Gmunden

Gmunden
Gmunden's lakefront on a cloudy summer's day
Coat of arms	Location
File:Wappen der Gemeinde Gmunden.jpg
Administration
Country	Austria
State	Upper Austria
District	Gmunden
Mayor	Heinz Josef Köppl (ÖVP)
Basic statistics
Area	63.49 km2 (24.5 sq mi)
Elevation	425 m  (1394 ft)
Population	13,336  (15 May 2001)
- Density	210 /km² (544 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal code	4810
Area code	07612
Website	www.gmunden.ooe.gv.at Coordinates: 47°55′05″N 13°47′58″E / 47.91806°N 13.79944°E / 47.91806; 13.79944

Gmunden is a town in Upper Austria, Austria in the district of Gmunden. It has 13,202 inhabitants (estimates 2004). It is much frequented as a health and summer resort, and has a variety of goat, lake, brine, vegetable and pine-cone baths, a hydropathic establishment, inhalation chambers, whey cure, etc. It is also an important centre of the salt industry in Salzkammergut.

Geography

Gmunden covers an area of 63.49 km² and has a median height of 425 m. It is situated next to the lake Traunsee on the Traun River and is surrounded by high mountains, as the Traunstein (mountain) (5446 ft.), the Erlakogel (5150 ft.), the Wilder Kogel (6860 ft.) and the Höllengebirge.

Municipal arrangement

Gmunden is divided into the following boroughs: Gmunden, Gmunden-Ort, Schlagen, Traundorf, Unterm Stein.

Neighboring municipalities

	Ohlsdorf	Gschwandt
Pinsdorf		Sankt Konrad
Altmünster	Ebensee

Demographics

As of 2001, Gmunden has a population of 13,336. Of that, 88.4 % are Austrian in nationality, 1.5 % are from other European Union states, and 10.2 % are other foreigners. Citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina (3.6 %) and the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (2.7 %) placed the strongest foreigner portion, followed by Turks (1.2 %) and Germans (1.1 %).

The majority (69.3 %) confess themselves to the Roman Catholic Church. Evangelists are next, which 7.3 % of the population associate with. 5.9 % are Muslims and 3.3 % are Orthodox. 10.3 % are nonreligious.

History

A settlement was in existence already in the fifth century AC. By 1186 Gmunden was a fortified town surrounded by walls, although it didn't receive a church until about 1300. On November 14, 1626 an army of rebellious peasants was completely defeated at Gmunden by General Pappenheim , who had been ordered by Maximilian I to suppress the peasant rebellion in Upper Austria.^[2]. The dead peasant insurgents were buried in nearby Pinsdorf, where an obelisk styled memorial known as the Bauernhügel in their honour can still be seen.

Gmunden supplied battleships to Austria during the 17th century and helped wounded soldiers in hospitals in World War I. During World War II, an SS maternity home was located here, "to insure racial purity" in accordance with Nazi racial theories.^[3]

Politics

The local council consists of 37 members. Since 2003 the members are from the following political parties:

• ÖVP: 19 seats
• SPÖ: 11 seats
• Die Grünen: 4 seats
• FPÖ: 3 seats

Since 1997 the mayor has been Heinz Köppl of the ÖVP.

Main sights

Schloss Ort

There are a great number of excursions and points of interest round Gmunden, specially worth mentioning being the Traun Fall, 10 miles north of Gmunden, a castle called Schloss Ort, and a ceramic factory producing Gmunden Keramik branded pottery. The town hall is also a popular tourist destination.

Education

In Gmunden there are to four kindergartens, four elementary schools and three hauptschule. The three high schools are BG/BRG Gmunden, BRG Schloss Traunsee, and Gymnasium Ort.

People

• Caspar Erasmus Duftschmid, born here
• Heinrich Schiff, cellist and conductor, born here
• Duchess Maria Amalia of Württemberg, born here; see Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg
• Johannes von Gmunden
• Andreas Berger, born here
• Princess Marie Louise of Hanover, born here
• Princess Alexandra of Hanover (1882–1963), born at the Schloss Ort
• Prince Otto Heinrich of Hanover, born here
• Prince George William of Hanover (1880–1912), born here
• Prince Christian Oscar of Hanover, born here
• Prince Welf Henry of Hanover, born here

Famous residents

• Thomas Bernhard, playwright
• George V of Hanover, exiled here
• Ernest Augustus, Crown Prince of Hanover, exiled and died here
• Princess Thyra of Denmark, lived and died here
• Princess Marie of Hanover, lived and died here
• Ludwig Bemelmans, grew up here
• Gabi Burgstaller, went to high school
• Walter Reder, buried here
• Betty Haag, lived near here as a professor
• Jory Vinikour, lived as a teacher at the Austrian Baroque Academy of Gmunden
• Marie of Saxe-Altenburg, exiled and died here
• Princess Frederica of Hanover, lived here
• Frederick Francis IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, married here
• Christoph Ransmayr, grew up near here
• Carl Rahl, lived here
• Christian Griepenkerl, lived here
• John Haswell, worked here
• Matthias von Schönerer, worked here
• Prince Christian of Hanover (1885–1901), died here
• Count Richard Belcredi, died here
• Archduchess Margarete Sophie of Austria, died here
• Princess Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies, died here
• Princess Olga of Hanover (1884–1958), lived and died here
• Alexandra, Princess of Leiningen, married here
• Prince Ludwig Rudolph of Hanover, died here

See also

Gmunden Straßenbahn, the town tramway.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gmunden

• Gmunden's official homepage
• Gmunden's business homepage
• Schloss Ort Gmunden
• Pictures of Gmunden

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Gmunden.

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