Brand-Laaben
Brand-Laaben | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Coat of arms | |
  Brand-Laaben Location within Austria | |
| Coordinates: 48°8′N 15°53′E / 48.133°N 15.883°E | |
| Country | Austria |
| State | Lower Austria |
| District | Sankt Pölten-Land |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Hermann Katzensteiner (ÖVP) |
| Area | |
• Total | 34.59 km2 (13.36 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 347 m (1,138 ft) |
| Population (1 January 2025)[1] | |
• Total | 1,258 |
| • Density | 36.37/km2 (94.19/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 3053 |
| Area code | 02774 |
| Website | www |
Brand-Laaben is a municipality in the district of Sankt Pölten-Land in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It lies in the Wienerwald (Vienna Woods) at the foot of the Schöpfl, the highest peak of the range, and had a population of 1,258 as of 1 January 2025.[1]
Geography
Brand-Laaben lies in the valley of the Laabenbach in the Mostviertel region, roughly equidistant from Neulengbach to the north and Hainfeld to the south. The municipality covers an area of 34.59 square kilometres, of which around 54 per cent is forested.[2] Its highest point, the Schöpfl, rises to 893 metres and is the highest elevation in the entire Wienerwald.
The municipal area is divided into nine villages, which also form nine identically named cadastral communities: Brand, Eck, Gern, Gföhl, Klamm, Laaben (the main village and seat of the municipal administration), Pyrath, Stollberg, and Wöllersdorf.
History
In antiquity the area belonged to the Roman province of Noricum. The main village of Laaben was first documented in 1334, under the name "Lawben".[3] Brand is attested earlier through its parish: a dependent chapel of the parish of St. Christophen existed there by 1248, a vicariate by 1394, and an independent parish was established in 1429.[4]
During the 1683 Ottoman siege of Vienna, several hundred local inhabitants are said to have taken refuge in a ravine below the Schöpfl and to have successfully defended themselves against Ottoman troops. The event is commemorated by the Türkenstein ("Turkish Stone"), a memorial in the Klamm valley that remains a well-known local landmark.[5]
A 1938 Austrian trade directory recorded, among the businesses active in the municipality, a physician, a taxi operator, ten innkeepers, a sawmill, three smithies, and two joineries, reflecting the largely agricultural and small-trade economy typical of the wider region at the time.[3] A roughly 600-page local history, the Heimatbuch der Gemeinde Brand-Laaben by Franz Weinberger, was published by the municipality in 2014 and is held at the municipal office.[3]
Population
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 1,119 | — |
| 1981 | 1,047 | −6.4% |
| 1991 | 1,123 | +7.3% |
| 2001 | 1,155 | +2.8% |
| 2015 | 1,196 | +3.5% |
| 2025 | 1,258 | +5.2% |
After a decline between 1971 and 1981, the population has grown gradually and has remained close to 1,200–1,260 inhabitants since the early 2000s.[1]
Politics
The municipal council (Gemeinderat) has 19 seats. Following the Lower Austrian municipal elections of 26 January 2025, in which turnout was 70.56 per cent, the seats were distributed as follows:[6]
| Party | Vote share | Change | Seats | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ÖVP | 54.93% |  15.14 pp | 11 | 3 |
| SPÖ | 28.40% |  8.67 pp | 5 | 2 |
| FPÖ | 16.67% | 6.47 pp | 3 | 1 |
The result was a significant setback for the ÖVP, which had won 70.07 per cent and 14 seats in 2020, while both the SPÖ and the FPÖ gained seats. Mayor Katzensteiner described the loss of three seats as painful and attributed the FPÖ's gain to a broader political trend, while the SPÖ's local chairman, Christian Call, described the result as a historic breakthrough for his party in the municipality.[6]
The newly elected council was constituted on 25 February 2025. Hermann Katzensteiner (ÖVP), first elected mayor in 2019, was confirmed in office, with Armin Kotlaba (ÖVP) elected deputy mayor; Gerhard Leidinger, who had served as deputy mayor since 2019, became an executive council member.[7][8]
Economy
