Located on the turquoise-green Lake Wörthersee, Carinthia’s capital proves to be a true jewel and offers a high quality of life. As one of the most beautiful and diverse cities in Austria, Klagenfurt is considered an interesting travel destination with Italian flair. Surrounded by Lake Wörthersee, the Feldkirchn-Moosburg hills, the Glantal Highlands and the Sattnitz mountain range, Klagenfurt offers plenty of local recreation areas that invite you to a variety of outdoor activities.
The city, which was first mentioned in a document in 1192, is today an attraction for Carinthians and tourists from all over the world as a school, university, cultural and shopping city and an important business location. Klagenfurt also became known because the city produced many famous personalities and was also chosen by many artists as their adopted home. This is still reflected today in both the cityscape and the cultural landscape of Klagenfurt.
Lake Wörthersee – idyll on the outskirts of the city
As the largest lake in Carinthia and one of the warmest alpine lakes, Lake Wörthersee with its turquoise water is an attraction for beach lovers and water sports enthusiasts. Since Klagenfurt stretches along the eastern shore of the lake, it is one of the highlights of the city for the city’s residents as well as for visitors. Along the shore, the waterfront promenade as well as the banks of the Lend Canal, which connects the lake with the old town, invite you to take long walks and bike tours all year round. The Maria Loretto and Maiernigg lidos with their green sunbathing lawns invite you to sunbathe and swim in summer. But the most beautiful lake in Austria also offers a wide range of opportunities for water sports enthusiasts, ranging from fun sports to boat tours. In addition, scheduled ships and excursion boats operate from Klagenfurt, so that it is easily possible to cross over to the other shores of the lake and go exploring. Both the idyllic Loretto peninsula and Kreuzberg, known as an oasis of peace, are worth a visit and only a few minutes’ walk from the city centre.
Klagenfurt’s sights
The Old Town
Visitors to the Austrian city do not have to look far for sights on a stroll through the old town. The cityscape is characterized by lovingly restored palaces, romantic courtyards and fantastically designed squares. Italian master builders have done an excellent job in Klagenfurt and so Renaissance-style buildings line the cobblestone streets and squares.
The new square
As one of the attractions in the heart of the historic old town, the new square is a popular meeting place. On the beautifully landscaped square is the Lindwurmbrunnen, the city’s landmark, which magically attracts art lovers as an impressive example of mannerism.
Klagenfurt Cathedral
The cathedral and parish church of St. Peter and Paul is a very special sacred building due to its architectural history. The church was built in 1581 as a Protestant house of prayer and was thus the largest Protestant church ever built in Austria . After it was handed over to the Jesuit order in 1600, it was reconsecrated as an order church. In the course of the dissolution of the order and after the demolition of the Jesuit barracks, the church received a new west façade. Today, the church is particularly impressive because of its artistic ceiling and wall design. Inside the church there is also the bishop’s crypt and the canons’ crypt, which are just as worth seeing as the cemetery in the east of the cathedral with its historic graves.
The Landhaus Klagenfurt
Between Alter Platz and Heiligengeistplatz lies the Landhaus, the most impressive and important secular building in the city. Today, the building, which was built between 1574 and 1594, is used as the seat of the Carinthian parliament, but once the building served as the seat of the estates.
The castles of Klagenfurt
Mainly in the 16th century, the heyday of the city, numerous manor houses were built on today’s city area, of which around 20 castles are still preserved today. Most of the castles are now privately owned and so only a few are accessible to visitors. Nevertheless, it is worth planning a small castle tour, because among other things, Maria-Loretto Castle at the mouth of the Lendkanal attracts visitors on Lake Wörthersee and enchants with a wonderful castle park.
Minimundus
One of Klagenfurt’s most popular excursion destinations is the Minimundus miniature world. On a spacious park-like area, there are 150 models of the world’s most famous sights. Visitors can walk from the Taj Mahal to the Eiffel Tower or the Leaning Tower of Pisa in just a few minutes.
The fantastic cultural landscape of Klagenfurt
Klagenfurt presents itself with a wide-ranging museum landscape. Classical museums include the Carinthian State Museum with its magnificent Coat of Arms Hall in the Landhaus and the Museum of Modern Art. But the city is also home to extraordinary cultural venues such as the Eboardmuseum or the Heyne bookstore and the Art Nouveau Theatre in Goethepark, which is particularly attractive as the smallest theatre in the world and offers a special theatre experience with its ten seats.
