Mörtschach
Mörtschach is a municipality with 796 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2013 ) in the district of Spittal an der Drau in Carinthia.
- 6.1 City Council and Mayor
- 6.2 Coat of Arms
Geography
Geographical location
The municipality is located in the extreme west of Carinthia in the upper Moelltal. It is in the west of the Schober group, to the east by Sadnig, a spur of the Sun View massif is limited. The village Mörtschach itself is about 950 meters above sea level, the highest mountain of the municipality is the Petzeck with a height of 3283 m above sea level. A.
Mörtschach has a significant share in the region Hohe Tauern National Park.
Community structure
The community Mörtschach with the cadastral Mörtschach and Stranach consists of the following towns (in brackets population as at 31 October 2011):
- Floodplains (23 )
- Lassach (132 )
- Mörtschach (238 )
- Mörtschachberg (8)
- Pirkachberg (36 )
- Bach Rescue (68 )
- Pounding (148 )
- Stranach (150 )
History
The area was settled in the Middle Ages as a result of gold mining. From the mining miners then the first agricultural settlers emerged subsequently. Mörtschach was first documented in the year 1256th
The two cadastral Mörtschach and Stranach came in the formation of local churches in 1850, initially to the community Winklern and became independent only in 1898 for the local church Mörtschach. At the municipal structural reform of 1973 Mörtschach was incorporated a second time with Winklern, but split again after a referendum in which 78 % of the population voted for independence, from 1991.
Of great importance to the community, both economically - and in particular tourism - as well as from an ecological perspective, was the creation of the Hohe Tauern National Park in 1981, whose core area of the Grossglockner and the Schober group count, and the outer zone goes back to the valley.
In the village of Asten ( in Astental ) for a long time the highest school of the province of Carinthia was (1700 m), which, however, had to be closed in 2005 due to austerity measures and declining student enrollment.
Population
According to 2001 census Mörtschach has 942 residents, of which 97.8 % are Austrian nationals. This Mörtschach one of the ten smallest municipalities in Carinthia. The population has been declining since the 1970s.
96.2 % of the population are Roman Catholic and 0.8 % for the Protestant Church, 0.6 % have no religious confession.
Culture and sights
- The standing on a hill parish church St. Leonhard in Mörtschach was built in 1516.
- The pilgrimage church Maria Hilf in the local area of floodplain is a small church with choir and biaxial nave with a gable turrets. It was built in 1806.
- Lady chapel
- Wallner Chapel
Economy and infrastructure
Hohe Tauern in 1981, especially since the opening of the National Parks - - While in the past, agriculture was the main industry in the community under difficult conditions, has in recent decades tourism gained an ever greater economic impact.
The Grossglockner road (B 107) connects with neighboring communities Mörtschach Großkirchheim in the north and in the south Winklern.
Policy
City Council and Mayor
The council has 11 members Mörtschach and is calculated as follows for the local council elections in 2009 together:
- 4 ÖVP
- 4 FPÖ
- 2 FWM ( list CDU)
- 1 SPÖ
Directly elected mayor is Horst Plössnig (ÖVP ).
Coat of arms
The coat of arms of Mörtschach symbolizes the typical for the whole Moelltal combination of nature and culture. The green shield ground symbolizes nature and National Park, the chain is the attribute of St. Leonhard, patron of the parish church Mörtschacher and patron saint of cattle. The stylized coat of arms Tauern Carinthia floret, a one-year gentian plant, comes only in alpine altitudes before about 1900 meters above sea level, and is one the top Moelltal home.
The coat of arms of the municipality on 25 April 1995, was awarded with the following blazon: "In a green plate from a silver chain inboard the silver flower of the Tauern Carinthia Blümchen enclosed ( Lomatogonium carinthiacum ). " The flag is green and white with integrated crest.