Deutsch-Griffen

Deutsch-Griffen
St. Jacob Church
Coat of arms
Deutsch-Griffen Location within Austria
Coordinates: 46°51′N 14°4′E
Country	Austria
State	Carinthia
District	Sankt Veit an der Glan
Government
• Mayor	Michael Reiner (FPÖ)
Area
• Total	71.44 km2 (27.58 sq mi)
Elevation	847 m (2,779 ft)
Population  (2018-01-01)
• Total	908
• Density	13/km2 (33/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	9572
Area code	+43 (0) 4279
Website	www.deutsch-griffen.at

Deutsch-Griffen (Slovene: Slovenj Grebinj) is a municipality in the district of Sankt Veit an der Glan in Austrian state of Carinthia.

Geography

Deutsch-Griffen lies in the north of Carinthia, about 30 kilometres (19 mi) northwest of the state capital Klagenfurt. It is situated in the eastern Nock Mountains, in a left tributary valley of the Gurk River on the Griffnerbach creek. The municipal area extends from the Gurk up to the Styrian border in the north. On the northern edge, there is a sparsely populated area along the Paalbach, which is cut off from the rest of the municipality and can only be reached in a very roundabout way. Therefore, it is locally considered to belong to the Flattnitz plateau, part of the neighbouring municipality of Glödnitz. In the west, Deutsch-Griffen borders on Albeck in the Feldkirchen District.

The municipal area comprises the only cadastral community Deutsch-Griffen made up of 25 villages and hamlets.

History

Church interior

A locality in the March of Carinthia named Grivinne was already mentioned in a 927 deed. In 1043 Countess Hemma of Gurk donated a chapel at the site, the present-day St. Jacob parish church which passed to the Diocese of Gurk in 1157. The Romanesque structure was rebuilt as a fortified church in the 15th century, when it served as a refuge for the villagers during the Ottoman Wars.

The present-day municipality emerged in 1850. it was later called Deutsch-Griffen to distinguish it from Griffen in Völkermarkt District. In a 1973 administrative reform it was merged into a large municipality with neighbouring Glödnitz and Weitensfeld but regained its independency after a local referendum in 1991.

Politics

Seats in the municipal assembly (Gemeinderat) as of 2015 local elections:

• Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ): 7
• Austrian People's Party (ÖVP): 3
• Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ): 1

Twin town

Town hall

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Austria

Deutsch-Griffen is twinned with:

• Utenbach, part of Apolda, Germany, since 1993