Griffen

Geschichte

Griffen is a market town in the district of Völkermarkt in the Austrian state of Carinthia.GeographyGriffen lies in the wide Jauntal valley of the Drava River, between the Klagenfurt basin in the west and the Lavant Valley in the north.The municipal area comprises the cadastral communities of Griffnerthal, Großenegg (Tolsti Vrh), Haberberg (Gabrje), Kaunz (Homec), Kleindörfl (Mala vas), Pustritz (Pustrica), Sankt Kollmann (Šentkolman), Wölfnitz (Golovica), and Wriesen (Brezje). It is further subidivided into 35 villages and hamlets.HistoryFrom the 7th century onwards, the Jauntal area was a centre of the Slavic settlement of the Eastern Alps and part of the early medieval principality of Carantania. Up to today it remains a core territory of the Carinthian Slovenes.The settlement was first mentioned in a 822 deed, after Carantania had been incorporated into the Carolingian Empire and evolved to the Bavarian March of Carinthia. From 1124 onwards Bishop Otto of Bamberg had Griffen Castle erected within the Carinthian possessions of the prince-bishopric, received from the hands of King Henry II of Germany in 1007. The Grivena fortress was acknowledged as a Bamberg estate by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1160. From 1237 Griffen held market rights.