Sankt Pölten
Coat of arms
Sankt Pölten Location within Austria
Location of St. Pölten within Lower Austria
Coordinates: 48°12′00″N 15°37′00″E / 48.2°N 15.6166667°E / 48.2; 15.6166667Coordinates: 48°12′00″N 15°37′00″E / 48.2°N 15.6166667°E / 48.2; 15.6166667
Country	Austria
State	Lower Austria
District	Statutory city
Government
• Mayor	Matthias Stadler (SPÖ)
Area
• Total	108.48 km2 (41.88 sq mi)
Elevation	267 m (876 ft)
Population (1 January 2012)[1]
• Total	52,048
• Density	480/km2 (1,200/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	3100
Area code	02742
Vehicle registration	P
Website	www.st-poelten.gv.at

Sankt Pölten (St. Pölten) is the capital city of the State of Lower Austria in northeast Austria. With 52,048 inhabitants (as of 2012-01-01), it is Lower Austria's largest city. Sankt Pölten is a city with its own statute (or Statutarstadt) and therefore it is both a municipality and a district in the Mostviertel.

Geography[link]

The city lies on the Traisen river and is located north of the Alps and south of the Wachau. It is part of the Mostviertel, the southwest region of Lower Austria.

Transport[link]

The city's main railway station, St. Pölten Hauptbahnhof, is located directly on the West railway of the ÖBB and is also the terminus of the Leobersdorfer Railway, the Mariazellerbahn, the regional railway to Tulln and the regional railway to Krems. It is at the intersection of the Western Motorway A1 and the Kremser Speedway S33, and is traversed by the Vienna Road B1. Sankt Pölten is a junction of the Wieselbus bus lines, which provides radial connections between the capital and the different regions of Lower Austria.

In the city[link]

Between 1911 and 1976, a tramline operated in Sankt Pölten. Today, a network of eleven bus lines operates at regular intervals within the city. Every summer, a free tourist train in the city centre connects the ancient parts of the city with the government district.

City division[link]

Sankt Pölten is divided into the following subsdistricts: Altmannsdorf, Dörfl at Ochsenburg, Eggendorf, Ganzendorf, Hafing, Harland, Hart, Kreisberg, Matzersdorf, Mühlgang, Nadelbach, Oberradlberg, Oberwagram, Oberzwischenbrunn, Ochsenburg, Pengersdorf, Pottenbrunn, Pummersdorf, Ragelsdorf, Ratzersdorf at the Traisen, Reitzersdorf, Schwadorf, Spratzern, Sankt Georgen on the Steinfelde, Sankt Pölten, Stattersdorf, Steinfeld, Teufelhof, Unterradlberg, Unterwagram, Unterzwischenbrunn, Viehofen, Völtendorf, Waitzendorf, Wasserburg, Weitern, Wetzersdorf, Windpassing, Witzendorf, Wolfenberg, Wörth and Zwerndorf.

History[link]

the baroque cathedral of Sankt Pölten

The oldest part of the city is built on the site of the ancient Roman city of Aelium Cetium that existed between the 2nd and the 4th century. In the year 799, it was called Treisma. Sankt Pölten became a town in 1050 and officially became a city in 1159. Until 1494 Sankt Pölten was part of the diocese of Passau, and then became the property of the state. A Benedictine monastery was founded in 771. In 1081 it hosted the Augustinian Chorherren and in 1784 their Kollegiatsstift closed. Since 1785, this building has hosted the cathedra of Sankt Pölten. The city replaced Vienna as the capital of Lower Austria with a resolution by the Lower Austrian parliament on 10 July 1986. The Lower Austrian government has been hosted in Sankt Pölten since 1997.

The name Sankt Pölten is derived from Hippolytus of Rome. The city was renamed to Sankt Hippolyt, then Sankt Polyt and finally Sankt Pölten.

Politics[link]

Municipal council[link]

The municipal council consists of 42 members and since the municipal elections in 2001 it consists of the following parties:

• 25 Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) – the mayor and the first vice mayor
• 11 Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) – the second vice mayor
• 3 Austrian Green Party
• 3 Fraction 'for St. Pölten' (FSP)

Municipal elections in Sankt Pölten were held in October 2006.

City's senate[link]

The town hall of Sankt Pölten

The city's senate consists of 11 members:

• SPÖ: Martin Fuhs, Mag. Renate Gamsjäger, Engineer Franz Gunacker, Robert Laimer, Wolfgang Nowak, Mag. Johann Rankl, Mag. Ingrid Heihs
• ÖVP: Alfred Neuhauser, Josef Fraberger
• Greens: Silvia Buschenreiter
• FSP: Hermann Nonner

Mayor[link]

On 9 July 2004 the municipal council elected the former senator for culture Mag. Matthias Stadler (SPÖ) as the new mayor of Sankt Pölten. The first vice mayor is Susanne Kysela (SPÖ); the second vice mayor is Engineer Johannes Sassmann (ÖVP).

