Vorchdorf

Geography

Located in the Traunviertel region of the state of Upper Austria, about 15 km north of the town of Gmunden, the town of Vorchdorf has an approximate elevation of 414 m above sea level (highest point: 640 m; deepest point: 370 m). Its area extends 9.3 km from north to south, and 9.8 km from east to west.

The community territory is about 48 km². 17.2% of the region is wooded and 71.8% of it is used for agriculture. The rivers Laudach and the Alm cross Vorchdorf from the south. The inner Laudach disembogues near the center of Vorchdorf into the outer Laudach.

Localities of Vorchdorf

Hamlets of Vorchdorf municipality include: Adlhaming, Aggsbach, Albenedt, Berg, Bergern, Eggenberg, Eichham, Einsiedling, Falkenohren, Feldham, Fischböckau, Hötzelsdorf, Heitzing, Lederau, Moos, Mühltal, Oberhörbach, Pappelleiten, Peintal, Point, Radhaming, Schart, Seyrkam, Theuerwang, Unterhörbach, Ursprung, Vorchdorf (center), Weidach. The most populated localities are Vorchdorf (center), Fischböckau, Mühltal, Lederau and Feldham.

Vorchdorf consists of eleven Katastralgemeinden—that is, cadastral subdivision of municipalities—which are not always congruent with the localities:

Neighbor communities

Neighbor communities to Vorchdorf include: Bad Wimsbach-Neydharting, Eberstalzell, Kirchham, Laakirchen, Pettenbach, Roitham, Scharnstein and Steinerkirchen. Vorchdorf borders to the districts of Wels-Land and Kirchdorf.

Population

About 500 Transylvanian Saxons relocated to Vorchdorf after the second world war. Thereafter, most of the immigration people descends from Turkey, the former Yugoslavia and from Germany.

History

Because of the geographically convenient location Vorchdorf was settled already in the Neolithic time. Originally lying in the eastern part of the Herzogtum Bayern, the town belonged since the 12th century to the Herzogtum Österreich (Austria). Thereafter since 1490 Vorchdorf was assigned to the Fürstentum (Principality) „Österreich ob der Enns“. During the Napoleonic Wars the town was occupied several times. Since 1918 the Gemeinde belonged to Upper Austria. After the Anschluss Austrias to the Deutsches Reich with 13 March 1938, Vorchdorf belonged to the „Gau Oberdonau“. After 1945 the recovery of Upper Austria took place. The upper Austrian central government decided 1982 to upraise the Gemeinde to a market town.

Emblem

Blazon: In green a silver, square house with three stories. A pedestal, black round arch gate, two black rectangular windows on the ground floor and each four black rectangular windows in the two upper stories, whereas the middle windows are double windows. They are crowned with an arc Frieze. Above it there is a small black round arc middle window and a red hip roof. Sideways bordered with shifted corner cuboids. Colors of the Gemeinde: red-white-green

Politics

The Gemeinderat (parish councils) consists of 31 Mandate, and they are divided as follows:

The Unabhängiger Bauernverband (Independent compound of farmers) do not have any Mandat.

Since 15 April 2008 the mayor is Dipl.-Ing. Gunter Schimpl (ÖVP) after the former mayor Franz Kofler retired from his post.

Economy and Infrastructure

During the early 1960s, Austria built its first autobahn, the Westautobahn A1 motorway. An exit on the roadway was located in Vorchdorf, fostering a great uplift in the economy of the region.

Traffic

The northern area of the city is divided by the Westautobahn and therefore the community is well located for visitation which is a boon to the region's economy. The local trains, Lambach–Vorchdorf-Eggenberg and Gmunden–Vorchdorf, connect the city to Gmunden in the south and Lambach in the north.

Resident Companies

Education

Religion

Societies

Periodic Events

Sightseeing

Personalities

Sons and daughters:

Persons with reference to the town: