Hardegg
Encyclopedia
Hardegg is a town in the district of Hollabrunn
in Lower Austria
, Austria
. It is situated in the Waldviertel
region on the river Thaya
, directly at the border with the Czech Republic
. The Thaya valley is protected as a national park
, adjacent to the Podyjí National Park on the Czech shore.
Since 1975 the municipality comprises the Katastralgemeinde
n of Hardegg, Felling, Heufurth, Mallersbach, Merkersdorf, Niederfladnitz, Pleissing, Riegersburg, Umlauf (unpopulated, is entirely located within the Thayatal national park and comprises a mere 12 fishermen's huts), and Waschbach. As Hardegg proper has only 78 inhabitants, it is often referred to as Austria's smallest town.
in the March of Austria
was first mentioned in a 1145 deed, it was acquired by the Counts of Plain
about 1187. Hardegg itself is first documented as a town
in 1290. Located at the border with the Kingdom of Bohemia
, the area was devastated during the Hussite Wars
in 1425. In 1483 Hardegg was bequested to the Habsburg archdukes of Austria
.
Emperor Maximilian I
granted Hardegg to his ministeriales
of the Prueschenk noble family and elevated them to immediate Counts of Hardegg in 1499. Two years later Count Ulrich
purchased the Bohemian County of Kladsko
from the Dukes of Münsterberg. From the Thirty Years' War
onwards the castle decayed, until it was acquired by the Khevenhüller
dynasty and rebuilt in the late 19th century according to plans designed by Carl Gangolf Kayser
.
After World War II
until the raise of the Iron Curtain
, Hardegg was particularly isolated. The only connection to the Czech Republic exists via a bridge built in 1874 across the Thaya to the neighbouring village of Čížov (part of the Horní Břečkov
municipality) in Moravia
.
. The highest population ever officially recorded was then also noted in 1890 with a number of 3,209. Ever since, except for the period between 1939 and 1951, the number of inhabitants is steadily decreasing. This is moreover significant for the Hollabrunn district which has had no population increase since 1980.
In 2001 there were 56 non-agricultural businesses, according to a 1999 census there were 108 farmsteads and forestral
businesses. In 2001 the number of economically active persons was 597, the employment ratio was at 40.8%. In Riegerburg lies a former coal mine and Felling is the seat of RM Austria – Perlmuttdesign, Austria's last mother of pearl turnery. In Mallersbach and Niederfladnitz, kaolinite
was mined.
After the seasonal opening of the Thaya bridge border crossing from Hardegg to Čížov on 12 April 1990, the crossing point was opened hourly throughout the year for pedestrians, cyclists and ski
sportsmen on 9 May 2006. In July the crossing Felling to Podmyče was opened to pedestrians and cyclists. After the expansion of the European Union
's Schengen Area
, the border may now be crossed anywhere at any time and formal checkpoints are obsolete.
(ÖVP) is the town's mayor. The council comprises 19 seats divided into the following mandates from the 14 March 2010 elections: ÖVP 15, SPÖ
4.
Hollabrunn (district)
Bezirk Hollabrunn is a district of the state ofLower Austria in Austria.-Municipalities:Towns are indicated in boldface; market towns in italics; suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality are indicated in small characters.* Alberndorf im Pulkautal* Göllersdorf** Bergau,...
in Lower Austria
Lower Austria
Lower Austria is the northeasternmost state of the nine states in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria since 1986 is Sankt Pölten, the most recently designated capital town in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria had formerly been Vienna, even though Vienna is not officially part of Lower Austria...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. It is situated in the Waldviertel
Waldviertel
The Waldviertel is the northwestern region of the Austrian state Lower Austria. It is bounded to the south by the Danube, to the southwest by Upper Austria, to the northwest and the north by the Czech Republic and to the east by the Manhartsberg , which is the survey point dividing Waldviertel...
region on the river Thaya
Thaya
The Thaya is a river in Central Europe, tributary to the Morava River. It is about 235 km long and meanders from west to east in the border area between Lower Austria and South Moravia , but does not exactly follow the border in most parts...
