- For other uses, see Wolfsberg
Wolfsberg () is the capital of the
Wolfsberg district in the
Austrian state of
Carinthia.The
town consists of the
Katastralgemeinden Aichberg, Auen, Forst, Gräbern-Prebl, Gries, Hartelsberg, Hattendorf, Hintertheißenegg, Kleinedling, Kleinwinklern, Lading, Leiwald, Michaelsdorf, Oberleidenberg, Priel, Reding, Reideben, Reisberg, Rieding, Ritzing, Schoßbach, Schwemmtratten, Sankt Jakob, Sankt Johann, Sankt Marein, Sankt Margarethen, Sankt Michael, Sankt Stefan, Thürn, Unterleidenberg, Vordergumitsch, Vordertheißenegg, Waldenstein, Weißenbach, Witra, Wolfsberg Obere Stadt and Wolfsberg Untere Stadt. It is situated within the
Lavanttal Alps in the valley of the
Lavant River, a tributary to the
Drava. The
Packsattel mountain pass connects Wolfsberg with
Voitsberg in
Styria.
The castle above the town was first mentioned as
Wolfsperch in a 1178 deed of
St. Paul's Abbey in the Lavanttal, though it probably had been an estate of the
Archbishopric of Bamberg since 1007. The adjacent settlement became the administrative centre of Bamberg's Carinthian territories and in 1331 received
town privileges by Bishop Werntho Schenk von Reicheneck. During the
Protestant Reformation Wolfsberg was a main area of
Lutheranism which nevertheless was suppressed by the
Counter Reformation. In 1759
Maria Theresa of Austria acquired all Bamberg lands in Carinthia. In
World War II Wolfsberg was the site of the
Stalag XVIII-A Prisoner-of-war camp.
Sights
Read More