Velden am Wörther See
Velden am Wörthersee (Slovene: Vrba ob Jezeru) is a market town in Villach-Land District, in the Austrian state of Carinthia. Situated at the western shore of the Wörthersee lake it is one of the country's most popular holiday resorts.
Geography
The municipal area of Velden also includes the Katastralgemeinden of Augsdorf (Loga Vas), Dieschitz (Deščice), Duel (Dole), Kerschdorf ob Velden (Črešnje), Köstenberg (Kostanje), Latschach an der Drau (Loče), Lind ob Velden (Lipa) and Sankt Egyden (Šentilj).
According to a 2001 census 2.8% of the population are Slovene-speaking.
History
Originally a mansio at the Roman road between Villach (Sanctium) and Virunum it was first mentioned in a 1263 deed as Campus (field, pasture - German: Feld) and in 1410 as Velben. In medieval times it belonged to the estates of Hohenwart Castle, seat of the Counts of Celje, the Counts of Ortenburg, the Knightly Order of Saint George in Millstatt Abbey and finally the Austrian House of Habsburg.
In 1545 the Protestant Khevenhüller noble family had acquired the lands of Landskron and Velden, where Bartlmä Khevenhüller (1539–1613) from 1585 had a Renaissance manor house built. His descendants were expelled from the Habsburg lands in the course of the Counter-Reformation in 1639, whereafter the castle fell to the noble House of Dietrichstein. Decayed and demolished by a fire, it was rebuilt in 1892 as a hotel called Schloss Velden. Later a real estate of Gunter Sachs, it was the filming location of the popular 1990-1992 German-Austrian TV series Ein Schloß am Wörthersee starring Schlager singer Roy Black.
