Lienz (German: [ˈliːɛnt͡s] ; Southern Bavarian: Lianz) is a medieval town in the Austrian state of Tyrol. It is the administrative centre of the Lienz district, which covers all of East Tyrol. The municipality also includes the cadastral subdivision of Patriasdorf.

Lienz
Lianz
From top down, left to right: Main Square, City Hall (former Schloss Liebburg), Lienz as seen from the North, Burg Bruck, Iselsteg bridge and Iselturm
Flag of Lienz
Coat of arms of Lienz
Location within Lienz district
Location within Lienz district
Lienz is located in Tyrol, Austria
Lienz
Lienz
Location of Lienz within the State of Tyrol
Lienz is located in Austria
Lienz
Lienz
Location of Lienz within Austria
Coordinates: 46°49′47″N 12°46′11″E / 46.82972°N 12.76972°E / 46.82972; 12.76972
CountryAustria
StateTyrol
DistrictLienz
Government
 • MayorElisabeth Blanik (SPÖ)
Area
 • Total15.94 km2 (6.15 sq mi)
Elevation
673 m (2,208 ft)
Population
 (2018-01-01)[2]
 • Total11,844
 • Density740/km2 (1,900/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
9900
Area code04852
Vehicle registrationLZ
Websitewww.stadt-lienz.at

Geography

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Lienz is located at the confluence of the rivers Isel and Drava in the Eastern Alps, between the Hohe Tauern mountain range in the north (including the Schober and Kreuzeck groups), and the Gailtal Alps in the south. It is connected with Winklern in Carinthia by the Iselsberg Pass. The neighboring municipality of Leisach marks the easternmost point of the Puster Valley.

By the consistent growth of the city, some smaller villages around – though officially municipalities in their own right – are now widely considered to be suburbs of Lienz. Those suburbs comprise:

Thurn, Gaimberg
Leisach, Oberlienz   Nußdorf-Debant
Amlach, Tristach

History

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The area of Lienz had been settled since the Bronze Age about 2000 BC. Celtic people lived here from about 300 BC on, mainly as miners, who came under control of the Roman Empire in 15 BC. The area was incorporated into the province of Noricum and Emperor Claudius had a municipium called Aguntum erected near Lienz in the today's municipality of Dölsach. Aguntum became the see of an Early Christian bishop in the 5th century but decayed during the Slavic settlement of the Eastern Alps and the subsequent fights with the Bavarii under Duke Tassilo I around 600. Part of the Slavic principality of Carantania, the area passed under Bavarian and finally Frankish suzerainty during the 8th century.

 
City parish church

Lienz itself was first mentioned as Luenzina in a deed issued by the Bishop of Brixen about 1030. The settlement itself, together with neighbouring Patriasdorf, then belonged of the Patriarchs of Aquileia, who were elevated to immediate landlords by Emperor Henry IV in 1077. It was then purchased by the scions of the Meinhardiner dynasty, who held the office of Aquileian Vögte (reeves) and chose Lienz as a residence. From about 1127 they called themselves Counts of Görz (Gorizia).

Located on the important trade route from Venzone in Friuli to Salzburg, the market town of Lienz received city rights on 25 February 1242. In 1278 the Counts finished Burg Bruck, a castle that until 1500 served as their local seat. When the Meinhardiner became extinct in 1500 upon the death of Count Leonhard of Gorizia, their estates were bequeathed to the Habsburg King Maximilian I and finally incorporated into the County of Tyrol. From the status of an Imperial residence, Lienz sank to the insignificance of a provincial town within the Habsburg monarchy.

