View source for Hardegg

{{Infobox settlement
| name            = Hardegg
| native_name     =
| settlement_type = [[Municipality (Austria)|Municipality]]
<!-- Images     -->
| image_skyline   = Hardegg - Ortsansicht (a).JPG
| imagesize       =
| image_caption   = Hardegg town and castle
| image_shield    = AUT Hardegg COA.png
| shield_size     = 80x110px
| shield_link     =
<!-- Maps           -->
| pushpin_map         = Austria
| pushpin_mapsize     = 270
| pushpin_map_caption = Location within Austria
| image_map           =
| mapsize             =
| map_alt             =
| map_caption         = Location within [[Hollabrunn (district)|Hollabrunn]] district
<!-- Location    -->
| coordinates       = {{coord|48|51|N|15|52|E|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type  = Country
| subdivision_name  = [[Austria]]
| subdivision_type1 = [[States of Austria|State]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[Lower Austria]]
| subdivision_type2 = [[District (Austria)|District]]
| subdivision_name2 = [[Hollabrunn (district)|Hollabrunn]]
| parts_type        =
| parts_style       = para
| p1                =
<!-- Leaders -->
| leader_title  = [[Burgomaster|Mayor]]
| leader_name   = Heribert Donnerbauer ([[Austrian People's Party|ÖVP]])
| leader_party  =
| leader_title1 =
| leader_name1  =
<!-- Statistics -->
| area_footnotes   = {{Austria population Wikidata|area_footnotes}}
| area_total_km2   = {{Austria population Wikidata|area_total_km2}}
| area_metro_km2   =
| elevation_m      = 309
| elevation_max_m  =
| elevation_min_m  =
| population_as_of = {{Austria population Wikidata|population_as_of}}
| population_footnotes = {{Austria population Wikidata|population_footnotes}}
| population_total = {{Austria population Wikidata|population_total}}
| population_urban =
| population_metro =
| population_note  =
| population_density_km2 = auto
| established_title =
| established_date  =
| timezone          = [[Central European Time|CET]]
| timezone_DST      = [[Central European Summer Time|CEST]]
| utc_offset        = +1
| utc_offset_DST    = +2
| registration_plate =
| postal_code_type   = [[List of postal codes in Austria|Postal code]]
| postal_code        = 2082
| area_code_type = [[Telephone numbers in Austria|Area code]]
| area_code      = 0 29 48
| website   = [http://www.hardegg.gv.at www.hardegg.gv.at]
| footnotes =
}}
'''Hardegg''' ({{IPA|de|haʁˈdɛk|-|De-Hardegg.ogg}}) is a town in the district of [[Hollabrunn (district)|Hollabrunn]] in [[Lower Austria]], [[Austria]]. It is situated in the [[Waldviertel]] region on the river [[Thaya]], directly on the border with the [[Czech Republic]]. The Thaya valley is protected as the [[Thayatal National Park]], adjacent to the [[Podyjí National Park]] on the Czech shore.
Since 1975 the municipality comprises the [[Katastralgemeinde]]n of Hardegg, Felling, Heufurth, Mallersbach, Merkersdorf, Niederfladnitz, Pleissing, Riegersburg, Umlauf (unpopulated, is entirely located within the Thayatal national park and comprises a mere 12 fishermen's huts), and Waschbach. Hardegg is often referred to as "Austria's smallest city": for historical reasons, the municipality has city status ({{langx|de|Stadtrecht}}), but Hardegg proper only has 78 inhabitants.
==History==
[[Burg Hardegg|Hardegg Castle]] in the [[March of Austria]] was first mentioned in an 1145 deed, it was acquired by the Counts of [[Großgmain|Plain]] about 1187. Hardegg itself is first documented as a [[German town law|town]] in 1290. Located on the border with the [[Kingdom of Bohemia]], the area was devastated during the [[Hussite Wars]] in 1425. In 1483 Hardegg was bequeathed to the [[House of Habsburg|Habsburg]] archdukes of [[Archduchy of Austria|Austria]].
