Wiener Neustadt

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This article is about the Austrian city. For the island in the Russian Arctic, see Wiener Neustadt Island.
Wiener Neustadt
Coat of arms Location
Coat of arms of Wiener Neustadt
 Map of Austria, position of Wiener Neustadt highlighted
Administration
Country Flag of Austria Austria
State Lower Austria
District Statutory city
Mayor Bernhard Müller (SPÖ)
Basic statistics
Area 60.96 km² (23.5 sq mi)
Elevation 265 m  (869 ft)
Population 39,652  (01/12/2005)
 - Density 650 /km² (1,685 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate WN
Postal code 2700
Area code 02622
Website www.wiener-neustadt.gv.at

Coordinates: 47°49′0″N 16°15′0″E / 47.81667, 16.25

Wiener Neustadt (Hungarian: Bécsújhely) is a town located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administration of Wiener Neustadt-Land.

Contents

[edit] History

The city was founded by the Babenberger Duke Leopold V in 1194, who financed the construction of the city with the ransom paid for the English king Richard the Lionheart, who had previously been held as a hostage in Austria at Dürnstein. Wiener Neustadt, meaning more or less New Vienna, first served as a fortress to defend against nearby Hungary. Important privileges were given to the city in order to enable it to prosper. In the 15th century, Wiener Neustadt experienced a population boom, when Emperor Friedrick III took up his residence here and in Graz. The Wappenwand (coat of arms wall) at the local castle displays the coats of arms of his possessions in the middle. His son Maximilian I maintained his court in Wiener Neustadt and is buried there in the St. George's Cathedral.

Military Academy
Military Academy

King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary conquered the city in August of 1487 after having laid siege to it for two years. He dedicated the Corvinus Cup to the inhabitants. Maximilian I managed to reconquer his native city in 1490. During the 16th Century, Wiener Neustadt lost its status as imperial residence and much of its importance. However, it still fulfilled its function as bulwark against the Turks and the Kuruc. In 1751 it received greater attention when Empress Maria Theresa of Austria decided to dedicate the First Military Academy worldwide inside the imperial castle. In 1752, the Theresian Military Academy took up its operations, which have continued to this day with only a few interruptions. (Erwin Rommel became the commandant in 1938.) In 1768, Wiener Neustadt was destroyed by an earthquake. The castle, which had suffered strongly, was rebuilt using plans made by the architect Nicolò Pacassi. In 1785, Emperor Joseph II transferred the see of the diocese of Wiener Neustadt to St. Pölten.

In the 19th century the city became an industrial town, especially after the opening of the Austrian Southern Railway in 1842.

In 1909, an airfield north of the city was inaugurated. It later served as a training ground for the flight pioneers Igo Etrich, Karl Illner and Adolf Warchalowski, who conducted their tests there.

External images
Wiener Neustadt Bombing Damage

Diagram of WWII Wiener Neustadt facilities

[edit] Bombing of Wiener Neustadt during World War II

The Wiener Neustädter Flugzeugwerke GmbH (WNF) aircraft factory manufactured Messerschmitt Bf 109s and repaired Junkers bombers and destroyers[1]. Other facilities included two Raxwerke plants which used Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp labor. 80%[clarify] of the city was destroyed during Operation Pointblank bombing (only 18 of 4,000 buildings were undamaged):

Bombing of Wiener Neustadt during World War II
Date Result
August 7, 1943 Bad weather canceled Operation Juggler against Wiener Neustadt and Regensburg [2]
August 13, 1943 61 B-24's targeted the Wiener-Neustadt aircraft factory in the first Ninth Air Force raid on Austria[2]
August 14, 1943 61 Ninth Air Force B-24's, on loan from the Eighth Air Force, bomb the Bf 109 factory at Wiener-Neustadt, Austria.[2]
November 2, 1943 On a mission against the nearby Messerschmitt fighter aircraft plant, the US Fifteenth Air Force bombed the Raxwerke.[3] V-2 rocket production was subsequently centralized at the Mittelwerk, and Rax test equipment was moved to the site of the Redl-Zipf brewery in central Austria where new test stands were built (code name: Schlier.)[4]
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[edit] Main sights

  • The Late-Romanesque Dom, consecrated in 1279 and cathedral from 1469 to 1785. The choir and transept, in Gothic style, are from the 14th century. In the late 15th century 12 statues of the Apostles were added in the apse, while the bust of Cardinal Melchior Klesl is attributed to Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
  • Former church of St. Peter an der Sperr, erected in the 13th century and modified in the mid-15th century by the imperial architect Peter von pusica. Secularized in the 19th century, it is now used for exhibitions.
  • The Military Academy, a 13th century formerly four-towered castle which was later used as residence by Frederick III of Habsburg. The latter had it enlarged and the St. George Chapel built in the mid-15th century: it has notable glassworks and houses the tomb of Emperor Maximilian I. It became seat of the Academy in 1752. Destroyed during World War II, it has been rebuilt to the original appearance.
The Cathedral
The Cathedral
  • Water tower
  • Tower of Tortures (early 13th century), now housing a private weapons collection.
  • Mariensäule (a plague column at Hauptplatz)
  • Church of the Capuchins, documented from the 13th century. Of the original construction today the Gothic choir (late 14th century) and the statues of St. Mary and St. James can be seen.
  • The medieval walls, built using part of the ransom of Richard I of England.
  • City Museum
  • City archives
  • Aviaticum Flight museum
  • Industrial museum
  • Hospital museum
  • Kurt Ingerl-Gedenkraum
  • Mineralogical museum
  • Tower museum in the cathedral

[edit] Transportation

Wiener Neustadt is one of the most important traffic junctions of Austria. It is connected to other major centers of population by railway and by highway. The city has two airfields (a military one which was the first airfield in Austria and a civil one owned by Diamond Aircraft) and is the starting point of Austria's only shipping canal, the Wiener Neustaedter Kanal, which was meant to reach out to Trieste but was never finished.

[edit] University, professional schools, vocational academies

Austria's first and largest Fachhochschule for business and engineering, the University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt, is located here.

Church of St. Peter
Church of St. Peter
Water reservoir
Water reservoir

[edit] City partnerships

[edit] Development of the city

The most recent extension of the city is the CIVITAS NOVA, Latin for new city, an ambitious project for an industrial, research and commercial center. In 2008, on the area of the Civitas Nova, a cancer research center for ion therapy will be opened under the name of Med Austron (link in German).

[edit] Culture

In 1996 Wiener Neustadt became internationally famous as a so-called "sidewalk" (http://www.dade.at/sidewalk/sidew.htm) designed by a Japanese artist was built around the main square. The aerodrome is a big music venue (link in German).

[edit] People

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[edit] References

  1. ^ Haberfellner Wernfried, Schroeder Walter. Wiener Neustädter Flugzeugwerke. Entstehung, Aufbau und Niedergang eines Flugzeugwerkes. Weishaupt Verlag, Graz. ISBN 3-7059-0000-5
  2. ^ a b c McKillop, Jack (1955-59). 9th Air Force 1943 Chronicles. Air War WW2 Portal. Retrieved on 2008-06-04.
  3. ^ Ordway, Frederick I, III; Sharpe, Mitchell R (publisher=). The Rocket Team, Apogee Books Space Series 36, p74,141. 
  4. ^ Neufeld, Michael J (1995). The Rocket and the Reich: Peenemünde and the Coming of the Ballistic Missile Era. New York: The Free Press, p207. 
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Cities and Districts (Bezirke) of Lower Austria