 
Pfarrbrücke bridge

During the Italian campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars, Lienz was occupied twice by French troops in 1797. After the Austrian defeat at the Battle of Austerlitz, Lienz with Tyrol passed to the newly elevated Kingdom of Bavaria according to the 1805 Peace of Pressburg. In 1809 it became the administrative centre of a district within the short-lived Napoleonic Illyrian Provinces, but was reconquered by Austrian troops in 1813. Within the Austrian Empire (the Cisleithanian part of Austria-Hungary after 1867) it was the seat of the district of the same name, one of the 21 Bezirkshauptmannschaften in Tyrol.[3]

In November 1918 it was occupied by the Italian Army.[4] After World War I the southern parts of the Tyrol (i.e. Trentino and South Tyrol) were awarded to the Kingdom of Italy under the terms of the London Pact and the 1919 Treaty of Saint-Germain, making the Lienz district of East Tyrol an exclave with no territorial connection to the mainland of North Tyrol. After the 1938 Anschluss of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany, the Lienz district became a part of Reichsgau Kärnten (Carinthia).

On 8 May 1945 British forces occupied Lienz, which together with Carinthia and Styria became part of the British occupation zone. At this time several thousand members of the former Wehrmacht 1st Cossack Division coming from Yugoslavia arrived in and around Lienz. They surrendered to the British troops but were forcibly handed over to the Soviet Union, where most were executed or sent to the Gulag.

Climate

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Lienz has relatively warm and humid summers and cold winters. 1971–2000 there was a recorded precipitation of 915 mm (36 in). Most of the rain falls during the summer months, especially from June to August (respectively 98, 119 and 100 mm (3.9, 4.7 and 3.9 in)). The driest months are January and February (42 and 35 mm (1.7 and 1.4 in))

The average temperature in July is 7.0 °C (44.6 °F). In January it is about 17.9 °C (64.2 °F) −5.2 °C (22.6 °F). Lienz is also one of the sunniest cities in Austria with an average of 5.4 hours of sun per day or 1952 hours per year. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Dfb" (humid continental).[5]

Lienz
Climate chart (explanation)
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
 
 
42
 
 
0
−9
 
 
35
 
 
5
−6
 
 
59
 
 
10
−2
 
 
66
 
 
14
2
 
 
85
 
 
19
7
 
 
98
 
 
23
10
 
 
119
 
 
25
12
 
 
100
 
 
24
12
 
 
89
 
 
21
8
 
 
96
 
 
14
3
 
 
77
 
 
6
−3
 
 
50
 
 
0
−7
Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
Precipitation totals in mm
Source: ZAMG
Imperial conversion
JFMAMJJASOND
 