Emperor [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian I]] granted Hardegg to his [[ministerialis|ministeriales]] of the Prueschenk noble family and elevated them to [[Imperial immediacy|immediate]] Counts of Hardegg in 1499. Two years later Count [[Ulrich of Hardegg|Ulrich]] purchased the Bohemian [[County of Kladsko]] from the [[Duchy of Münsterberg (Ziębice)|Dukes of Münsterberg]]. From the [[Thirty Years' War]] onwards the castle decayed, until it was acquired by the [[Khevenhüller]] dynasty and rebuilt in the late 19th century according to plans designed by [[Carl Gangolf Kayser]].
[[File:Hardegg - Thayabrücke.JPG|thumb|left|Thaya bridge]]
After [[World War II]] until [[revolutions of 1989|the fall of the Iron Curtain]], Hardegg was particularly isolated. The only connection to the Czech Republic is via a bridge built in 1874 across the Thaya to the neighbouring village of Čížov (part of the [[Horní Břečkov]] municipality) in [[Moravia]].
==Economy and infrastructure==
The town's remote situation was also mirrored in a decreasing number of inhabitants. Its only positive economical factor today is [[tourism]]. The highest population ever officially recorded was in 1890 — a total of 3,209. Ever since, except for the period between 1939 and 1951, the number of inhabitants has been steadily decreasing. This is typical for the Hollabrunn district which has had no population increase since 1980.
In 2001 there were 56 non-agricultural businesses, according to a 1999 census there were 108 farmsteads and [[silviculture|forestral]] businesses. In 2001 the number of economically active persons was 597, the employment ratio was at 40.8%. In Riegerburg there is a former [[coal mine]] and Felling is the seat of RM Austria – Perlmuttdesign, Austria's last [[mother of pearl]] turnery. In Mallersbach and Niederfladnitz, [[kaolinite]] was mined.
[[File:Hardegg - Kirche und Karner.JPG|thumb|Parish church and ossuary]]
[[File:Hardegg.jpg|thumb|Hardegg town and castle in winter, viewed from the Czech side of the [[Thaya]] river]]
After the seasonal opening of the Thaya bridge border crossing from Hardegg to Čížov on 12 April 1990, the crossing point was opened hourly throughout the year for pedestrians, cyclists and [[ski]]ers on 9 May 2006. In July the crossing Felling to Podmyče was opened to pedestrians and cyclists.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.noe.gv.at/presse/presse/pressearchiv-suche/52402_22-mai-2006-08-22-lh-proell-zur-oeffnung-neuer-grenzuebergaenge-nach-tschechien.html|title=LH Pröll zur Öffnung neuer Grenzübergänge nach Tschechien (Gov. Pröll on the opening of new border checkpoints to the Czech Republic)|language=German|publisher=Government of Lower Austria|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724105701/http://www.noe.gv.at/presse/presse/pressearchiv-suche/52402_22-mai-2006-08-22-lh-proell-zur-oeffnung-neuer-grenzuebergaenge-nach-tschechien.html|archive-date=2011-07-24|df=}}</ref> After the expansion of the [[European Union]]'s [[Schengen Area]], the border may now be crossed anywhere at any time and formal checkpoints are obsolete.
==Politics==
As of 2010, Heribert Donnerbauer of the [[Austrian People's Party]] (ÖVP) is the town's mayor. The council comprises 19 seats divided as follows after the 14 March 2010 elections: ÖVP 15, [[Social Democratic Party of Austria|SPÖ]] 4.
==Sights==
* Annual Retzerland pumpkin festival
* Brick pillars of a former [[gallows]] between Niederfladnitz and Oberretzbach
* [[Burg Hardegg|Hardegg Castle]]
* Riegersburg Castle
* Ruins of Kaja Castle near Merkersdorf
* Thayatal National Park
==Notable people==
* [[Freddy Quinn]] (born 1931 in Niederfladnitz), singer and musician
===Honorary citizens===
* [[Erwin Pröll]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.noe.gv.at/presse/presse/pressearchiv-suche/17657_22-mai-2000-niederoesterreich_buergerservice_pressedienst_landeskorrespondenz.html|title=Nationalpark Thayatal offiziell eröffnet|publisher=Government of Lower Austria|language=German|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724105800/http://www.noe.gv.at/presse/presse/pressearchiv-suche/17657_22-mai-2000-niederoesterreich_buergerservice_pressedienst_landeskorrespondenz.html|archive-date=2011-07-24|df=}}</ref> governor of Lower Austria
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Commons category|Hardegg}}
{{Cities and towns in Hollabrunn (district)}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Cities and towns in Hollabrunn District]]