The City's Seal

Coat of arms, colours and seals[link]

The arms' blazon is silver and azure; on the right a fess gules, on the left a wolf rampant silver langued gules and armed Or.

The colours of the city are red and yellow. The seal of the city contains its coat of arms surrounded by the text Landeshauptstadt St. Pölten. The administration's seal of the magistrate also contains the city's coat of arms with the text Magistrat der Stadt St. Pölten.

Economy[link]

As of 15 May 2001, 40.041 people worked in 2,711 companies in the city. 23 of those companies are large-scale enterprises with more than 200 employees each.

Media[link]

Several media companies are based in Sankt Pölten. These are "@cetera", a literary-cultural magazine; "City-Flyer", an online magazine describing the cultural offerings of the city, which is published on paper monthly; "Campus Radio", a radio station from the University of Applied Sciences; "HiT FM", a radio station broadcasting in Lower Austria; "LetHereBeRock", an online youth magazine about the alternative rock scene; "NÖN", a Lower Austrian newspaper; the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation for Lower Austria; and the local television channel "P3tv".

Large-scale Enterprises[link]

The largest companies based in Sankt Pölten are the furniture producer Leiner, the paper manufacturer Salzer, and the family owned engineering conglomerate Voith.

Public facilities[link]

Population trend

Educational facilities[link]

• Bundesgymnasium and Bundesrealgymnasium St. Pölten [1] (public gymnasium)
• Public educational facility for kindergarten pedagogy and social pedagogy
• Public economics school and economics academy
• Bundesreal- and Bundesoberstufenrealgymnasium (BORG) Schulring (public high-level gymnasium)
• St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences (fields: computer simulation, media management, social work, telecommunication and media)
• Public higher educational facility for professions in economics and school for social professions
• Public higher technical educational facility and laboratory (fields: EDP and organisation, electronics, electrical engineering, machine engineering, economic engineering) with university of applied sciences for machine construction
• New Design University (interior architecture and graphics design)
• Lower Austrian state academy
• Philosophical-theological university
• Folk high school
• Lower Austrian institute for promotion of economy development (WIFI)

Leisure and sports sites[link]

Aerial photo

Swimming is available at Aquacity (indoor swimming pool), the St. Pölten outdoor swimming pool and Ratzersdorf Lake (a bathing pond where a nudist beach, beach volleyball, and miniature golf) are available. For fitness training there is the City-Treff - Pueblo, the Lifeline, the Reebok and the Seepark. In addition, the city has:

• American Football Club - St. Pölten Invaders
• Badminton Club
• Golf club St. Pölten
• Skittles at the leisure park Megafun
• Miniature golf at the Tennis-Allround Center
• Model aircraft airport of the BSV VOITH
• Riding club St. Pölten-Wagram
• Shooting range of the private Schützenkompagnie
• Skatepark
• Gliding club St. Pölten

Sankt Pölten hosts a primary base of the Lower Austrian state sports school.

Tennis[link]

Every year in the third week of May the ATP tournament takes place in Sankt Pölten. There are multiple local tennis stadiums, including the Arena im Aufeld, the tennis centre Allround, the tennis courts by the local ice sport association 1872, the courts in St. Georgen, the courts at the Ratzersdorfer Pond, the courts in the Lower Austrian state sports school and the courts of the leisure park Megafun.

International relations[link]

Twin towns — Sister cities[link]

Sankt Pölten is twinned with the following cities:

• Altoona, Pennsylvania, USA
• Brno, Czech Republic ^[2]
• Clichy, France
• Heidenheim, Germany
• Kurashiki, Japan
• Nyíregyháza, Hungary
• Wuhan, China

Culture and objects of interest[link]

Theatres[link]

• Lower Austrian state theatre
• Bühne im Hof
• Festspielhaus St. Pölten

Museums[link]

• Diocese museum St. Pölten
• Museum im Hof
• Lower Austrian state museum
• Lower Austrian documentation institute for modern art
• Private museum "Wilhelmsburger ornament and utensil dishes"
• City museum St. Pölten

Others[link]

East side of the government district: the Lower Austrian parliament; in background the Klangturm

The tower Klangturm, Sankt Pölten's landmark

• Repertory theatre Cinema Paradiso
• Former Synagogue
• Klangturm (tower), the city's landmark
• Lames (La Musique et Sun) International Arts Park
• Stadtsäle (public event hall)
• Youth culture hall frei.raum
• capella incognita, baroque music ensemble from Sankt Pölten
• VAZ (Veranstaltungszentrum, event-centre)
• Drunter & Drüber (≈"haywire"; "higgledy-piggledy"; "topsy-turvy"), a pub in the inner city
• Tonkünstler Orchestra
• Business Center Niederösterreich
• Apotheke zum goldenen Löwen (pharmacy since 1545), oldest shop in town, famous baroque facing

