Lienz

Lienz (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.

Geography
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:

History
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.



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.



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.

In November 1918 it was occupied by the Italian Army. 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
Lienz has relatively warm and humid summers and cold winters. 1971–2000 there was a recorded precipitation of 915 mm. Most of the rain falls during the summer months, especially from June to August (respectively 98 ,). The driest months are January and February (42 and 35 mm)

The average temperature in July is 7.0 C. In January it is about 17.9 C −5.2 C. 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).

Politics
Seats in the municipal assembly (Gemeinderat) elections:
 * Austrian People's Party (ÖVP): 11
 * Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ): 7
 * Town of Lienz Party (LSL): 2
 * Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ): 1

Transport
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.

Notable people

 * Leonhard of Gorizia (1440–1500), born at Burg Bruck castle, the last count of Gorizia.
 * Albert Anton von Muchar (1786-1849), an Austrian historian.
 * Beda Weber (1798-1859), author, theologian and member of the Frankfurt Parliament.
 * Albin Egger-Lienz (1868-1926), painter of rustic genre and historical paintings.
 * Theodor Danegger (1891–1959), film actor, he appeared in over 70 films between 1932 and 1959.
 * Raimund Abraham (1933-2010), architect, self-described as an incurable formalist

Sport

 * Josef "Pepi" Stiegler (born 1937), gold medallist in Alpine skiing at the 1964 Winter Olympics
 * Anton Steiner (born 1958), an Austrian former alpine skier and bronze medallist at the 1984 Winter Olympics
 * Alexander Lugger (born 1968), Austrian ski mountaineer and coach of the national team.
 * Fritz Strobl (born 1972), World Cup skier, gold medallist at the Alpine skiing at the 2002 Winter Olympics, and winner of nine World Cups.
 * Wolfgang Mair (born 1980), an Austrian footballer, played over 440 games.
 * Dominic Hassler (born 1981), former football striker, played over 310 games.

Twin towns – Sister cities
Lienz is twinned with:
 * 🇮🇹 Gorizia, Italy, since 2000
 * 🇺🇸 Jackson, Wyoming, United States, since 1970
 * 🇹🇷 Selçuk, Turkey, since 1970