Mattersburg
From Free net encyclopedia
Current revision
| Coat of Arms | Map |
|---|---|
| Image:Wappen mattersburg.jpg | Image:Map at mattersburg.png |
| Basic Information | |
| Country: | Austria |
| State: | Burgenland |
| District: | Mattersburg (MA) |
| Area: | 28.2 km² |
| Population: | 6,256 (15 May 2001) |
| Population density: | 221.8/km² |
| Elevation: | 258 m |
| Area Code: | 02626 |
| Postal Code: | 7210 |
| Coordinates: | 47° 42' 60" N, 16° 24' 58" E |
| Official Website: | www.mattersburg.at |
| Politics | |
| Mayor: | Ingrid Salamon (SPÖ) |
Mattersburg (formerly Mattersdorf, Hungarian: Nagymarton, Croatian: Materštof) is a town in Burgenland, Austria, located in the rural vineyard region of the country. It is the administrative center of the District of Mattersburg and home to a Bundesliga football team, the SV Mattersburg.
Contents |
Location
Mattersburg lies in the northern part of Burgenland, east of Wiener Neustadt in the Wulka River Valley.
To get to Mattersburg by road, either one takes Burgenland Highway S31 from Eisenstadt and Oberpullendorf or Mattersburg Highway S4 from Wiener Neustadt.
Mattersburg is connected by rail with Wiener Neustadt and Sopron by the Mattersburg Railway.
Mattersburg's two boroughs are Mattersburg and Walbersdorf.
History
Mattersburg was first mentioned in writing as Villa Martini in 1202. It therefore may be connected with St. Martinus. The area's original fortress had already been torn down by 1294. In its place, Forchtenstein Castle was built.
Mattersburg was elevated to the status of a market town in 1354.
Image:BurgForchtenstein1.jpg An interesting part of Mattersburg's history is its connection with Judaism, as the town was one of the Burgenland Siebengemeinden. The first Jews to settle in the town arrived in the 16th century, having been expelled from Ödenburg, and their presence in the town increased greatly over the follwoing years. In 1671], the Jews were forced to abandon the town at the order of Leopold I. They were allowed to return to Mattersdorf, as it was then called, in 1678, even though they were forced to buy back their own possessions. The self-governing Jewish community was first merged with the rest of the town in 1902/03.
The area's wealth increased, when the railway began running from Wiener Neustadt to Mattersburg in 1847.
Like the rest of Burgenland, Mattersburg belonged to Hungary as German West-Hungary (Deutsch-Westungarn) until 1920/21. Due to the politics of Magyarization in the Budapest government, from 1898 onwards, the town was force to take on the Hungarian name of Nágymárton.
After the end of the First World War, German West-Hungary was given to Austria in the Treaties of St. Germain and Trianon; there it formed the new province of Burgenland. Mattersburg kept the official name of Mattersdorf until June 14, 1924; on July 2, 1926, it received town privileges.
After the Anschluss in February 1938, the Jewish population of Mattersburg was expelled and dispossessed, so that already in the Fall of 1938, there were no more Jews in Mattersburg. In the course of the war, more than two hundred of the town's residents were missing or killed. Approximately one hundred of its Jewish residents were killed in the Holocaust.
After the war, many forced laborers returned to Mattersburg and brought typhus with them.
Politics
The Mayor of Mattersburg is Ingrid Salamon of the SPÖ; there are two Vice-Mayors: the first is Klaus Leitgeb of the ÖVP and the second Josef Reisner of the SPÖ. The District Major of the Burough of Walbersdorf is Hubert Lang of the SPÖ and Johann Wallner is the Chief Officer.
Mattersburg's municipal council has 25 seats with party mandates as follows: 9 ÖVP, 14 SPÖ, 1 FPÖ, 1 Grüne, other lists 0.
Economy
One of the largest businesses in the area is the canned food maker Felix Austria.
SV Mattersburg
The Mattersburg football club, established in 1922, is the Sportverein Mattersburg (SV Mattersburg). Playing in the Bundesliga since the 2003/04 season, they attract an average of 10,000 spectators to each of their home games.
People
See also
References
- The information in this article is based on a translation of its German equivalent.