 
1.7
 
 
32
16
 
 
1.4
 
 
41
21
 
 
2.3
 
 
50
28
 
 
2.6
 
 
57
36
 
 
3.3
 
 
66
45
 
 
3.9
 
 
73
50
 
 
4.7
 
 
77
54
 
 
3.9
 
 
75
54
 
 
3.5
 
 
70
46
 
 
3.8
 
 
57
37
 
 
3
 
 
43
27
 
 
2
 
 
32
19
Average max. and min. temperatures in °F
Precipitation totals in inches
Climate data for Lienz (1971–2000)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 12.9
(55.2)
21.0
(69.8)
24.0
(75.2)
25.9
(78.6)
30.0
(86.0)
33.0
(91.4)
37.7
(99.9)
33.7
(92.7)
30.0
(86.0)
26.0
(78.8)
17.2
(63.0)
15.5
(59.9)
37.7
(99.9)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 0.1
(32.2)
4.7
(40.5)
10.1
(50.2)
14.4
(57.9)
19.3
(66.7)
22.5
(72.5)
24.9
(76.8)
24.4
(75.9)
20.5
(68.9)
14.2
(57.6)
5.7
(42.3)
0.2
(32.4)
13.4
(56.1)
Daily mean °C (°F) −5.2
(22.6)
−1.9
(28.6)
3.1
(37.6)
7.6
(45.7)
12.7
(54.9)
15.9
(60.6)
17.9
(64.2)
17.2
(63.0)
13.0
(55.4)
7.3
(45.1)
0.6
(33.1)
−4.2
(24.4)
7.0
(44.6)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −9.0
(15.8)
−6.3
(20.7)
−1.6
(29.1)
2.1
(35.8)
6.7
(44.1)
9.9
(49.8)
11.8
(53.2)
11.5
(52.7)
7.8
(46.0)
3.0
(37.4)
−2.7
(27.1)
−7.3
(18.9)
2.2
(36.0)
Record low °C (°F) −24.7
(−12.5)
−24.5
(−12.1)
−15.6
(3.9)
−5.7
(21.7)
−7.4
(18.7)
1.3
(34.3)
3.1
(37.6)
1.8
(35.2)
−2.2
(28.0)
−11.6
(11.1)
−18.8
(−1.8)
−21.1
(−6.0)
−24.7
(−12.5)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 42.4
(1.67)
35.0
(1.38)
58.6
(2.31)
65.6
(2.58)
85.4
(3.36)
97.8
(3.85)
119.0
(4.69)
99.9
(3.93)
88.5
(3.48)
96.3
(3.79)
76.5
(3.01)
50.1
(1.97)
915.1
(36.03)
Average snowfall cm (inches) 31.1
(12.2)
21.6
(8.5)
21.7
(8.5)
5.7
(2.2)
1.0
(0.4)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
1.4
(0.6)
18.1
(7.1)
29.1
(11.5)
129.7
(51.1)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 5.4 4.2 5.7 7.4 10.6 11.8 11.2 11.2 7.9 7.3 6.4 5.9 95.0
Average relative humidity (%) (at 14:00) 74.1 55.4 48.6 46.8 50.5 51.7 51.0 52.7 54.4 57.8 69.7 79.9 57.7
Mean monthly sunshine hours 76.1 151.2 175.4 175.8 200.2 205.6 237.5 227.7 194.1 164.6 97.0 46.2 1,952
Percent possible sunshine 41.7 57.5 55.3 49.9 48.6 49.8 56.4 58.5 60.2 54.4 45.5 30.0 50.7
Source: Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics[6]

Population

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Historical population
YearPop.±%
18692,484—    
18803,142+26.5%
18903,878+23.4%
19004,549+17.3%
19106,532+43.6%
19236,591+0.9%
19346,885+4.5%
19398,458+22.8%
195110,096+19.4%
196111,132+10.3%
197111,741+5.5%
198111,661−0.7%
199111,864+1.7%
200112,079+1.8%
201111,955−1.0%

Politics

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Seats in the municipal assembly (Gemeinderat) as of 2010 elections:

Transport

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Lienz is located at a road junction between the Drautalstraße highway, leading from Carinthia to the Puster Valley in the Italian province of South Tyrol (B100), and the Felbertauernstraße (B108) from Lienz to Mittersill in Salzburg. It is also connected by the Drautalbahn railway line from Villach to Innichen in South Tyrol. The Felbertauerntunnel between Mittersill and Lienz was completed in 1967.[7]

Notable people

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Leonhard of Gorizia, 15th C.

Sport

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International relations

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Twin towns – Sister cities

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Lienz is twinned with:

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Dauersiedlungsraum der Gemeinden Politischen Bezirke und Bundesländer - Gebietsstand 1.1.2018". Statistics Austria. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  2. ^ "Einwohnerzahl 1.1.2018 nach Gemeinden mit Status, Gebietsstand 1.1.2018". Statistics Austria. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  3. ^ Klein, Wilhelm (1967). Die postalischen Abstempelungen auf den österreichischen Postwertzeichen-Ausgaben 1867, 1883 und 1890.
  4. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 August 2017. Retrieved 23 August 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ^ Climate Summary for Lienz
  6. ^ "Klimadaten von Österreich 1971–2000 – Tirol-Lienz" (in German). Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics. Archived from the original on 12 October 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  7. ^ Susannah Osborne (2 November 2012). "East Tirol – Austria's secret ski destination". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  8. ^ Schlager, Patricius (1911). "Albert Anton Von Muchar" . Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 10.
  9. ^ Scheid, Nikolaus (1912). "Beda Weber" . Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15.
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