflict that led to the Carinthian Plebiscite caused controversy when it was inaugurated in 2002, as Kraus, who had not been especially prominent in the conflict, was the only person named.

During World War II, allied forces bombed Villach 37 times. About 42,500 bombs killed 300 people and damaged 85% of the buildings. Nevertheless, the city quickly recovered. Today, Villach is a bustling city with commerce and recreation, yet it retains its historic background.

On 15 February 2025, a 14-year-old boy was killed while five people were injured in a knife attack. A 23-year-old Syrian asylum seeker was arrested by two female police officers.

Population

Politics

Municipal council

The municipal council (''Gemeinderat'') consists of 45 members, with the mayor as president, and following the 2015 elections:Wahlstatistiken – Stadt Villach
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* Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ): 23 seats
* Austrian People's Party (ÖVP): 10 seats
* Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ): 7 seats
* Austrian Green Party: 3 seats
* Verantwortung Erde: 1 seat
* NEOS: 1 seat

City government

The city government of Villach (Stadtsenat) consists of seven members. It is chaired by the mayor, who is directly elected by the people. The other members—two vice-mayors and four town councillors—are appointed by the municipal council, with party affiliations according to the election results.

*Mayor Günther Albel, SPÖ
*First Deputy Mayor Petra Oberrauner, SPÖ
*Second Deputy Mayor Gerda Sandriesser, SPÖ
*Councillor Peter F. Weidinger, ÖVP
*Councillor Erwin Baumann, FPÖ
*Councillor Harald Sobe, SPÖ
*Councillor Katharina Spanring, ÖVP

In the March 2015 elections, Günther Albel was elected with 55.46 per cent of the votes cast.Wahlergebnisse 2015

Twin towns—sister cities

Villach is twinned with:

* Bamberg, Germany (since 1973)
* Udine, Italy
* Suresnes, France (since 1992)
* Kranj, Slovenia (since 2008)
* Tolmin, Slovenia (since 2010)

Festivals

There are several festivals throughout the year:

*The carnival in Villach (which starts on November 11 and ends on March 4)
*The arts and crafts festival (with self made goods)
*''Villacher Fasching'' or '' Mardi Gras''
*The streets-art festival (displays performances of artists and singers)
*The ''Villacher Kirchtag'' (a festival spanning a whole week in summer and ends on August's first Saturday.)
*Performances on a floating stage on the Drau River

Notable citizens

* Ludwig Willroider (1845–1910), an Austrian landscape painter and etcher.
* Oskar Potiorek (1853 in Bad Bleiberg – 1933), Austro-Hungarian Army officer, Governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo from 1911 to 1914, when Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated there
* Anton Ghon (1866 in Villach – 1936), Austrian pathologist viz Ghon focus and Ghon's complex
* Oskar Kraus, (DE Wiki) (1887–1973 in Villach), mayor of Villach 1938–1945
* Hans Kurath (1891 in Villach – 1992), American linguist, emigrated to the US in 1907
* Carl-Heinz Birnbacher (1910 in Villach – 1991), German naval officer, Vice admiral of the German Navy
* Albert Bach (1910 in Treffen – 2003), soldier, Generalmajor, and skier, competed at the 1936 Winter Olympics.
* Heidemarie Hatheyer (1918 in Villach – 1990), film actress, appearing in 43 films between 1938 and 1988
* Paul Watzlawick (1921 in Villach – 2007), Austrian-American therapist, psychologist and communications theorist.
* Kurt Diemberger (born 1932), author and mountaineer
* Bruno Gironcoli (1936 in Villach – 2010), Austrian modern artist
* Heidelinde Weis

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