History Of Bad Kleinkirchheim

The Early Middle Ages

The area became part of the Noricum province in 15 BC, but it doesn’t look like anyone lived in the remote, highly wooded valley during Roman times. Alpine Slavs began moving up the Drava and the valleys that fed it around the year 600. Around the middle of the eighth century, people from Bavaria came to live there. It was ruled by the Carolingians around the start of the ninth century. The Kleinkirchheim lands were part of the Imperial Duchy of Carinthia from 976 onwards. They were owned by the Aribonid family in Bavaria.

In 1166, Salzburg’s Archbishop Conrad II gave permission for a church in the area to be given to the nearby Millstatt Abbey. This is the first written record of Bad Kleinkirchheim. The record also says that a priest in the area called Pabo serves the people there. The town is also mentioned in a document that Pope Alexander III put out in 1177. After the Benedictine monks cut down the trees, the tiny peasants moved into the valley. Later, the town was given the name Kleinkirchheim to distinguish it from Großkirchheim in the Carinthian Möll Valley.

The Late Middle Ages

The Knightly Order of Saint George, which Emperor Frederick III set up to protect the area from Ottoman forces that had already attacked the Balkans and the Duchy of Carniola in the south, took over Millstatt Abbey’s property when it was closed down in 1469. In September 1473, Turkish troops came into the area and stole from the town and the hills. On June 25, 1478, about 600 farmers tried to drive them away but failed. It’s possible that the Turks left in 1480 because of an attack by Hungary led by King Matthias Corvinus.

Even more damage was done to the town during the Peasant Wars of 1524–1526, when the people rose up against the Order of Saint George’s high taxes and aristocratic rule. A lot of homes and fields were destroyed by imperial soldiers who violently put down the uprising.

The Early Modern Period

During the Protestant Reformation, a lot of farmers in the area became Lutherans. By the end of the 1600s, the people who lived there had religious freedom. But when Ferdinand II of Habsburg became king, he gave the Millstatt lands and Kleinkirchheim to the Jesuits and made Roman Catholicism the official church. Despite this, Crypto-Protestants were still able to sneak books and hold hidden meetings during the Counter-Reformation. Also, the Patent of Toleration (1781), which was given by Emperor Joseph II, said that a Protestant or a Jew had almost the same rights as a Catholic.

During the Napoleonic Wars, Bad Kleinkirchheim was briefly part of the French Illyrian Provinces. In 1816, it was returned to the Austrian Empire. There were also changes in the area during the Revolutions of 1848. Farmers, who made up most of the town’s people at the time, got more rights. The town also saw more tourists, especially after the train line from Villach to Spittal a der Drau opened in 1873. In 1884, the first hotel was built. In 1895, the first spa opened.

The 20th Century and Beyond

Zwei Weltkriege, die Great Depression und die Anschluss presented Bad Kleinkirchheim with difficulties in the 20th century. Following British occupation of the town from 1945 to 1955, it became a member of the Second Austrian Republic. As a winter sports destination, the town attracted well-known visitors like Olympic gold medallist Franz Klammer and hosted many international ski events. Utilising the thermal water from the 1937-discovered hot spring, the town also increased the size of its spa facilities.

At last, in 1973, the well-known hot spring was referenced in the official name of Bad Kleinkirchheim, which included the word “Bad” (bath, spa). With roughly 1,800 residents now, the hamlet receives more than 200,000 tourists a year. It provides a range of sights and pursuits including riding, golfing, hiking, skiing, and wellness. It also maintains cultural landmarks including the Nockalm Road, the Granatium Museum, and the St. Kathrein Church.