Windischgarsten

Geschichte

Windischgarsten is a municipality in the district of Kirchdorf an der Krems in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Since 1964, the town has been classified as a Luftkurort, a mountain spa town.GeographyWindischgarsten lies in the Traunviertel and is surrounded by mountains: the Haller Mauern in the South, the Sengsengebirge in the North, and the Totes Gebirge in the West.River system: Dambach, Teichl, Steyr, Enns and DanubeHistoryRoman Windischgarsten lay to the Southwest and was a mansio on the Norican Main Road that existed between the 2nd and 5th Centuries. The name "Gabromagus" has Celtic roots and allows two interpretations: Gabro is a Celtic name but also means Goat . And Magus is clearly a field. In German a "Bocksfeld" or field of Gabro. Archaeological digs show quite complex structures which could point to a settlement set up for trading. But recovered bricks with the stamp of the II Italian Legion also point to a possible military installation. The settlement saw its high-point around 200 and then declined. We next hear about Windischgarsten around 1200: to differentiate from the "Garsten" by Steyr, which was largely German and the settlement in the valley, which was largely settled by "Windische" . Garsten has its roots in the Slavic term for mountainous woods. Based on the development of the language it is assumed that the name was already in use around 800.