Foundation Legend has it that Klagenfurt was founded after a group of brave men slew an abominable winged "
lindwurm" from the moors adjoining the lake, which was preying on the nearby duchy. The legend says that a tower at the edge of the moor was erected to watch out for the dragon, and that the dragon was baited using a bull fitted with a chain and hook, which caught the beast's
palatal. A village was subsequently founded on the battlesite, which later expanded into a town, while the watchtower made way for a castle. The feat is commemorated by a grandiose 9-ton Renaissance monument in the city centre. Historically, the place was founded by the
Spanheim Duke Herman as a stronghold sited across the commercial routes in the area. Its first mention dates from the late 12th century in a document in which Duke Ulric II. exempted St. Paul's Abbey from the toll charge "in
foro Chlagenvurth". which in 1919 moved to Prevalje and then in 1927 to Celje, but was re-established in Klagenfurt in 1947. Several Slovene language newspapers were also published in the city, among them
Slovenski glasnik. By the late 19th century, however, the Slovene cultural and political influence in Klagenfurt had declined sharply, and by the end of
World War I, the city showed an overwhelmingly Austrian German character. Nevertheless, in 1919, the city was occupied by the Army of the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and claimed for the newly founded South-Slav kingdom. In 1920, the
Yugoslav occupying forces withdrew from the town centre, but remained in its southern suburbs, such as Viktring and Ebenthal. They eventually withdrew after the
Carinthian Plebiscite in October 1920, when the majority of voters in the Carinthian mixed-language
Zone A decided to remain part of Austria.
World War II In 1938, Klagenfurt's population suddenly grew by more than 50% through the incorporation of the town of St. Ruprecht and the municipalities of St. Peter, Annabichl, and St. Martin but during
World War II, the city was bombed 41 times. The bombs killed 612 people, completely destroyed 443 buildings and damaged 1,132 others. A volume of of rubble had to be removed before the citizens could set about rebuilding their city. From the beginning of 1945, when the end of the war was rather obvious, numerous talks among representatives of democratic pre-1934 organisations had taken place, which later extended to high-ranking officers of the Wehrmacht and officials of the administration. Even representatives of the partisans in the hills south of Klagenfurt were met who, in view of the strong SS-forces in Klagenfurt, agreed not to attempt to take the city by force, but upheld the official declaration that south-eastern Carinthia was to be a Yugoslav possession. To avoid further destruction and a major bloodshed, on 3 May 1945
General Löhr of
Army Group E (Heeresgruppe E) agreed to declare Klagenfurt an "
open city" "in case Anglo-American forces should attack the city", a declaration that was broadcast several times and two days later also published in the
Kärntner Nachrichten. On 7 May 1945, a committee convened in the historic
Landhaus building of the
Gau authorities to form a Provisional State government, and one of the numerous decisions taken was a proclamation to the "People of Carinthia". This proclamation included the reporting of the resignation of the
Gauleiter and
Reichsstatthalter Friedrich Rainer, the transfer of power to the new authorities, and an appeal to the people to decorate their homes with Austrian or Carinthian colours. The proclamation was printed in the
Kärntner Zeitung of 8 May. When on the following day,
Yugoslav military demanded of Klagenfurt's new mayor that he remove the
Austrian flag from the city hall and fly the Yugoslav flag instead, the acting British Town Officer Captain Watson immediately prohibited this, but also ordered that the Austrian flag be taken down. Accompanied by a guerilla troop carrying a
machine pistol, a Yugoslav emissary appeared on the same day in the
Landesregierung building, demanding of the Acting
State Governor Piesch repeal the order to take down the Yugoslav flag, which was ignored. On 8 May 1945, 9:30 am,
British troops of the
Eighth Army under General
McCreery entered Klagenfurt and were met in front of
Stauderhaus by the new democratic city and state authorities. All the strategic positions and important buildings were immediately seized, and
Major General Horatius Murray was taken to General Noeldechen for the official surrender of the 438th German Division. Three hours later, groups of partisan forces arrived on a train they had seized in the
Rosental valley the day before, at the same time as Yugoslav regular forces of the IVth army. Both of these forces made their way through the city's streets which were jammed with tens of thousands of
Volksdeutsche refugees, and masses of soldiers of all the nationalities that had been fighting under German command and were now fleeing the Russians. These partisan and Yugoslav regular forces claimed the city and the surrounding South Carinthian land, establishing the
Komanda staba za Koroška, which would be named the "Commandantura of the Carinthian Military Zone" under Major Egon Remec. On
Neuer Platz—renamed
Adolf Hitler Platz in 1938—British armoured vehicles are said to have faced allied Yugoslav ones in a hostile way, which would have been a curious spectacle for the liberated citizens, but this is unlikely. Several days passed before, under British pressure and American diplomatic backing, the Yugoslav troops withdrew from the city proper, but not before establishing a parallel Carinthian-Slovene civil administration (the
Carinthian National Council) presided over by Franc Petek. However, protected by British soldiers, the members of the Provisional State Government went about devising a comprehensive programme to cover the new political, sociological, and economic outlooks in the land, which would serve the
British military authorities. Rapid financial assistance and the restitution of property to the victims of the Nazi regime was necessary. This posed a problem, because one of the first actions of the British had been to confiscate all the property of
the Nazi Party, as well as to freeze their
bank accounts and to block their financial transfers. It took months before basic communication and
public transport, mail service and supply were working again, to some extent at least. During the years that followed these turbulent days, a major part of the
British Eighth Army, which in July 1945 was re-constituted as
British Troops in Austria (BTA), had their headquarters in Klagenfurt - as Carinthia, together with neighbouring Styria, formed part of the British occupation zone in liberated Austria, which remained to be the case until 26 October 1955. {{Historical populations
Modern history In 1961, Klagenfurt became the first city in Austria to adopt a
pedestrian zone. The idea of a friendly twinning of cities in other countries began with the first city partnership between Klagenfurt and
Wiesbaden, Germany, as early as 1930. This was followed up by numerous city partnerships, with the result that in 1968, Klagenfurt was honoured with the title of "European City of the Year". Klagenfurt has also been awarded the prestigious
Europa Nostra Diploma of Merit (an award for the exemplary restoration and redevelopment of its ancient centre) a total of three times, which is a record for a European city. In 1973, Klagenfurt absorbed four more adjacent municipalities: Viktring, with its
grand Cistercian monastery; Wölfnitz; Hörtendorf; and St. Peter am Bichl. The addition of these municipalities increased the population of Klagenfurt to about 90,000. ==Geography==