St. Gilgen

Place in Salzburg, Austria

Sankt Gilgen St. Gieng

Coat of arms
47°46′00″N 13°22′00″E / 47.76667°N 13.36667°E / 47.76667; 13.36667
Country	Austria
State	Salzburg
District	Salzburg-Umgebung
Government
• Mayor	Otto Kloiber (ÖVP)
Area ^[1]
• Total	98.72 km² (38.12 sq mi)
Elevation	545 m (1,788 ft)
Population (2018-01-01)^[2]
• Total	3,915
• Density	40/km² (100/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	5340
Area code	06227
Vehicle registration	SL
Website	www.gemgilgen.at

Sankt Gilgen (Central Bavarian: St. Gieng) is a village by Lake Wolfgang in the Austrian state of Salzburg, in the Salzkammergut region.

History

Named after Saint Giles, St. Gilgen was first mentioned in documents in 1376. In 1863, shipping on Lake Wolfgang started and brought attention to the little village. The construction of the Salzkammergut-Lokalbahn in 1893 led to another increase in tourism. Rich Viennese, such as the surgeon Theodor Billroth, started to build summer residences there.

Geography

Sankt Gilgen is situated in the north-western shore of the lake Wolfgangsee, close to Strobl and to the Upper Austrian municipality of St. Wolfgang. It has 3,784 inhabitants, lies 545 metres above sea level and covers an area of 98.67 square kilometres.

Overview

The parish church is dedicated to Saint Aegidius (Latin), in English Saint Giles, which is reflected in the name of the town, Sankt Gilgen.

St. Gilgen is a well-known travel destination. Boats from St. Gilgen sail around the Wolfgangsee, providing transport and views of the surrounding mountains. The hermitage of the original St. Gilgen may be seen, behind a chapel, in the Falkenstein cliffs west of St. Wolfgang and east of Fürberg.

In 2005 St. Gilgen was promoted as the "Mozart Village" by the Wolfgangsee Tourist Board. Although Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart never visited St. Gilgen (as he had intended to), his grandfather worked in the town, his mother was born in St. Gilgen, and his sister Nannerl moved there after her marriage. The village now boasts a first-class international school, the St. Gilgen International School.

The Gut Aich Priory (Benedictine) was founded in St. Gilgen in 1993.

Parish church and cemetery in the center of Sankt Gilgen
Town hall of Sankt Gilgen
Quay on Lake Wolfgang
Valley station of the Zwölferhorn cableway

Notable people

Anna Maria Walburga Pertl (1720–1778), mother of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
August Brunetti-Pisano (1870–1943), composer
Brother David Steindl-Rast (1926–Present),^[3]^[4] Benedictine monk and interfaith lecturer on peace and gratitude
Michael Jeannée (born 1943), journalist
Miguel Herz-Kestranek (born 1948), actor
Hubert Raudaschl (born 1942), sailboat manufacturer and former olympic athlete
Helmut Kohl (1930-2017), the former German Chancellor used to reside in the town during summer.

References

^ "Dauersiedlungsraum der Gemeinden Politischen Bezirke und Bundesländer - Gebietsstand 1.1.2018". Statistics Austria. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
^ "Einwohnerzahl 1.1.2018 nach Gemeinden mit Status, Gebietsstand 1.1.2018". Statistics Austria. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
^ "Anatomy of Gratitude". Gratefulness.org. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
^ "The Gift of Silence". Gratefulness.org. Retrieved 2020-08-17.