The municipality is a member of the Wienerwald Initiativ Region and of the LEADER and climate-and-energy model region "Elsbeere Wienerwald", a grouping of thirteen municipalities in the area.[9] Present-day businesses include several inns and guesthouses — among them the Gasthaus Kari in Brand, in operation since 1910 and a traditional venue for local clubs and events — craft and trade businesses, and a bison farm at the Kogelhof run by the Egger family, which offers guided visits by appointment.[10]
Since 2025, the municipality has also been carrying out a joint fibre-optic broadband rollout with the neighbouring municipalities of Neustift-Innermanzing and Michelbach, at a total cost of nine to ten million euros shared between the three municipalities and supported by grants from the state of Lower Austria.[11]
Landmarks
The Roman Catholic parish church of St John the Baptist (Pfarrkirche hl. Johannes der Täufer) stands on a terraced rise in the village of Brand and belongs to the Diocese of St. Pölten. Both the church and its adjoining cemetery are listed heritage monuments. Gothic in its core and dating to the 13th century, the church was largely rebuilt in Baroque style by the architect Matthias Munggenast after a fire in 1758; its west tower dates from 1708 and was heightened in 1758.[4]
Other landmarks include Schloss Stollberg, a former manor remodelled into a castle-like residence in the 16th century and today in private ownership, and the Türkenstein memorial in the Klamm valley (see History).
At the summit of the Schöpfl stands the Matraswarte, a 17-metre steel observation tower built in 1897 by the Viennese firm of Ignaz Gridl and officially opened in 1898; it was renamed in 1932 after Franz Eduard Matras, first president of the Austrian Touring Club (ÖTK). It is widely described as the highest-altitude structure in the Wienerwald.[12] Nearby stand the ÖTK's Schöpfl mountain hut and, some 750 metres away, the Leopold Figl Observatory for astrophysics, home to the largest mirror telescope in Austria.[12]
Infrastructure
The municipality operates a primary school (Volksschule) and a kindergarten, both in Laaben; the kindergarten was established in 1976, substantially renovated in 1996, rebuilt in a new building next to the primary school in 2012, and expanded with a third group in 2024.[11] Secondary-school pupils attend the Mittelschule Laabental in the neighbouring municipality of Altlengbach.
Brand-Laaben is connected by regional roads and lies a short drive from the A1 motorway junction at Altlengbach; it is served by regional bus routes within the Verkehrsverbund Ost-Region network.
As of the mid-2020s, the municipality has been renovating its municipal office in Laaben, adding a barrier-free entrance and a new council chamber at a projected cost of around 1.5 million euros, with completion expected in 2027.[11]
References
- 1 2 3 "Ein Blick auf die Gemeinde – Brand-Laaben" (in German). Statistik Austria. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
- ↑ "Brand-Laaben" (in German). Land Niederösterreich. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
- 1 2 3 Fahrenberger, Lauren (9 September 2024). "Geschichte der Orts – Wie das Laub über Brand-Laaben kam" (in German). MeinBezirk. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
- 1 2 Die Kunstdenkmäler Österreichs: Dehio Niederösterreich südlich der Donau (in German). Horn/Wien: Verlag Berger. 2003. pp. 285–286.
- ↑ "Brand-Laaben • Ortschaft" (in German). Outdooractive. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
- 1 2 "Stimmen zum Ergebnis der Gemeinderatswahlen" (in German). MeinBezirk. 28 January 2025. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
- ↑ "Der neue Gemeinderat stellt sich vor" (in German). Gemeinde Brand-Laaben. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
- ↑ "Wechsel an der Spitze – Aufregung um Vize-Wahl in Brand-Laaben" (in German). NÖN. 22 October 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
- ↑ "Katzensteiner Hermann (Bürgermeister Brand-Laaben)" (in German). Klima- und Energiemodellregion Elsbeere Wienerwald. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
- ↑ "Brand-Laaben" (in German). Wienerwald Tourismus. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Brand-Laaben baut: neues Gemeindezentrum, Bushaltestelle und Glasfaseranschluss" (in German). MeinBezirk. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
- 1 2 "Schöpfl, Schöpfl-Schutzhaus, Matraswarte" (in German). Bergfex. Retrieved 24 July 2026.