Dornbirn

Dornbirn is a city in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg. It is the administrative centre for the district of Dornbirn, which also includes the town of Hohenems, and the market town Lustenau.

Dornbirn is the largest city in Vorarlberg and the tenth largest in Austria. It is an important commercial and shopping centre.

Geography

Location

Dornbirn is located in western Vorarlberg at 437 metres above sea level in the Rhine Valley, at the foot of the Karren mountain, part of the Bregenz Forest Mountain chain at the edge of the Eastern Alps. It is near the borders to Switzerland, Germany and Liechtenstein. The Dornbirner Ach river flows through the town and later into Lake Constance.

Municipal structure

Marktplatz

Dornbirn once consisted only of 4 "quarters": Markt, Hatlerdorf, Oberdorf and Haselstauden. By the 20th century Dornbirn had annexed two formerly independent communities to the west: Rohrbach and Schoren, thus bringing the total number of districts to 6.

Neighbouring municipalities

The Town of Dornbirn constitutes almost 70% of the surface of the district Dornbirn and has numerous borders to other municipalities. As well as bordering on the two other municipalities in the Dornbirn district (Hohenems and Lustenau), the town shares borders with 15 municipalities of the Bregenz District: (Lauterach, Wolfurt, Schwarzach, Bildstein, Alberschwende, Schwarzenberg, Reuthe, Mellau, Damüls) and four with the Feldkirch District: (Laterns, Zwischenwasser, Viktorsberg, Fraxern).

Dornbirn, St.-Leopold-church

History

The earliest evidence of human presence in the Dornbirn area can be dated from the Mesolithic era. The name "Dornbirn" derives from 'torrin puirron', meaning the 'Settlement of Torro' (the name of an Alemannic farmer living there) and thus has nothing to do with "pears" (German "Birnen"), although this fruit is prominently portrayed on the town emblem. This name is mentioned for the first time in 895, in a document from St. Gallen (Switzerland).

Dornbirn became part of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1380. In 1793 it was elevated to a market community. It was not given municipal status until 1901. In 1932 the mountain village of Ebnit was annexed. In 1969 Dornbirn became the seat of the new Dornbirn district administrative authority.

Population

Historical population Year Pop. ±% 1869 8,707 — 1880 9,464 +8.7% 1890 10,810 +14.2% 1900 13,193 +22.0% 1910 16,320 +23.7% 1923 14,481 −11.3% 1934 16,650 +15.0% 1939 17,572 +5.5% 1951 22,532 +28.2% 1961 28,075 +24.6% 1971 35,113 +25.1% 1981 38,641 +10.0% 1991 40,735 +5.4% 2001 42,301 +3.8% 2011 45,605 +7.8% 2014 46,883 +2.8%

Well-known citizens of Dornbirn

• Angelika Birck, psychologist
• Reinhard Eugen Bösch, politician
• Karl Cordin, ski racer
• Artur Doppelmayr, cable car constructor
• Francis Martin Drexel (1792–1863), Philadelphia banker and artist
• Margret Dünser, journalist
• Ingrid Eberle, ski racer
• Wolfgang Flatz, artist, scenic designer, musician and composer
• Elfi Graf, singer
• Gert Halbgebauer, Architect
• Ulrich Ilg, politician, former Governor of Vorarlberg
• Yvonne Meusburger, WTA tennis player
• Tamira Paszek, WTA tennis player
• August Paterno, Priest, pastoral counselor
• Aaron Pilsan, Pianist

Notable architecture

The Messestadion is an indoor sporting arena located in Dornbirn, and home to the local ice hockey team.

Transport

Located in the middle of the Rhine valley, Dornbirn is an important junction of regional and interregional bus lines, connecting Bregenz to the north, Feldkirch to the south, and the Bregenz Forest to the east. The A14 Rheintal freeway/motorway (Autobahn) passes by to the west. The Achrain tunnel, opened in 2009, directly connects Dornbirn/Haselstauden with the Bregenz Forest - Alberschwende region. The town has an excellent network of municipal buses.

Dornbirn's railway station connects is an important stop for all trains from west to east Austria.

A small airport is located at nearby Hohenems.