Krems an der Donau

Krems an der Donau, Lower Austria, statutory town in the district of Krems an der Donau, alt. 203 m, pop. 22,783, area 51.61 km², situated at the point where the River Krems flows into the Danube, on the edge of the Wachau region; landing stage for Danube shipping. District Commission, district court, command of the district gendarmerie, provincial court and jail, labour inspectorate, employment services, financial office, office of weights, measures and surveying, customs office, administrative office for the waterways of central Lower Austria, shipping police, road building administration for Lower Austria, federal construction office, federal institute of agriculture and chemistry, environmental protection institute of Lower Austria (dump in Gneixendorf), regional construction office of Lower Austria, range of the Austrian Armed Forces in Krems-Egelsee, Economic Chamber, Chamber of Labour, district office of the Chamber of Agriculture, regional health insurance agency (Gebietskrankenkasse), dental clinic, hospital, adult education centre, Institute for Research into Daily Life and Material Culture of the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period, Stadtsaal multi-purpose hall, various schools such as a theological college of the Piarists, 2 Bundesgymnasium secondary schools, 3 Bundesrealgymnasium secondary schools, 1 Bundesoberstufenrealgymnasium upper-level secondary school, Oberstufenrealgymnasium (upper-level mathematics-oriented secondary school) of the Institute of English Ladies, Handelsakademie (commercial academy), 2 Höhere gewerbliche Lehranstalt schools (advanced-level school of trade and crafts), Höhere technische Lehranstalt (HTL, advanced-level technical school), Donau-Universität Krems, teacher training institute (Pädagogische Akademie) run by the diocese of St. Pölten, Weinakademie (wine academy), Fachhochschule, airfield in Krems-Langenlois.- Communities of the Old Catholic and the New Apostolic Church, Theiß thermal power plant near Krems (steam and gas turbines, 552 MW, built in 1973), Lower Austrian Provincial Trade Fair. 14,517 employed persons (1991), of which 60% in the service sector (personal, social and public services, commerce and trade, port with numerous forwarding agencies). Production sector: steel processing (including VOEST-Alpine KREMS), chemical industry, furniture and textile industry, forestry enterprise of the Österreichische Bundesforste AG (Austrian Federal Forests), summer tourism (115,759 overnight stays); wine-growing.- During loess extraction in Krems-Hundssteig a Palaeolithic hunting hut with several fireplaces was discovered in 1899 (from around 35,000 B.C., one of the most important finds from the Palaeolithic Age in Austria), but it was not immediately systematically examined by scientists and contains around 20,000 stone and bone implements (Galgenberg bei Stratzing , Venus vom Galgenberg). First documented mention in 995, town charter and mint ("Kremser Pfennig" coin) around 1130, from the Middle Ages to the 19^th century important commercial centre; remains of a medieval fortification with Steiner Tor (town gate, around 1480) and powder magazine (1477); Early Baroque parish church of St. Veit, (1616-1630, by C. Biasino), one of the largest and earliest Baroque churches in Lower Austria, southern tower in part Gothic, wall and ceiling paintings (1787) by M. J. Schmidt (called "Kremser Schmidt") and altarpieces by M. Altomonte (1715) and F. A. Maulbertsch (1775), Late Gothic church of a citizen's hospital (around 1470) with Baroque interior; Early Gothic Dominican monastery (1240-1265), later remodelled in Baroque style, houses the museum of viniculture (archaeological finds from the area, collection of medieval and Baroque sculptures and paintings from Lower Austria); former monastic church (built around 1240); Institute of the English Ladies (1722-1724); Late Gothic Piarist church (first documented mention in 1014, restoration from mid-fifteenth century, choir consecrated in 1457, sanctified again in 1508 after adaptations), with rich Baroque interior (frescoes and altarpieces by M. J. Schmidt); former theological college of the Piarists (1636-1641); originally Gothic or Renaissance town houses, later remodelled in the Baroque style, located on Hoher Markt square and in the adjacent streets; former "Freihäuser", Gozzoburg (12^th to 13^th centuries, later adaptations); town hall (core 15^th century, remodelled 1548-1552). - In Stein (first documented as a town in 1072/91, united with K. until 1850, independent since 1938), Late Gothic/Baroque parish church; Early Gothic church in Förthof; former Frauenberg church (around 1380): Late Romanesque/Early Gothic former church and monastery of the Minorites (13^th -15^th century), with frescoes (14^th -16^th century), today exhibition centre; town hall (from 1701, restoration of façade in 1779); Kunsthalle Krems; Göttweigerhof chapel with important Early Gothic frescoes (1305-1310); men's prison (since 1852; 1839-1848, former convent of Redemptorist nuns); former town hall (first documented mention in 1470, until 1701); former toll-house (1536); Gothic and Renaissance town houses (15^th to 17^th centuries); Rehberg castle ruins; Gneixendorf Palace (L. van Beethoven stayed there in 1826); former Capuchin monastery and church (after 1614) in the suburbs between Krems and Stein.

Literature: E. Kranner, Krems. Antlitz einer Stadt, 1969; 1000 Jahre Kunst in Krems an der Donau, exhibition catalogue, 1971; Österreichisches Städtebuch, vol. IV, part 2, Die Städte Niederösterreichs, 1976; H. Kühnel, Krems an der Donau, in: Historischer Städteatlas, 1991; R. Schweiger, Zauber der Architektur. Doppelstadt Krems-Stein und Mautern, 1993; H. Kühnel and F. Schönfellner, 1000 Jahre Krems, 1995.