, directly at the border with the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
. The Thaya valley is protected as a national park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
, adjacent to the Podyjí National Park on the Czech shore.
Since 1975 the municipality comprises the Katastralgemeinde
Katastralgemeinde
A Katastralgemeinde , a German word , is a cadastral subdivision of municipalities in the nations of Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Italian provinces of South Tyrol, Trentino, Gorizia, Trieste, and in Slovenia.A cadastral community records property ownership in a cadastre,...
n of Hardegg, Felling, Heufurth, Mallersbach, Merkersdorf, Niederfladnitz, Pleissing, Riegersburg, Umlauf (unpopulated, is entirely located within the Thayatal national park and comprises a mere 12 fishermen's huts), and Waschbach. As Hardegg proper has only 78 inhabitants, it is often referred to as Austria's smallest town.
History
Hardegg CastleBurg Hardegg
Burg Hardegg is a castle in Lower Austria, Austria.-References:This article was initially translated from the German Wikipedia....
in the March of Austria
March of Austria
The March of Austria was created in 976 out of the territory that probably formed the earlier March of Pannonia. It is also called the Margraviate of Austria or the Bavarian Eastern March. In contemporary Latin, it was the marchia Austriae, Austrie marchionibus, or the marcha Orientalis...
was first mentioned in a 1145 deed, it was acquired by the Counts of Plain
Großgmain
Großgmain is a municipality in the district of Salzburg-Umgebung in the state of Salzburg in Austria.-References:...
about 1187. Hardegg itself is first documented as a town
German town law
German town law or German municipal concerns concerns town privileges used by many cities, towns, and villages throughout Central and Eastern Europe during the Middle Ages.- Town law in Germany :...
in 1290. Located at the border with the Kingdom of Bohemia
Kingdom of Bohemia
The Kingdom of Bohemia was a country located in the region of Bohemia in Central Europe, most of whose territory is currently located in the modern-day Czech Republic. The King was Elector of Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806, whereupon it became part of the Austrian Empire, and...
, the area was devastated during the Hussite Wars
Hussite Wars
The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars involved the military actions against and amongst the followers of Jan Hus in Bohemia in the period 1419 to circa 1434. The Hussite Wars were notable for the extensive use of early hand-held gunpowder weapons such as hand cannons...
in 1425. In 1483 Hardegg was bequested to the Habsburg archdukes of Austria
Archduchy of Austria
The Archduchy of Austria , one of the most important states within the Holy Roman Empire, was the nucleus of the Habsburg Monarchy and the predecessor of the Austrian Empire...
.
Emperor Maximilian I
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian I , the son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and Eleanor of Portugal, was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 until his death, though he was never in fact crowned by the Pope, the journey to Rome always being too risky...
granted Hardegg to his ministeriales
Ministerialis
Ministerialis ; a post-classical Latin word, used in English, meaning originally servitor, agent, in a broad range of senses...
of the Prueschenk noble family and elevated them to immediate Counts of Hardegg in 1499. Two years later Count Ulrich
Ulrich of Hardegg
Ulrich of Hardegg was an Austrian nobleman from the Prüschenk family of Count of Hardegg. He was "Cup-bearer" of Austria, which, by this time, was a title of nobility and no longer involved looking after the arch-duke's wine cellar...
purchased the Bohemian County of Kladsko
County of Kladsko
The County of Kladsko was a historical administrative unit in the Kingdom of Bohemia and later in the Kingdom of Prussia with its capital at Kłodzko on the Nysa river...
from the Dukes of Münsterberg. From the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
onwards the castle decayed, until it was acquired by the Khevenhüller
Khevenhüller
Khevenhüller is the name of a Carinthian noble family documented there since 1356 which originally came from the Upper Palatinate in Franconia and which later had their prinicipal seat on Landskron Castle. In the 16th century the family split into the two branches of ...
dynasty and rebuilt in the late 19th century according to plans designed by Carl Gangolf Kayser
Carl Gangolf Kayser
Carl Gangolf Kayser *12 February 1837, in Vienna; † 2 September 1895, was an architect at the service of Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico, during the Second Mexican Empire.-Life:...