Regular events[link]

• ATP tennis tournament
• Cinema at the cathedral (Film am Dom)
• Capital city festival
• International culture and film festival
• Parliament festival
• Sankt Pölten festival weeks "Klangweile"
• Sankt Pölten Höfefest
• FM4 Frequency Festival

Famous people[link]

• Martin Fiala, composer^[3]
• Jörg Demus, pianist
• Josef Fritzl, Fritzl case
• Alfred Gusenbauer, Austrian socialist leader and former chancellor of Austria
• Andreas Lattner, computer scientist
• Erwin Leder, actor (Das Boot, Underworld)
• Karl Österreicher (1923–1995), conductor, music educator
• Julius Raab, politician
• Mario Ranieri, DJ and producer
• Bernhard Wicki, actor and director
• Lolita (Austrian singer), singer and actress

Literature[link]

• Klaus Nüchtern: Kleines Gulasch in St. Pölten (German): ISBN 3-85439-306-7
• Thomas Karl: St. Pölten - Ein Wandel durch die Zeit (German): ISBN 3-89702-641-4
• Otto Kapfinger, Michaela Steiner: St. Pölten neu (German): ISBN 3-211-82954-7

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official site (in English)
• Official site of BG/BRG St.Pölten
• Drunter & Drüber

v t e Cities and districts (Bezirke) of Lower Austria Cities Krems Sankt Pölten Waidhofen an der Ybbs Wiener Neustadt Districts Amstetten Baden Bruck an der Leitha Gänserndorf Gmünd Hollabrunn Horn Korneuburg Krems-Land Lilienfeld Melk Mistelbach Mödling Neunkirchen Sankt Pölten-Land Scheibbs Tulln Waidhofen an der Thaya Wiener Neustadt-Land Wien-Umgebung Zwettl

v t e Administrative seats of Austrian states Bregenz Eisenstadt Graz Innsbruck Klagenfurt Linz Salzburg Sankt Pölten Vienna

Yvonne van Vlerken

Yvonne van Vlerken winning silver at the 2008 Ironman world championship
Personal information
Nickname(s)	The flying Dutchwoman
Born	(1978-11-05) 5 November 1978 (age 33) Krimpen aan de Lek, Netherlands
Residence	Schwarzach, Vorarlberg, Austria[1]
Height	1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)[1]
Weight	57 kg (126 lb)[1]
Sport
Country	Netherlands
Club	Tri Team Lustenau
Team	Endurance Team Austria[1]
Turned pro	2007
Coached by	Frank Senders Stapsport [2] Mark Allen[1]
Medal record Women's triathlon Ironman World Championships Silver 2008 Kailua-Kona Individual Women's duathlon ITU Long Distance Duathlon World Championships Gold 2006 Individual Bronze 2007 Individual Bronze 2008 Individual Powerman Duathlon European Championships Gold 2006 Individual Gold 2009 Individual Silver 2005 Individual Silver 2008 Individual Bronze 2007 Individual

Yvonne van Vlerken (born 5 November 1978) is a Dutch triathlete and duathlete, twice winner of Quelle Challenge Roth, who in 2008 set a then world record for Ironman-distance triathlon races.^[3] She is one of a small group of female triathletes to have recorded three or more sub-9 hour times over the Ironman distance.^[4]

Early life[link]

Yvonne van Vlerken was born in the small town of Krimpen aan de Lek near Gouda on 5 November 1978. Her father was an "excellent" football player, and she also became a footballer, playing for the South Holland team. After attending high school she graduated from a fitness-specific school with a degree in fitness coaching, professional aerobic instruction and sports massage therapy.^{[citation needed]} Van Vlerken worked in her home town for over 13 years. Her clients included school children for dance education and older people for fitness coaching.^[5]

Athletic career[link]

On 13 July 2008, van Vlerken set a then new world record of 8:45:48 for Ironman-distance races at the Quelle Challenge Roth, more than five minutes faster than Paula Newby-Fraser's world record time of 8:50:53, which had stood for 14 years. The race took place in wet and cold conditions with non-stop rain and wind.^{[citation needed]} Yvonne van Vlerken broke the old record with the then second-fastest female Ironman-distance marathon time of 2:54:22. Her record stood for a year, until it was again broken in Roth by Chrissie Wellington, who lowered it by 13 minutes and 49 seconds, in dry and perfect conditions.^[6][7]

Yvonne van Vlerken's other accomplishments include:

• Recorded a sub-9 hour finish (8:51:55) at her Ironman-distance debut in Roth 2007.^[4]

• The only female athlete in history^{[citation needed]} who has held the world record for both the half-Ironman distance (4:07:29 at 2006 Ironman 70.3 Antwerp) and the full Ironman distance (8:45:48 at 2008 Challenge Roth)^[8]

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Yvonne van Vlerken

• Official website