Pitten, Niederösterreich, Markt

Pitten, Lower Austria, market town in the district of Neunkirchen, alt. 320 m, pop. 2,460, area 13.09 km², where the Pitten valley opens out into the Steinfeld region. - Children's home; paper-mill, cellulose works. - Graves from the Bronze Age with rich furnishings (Bronze jewellery, Pitten local heritage museum); pre-historic fortification on Burgberg hill; Slavic grave field from the early 9^th century; documented mention in 869, in the 11^th century main town of a county and seat of a large mother parish; iron ore deposits (evidence of mining since 1607); remains of a castle (16^th /17^th centuries), already mentioned in the "lament" of the Nibelungenlied (epic poem in Middle High German), converted into a hunting lodge in the 19^th century; Baroque parish church (1732) incorporated into the fortifications; parish house (1651-1664) with stuccowork and facade (1728).

Literature: Marktgemeinde Pitten (ed.), 1100 Jahre Pitten (869-1969), 1969 and 1992; "Fürsten" der Bronzezeit in Pitten, 1983; F. Hampl et al., Das mittelbronzezeitliche Gräberfeld von Pitten, 1978-1985.