.
After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
until the raise of the Iron Curtain
Iron Curtain
The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
, Hardegg was particularly isolated. The only connection to the Czech Republic exists via a bridge built in 1874 across the Thaya to the neighbouring village of Čížov (part of the Horní Břečkov
Horní Břečkov
Horní Břečkov is a village and municipality in Znojmo District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It is located approximately north-west of Znojmo, south-west of Brno, and south-east of Prague...
municipality) in Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
.
Economy and infrastructure
The remote situation was also mirrored in a decreasing number of inhabitants. The only economical factor of the town today is tourismTourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
. The highest population ever officially recorded was then also noted in 1890 with a number of 3,209. Ever since, except for the period between 1939 and 1951, the number of inhabitants is steadily decreasing. This is moreover significant for the Hollabrunn district which has had no population increase since 1980.
In 2001 there were 56 non-agricultural businesses, according to a 1999 census there were 108 farmsteads and forestral
Silviculture
Silviculture is the practice of controlling the establishment, growth, composition, health, and quality of forests to meet diverse needs and values. The name comes from the Latin silvi- + culture...
businesses. In 2001 the number of economically active persons was 597, the employment ratio was at 40.8%. In Riegerburg lies a former coal mine and Felling is the seat of RM Austria – Perlmuttdesign, Austria's last mother of pearl turnery. In Mallersbach and Niederfladnitz, kaolinite
Kaolinite
Kaolinite is a clay mineral, part of the group of industrial minerals, with the chemical composition Al2Si2O54. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral sheet of alumina octahedra...
was mined.
After the seasonal opening of the Thaya bridge border crossing from Hardegg to Čížov on 12 April 1990, the crossing point was opened hourly throughout the year for pedestrians, cyclists and ski
Ski
A ski is a long, flat device worn on the foot, usually attached through a boot, designed to help the wearer slide smoothly over snow. Originally intended as an aid to travel in snowy regions, they are now mainly used for recreational and sporting purposes...
sportsmen on 9 May 2006. In July the crossing Felling to Podmyče was opened to pedestrians and cyclists. After the expansion of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
's Schengen Area
Schengen Area
The Schengen Area comprises the territories of twenty-five European countries that have implemented the Schengen Agreement signed in the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, in 1985...
, the border may now be crossed anywhere at any time and formal checkpoints are obsolete.
Politics
As of 2010, Heribert Donnerbauer of the Austrian People's PartyAustrian People's Party
The Austrian People's Party is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Austria. A successor to the Christian Social Party of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it is similar to the Christian Democratic Union of Germany in terms of ideology...
(ÖVP) is the town's mayor. The council comprises 19 seats divided into the following mandates from the 14 March 2010 elections: ÖVP 15, SPÖ
Social Democratic Party of Austria
The Social Democratic Party of Austria is one of the oldest political parties in Austria. The SPÖ is one of the two major parties in Austria, and has ties to trade unions and the Austrian Chamber of Labour. The SPÖ is among the few mainstream European social-democratic parties that have preserved...
4.
Sights
- Thayatal National Park
- Hardegg CastleBurg HardeggBurg Hardegg is a castle in Lower Austria, Austria.-References:This article was initially translated from the German Wikipedia....
- Riegersburg Castle
- Ruins of Kaja Castle near Merkersdorf
- Brick pillars of a former gallowsGallowsA gallows is a frame, typically wooden, used for execution by hanging, or by means to torture before execution, as was used when being hanged, drawn and quartered...
between Niederfladnitz and Oberretzbach - Annual Retzerland pumpkin festival