english profile

Information about the community

History:

Kremsmünster has been a regional centre for more than 1200 years. In the year 777 the monastery Kremsmünster was founded by the Bavarian duke Tassilo. It is the oldest monastery of Upper Austria and the Benedictine who are still living here today are the successors of the first monks. The Benedictine monastery accomodates outstanding art treasures such as Tassilo’s Chalice and Candlesticks, early manuscripts and antique books. For centuries it has been the spiritual centre of our region and continues to stimulate intellectual and artistic activities. The observatory (Sternwarte), built from 1748 to 1758, was originally intended as a universal museum and is the oldest high-rise building in Europe (54m). The “Gymnasium”, founded in 1549, was one of the first grammar schools established in Central Europe and continues to be an educational institution of supra-regional importance.

Location:

Kremsmünster is situated at the foothills of the Alps in the valley of the Krems river about 40 km from Linz and 100 km from Salzburg. Therefore Kremsmünster is today a tourism and economic municipality and offers to the visitors an abundance of worthwhile trip targets. Thus today 6.500 inhabitants live on a surface of 42,1 square km in Kremsmünster. It is situated in 345 m sea-height.

Kremsmünster – today:

The community today has about 6.500 inhabitants and is both attractive as a location for industrial SME’s (e.g. Greiner Automotive Technology, Vetropack glass production) and as a holiday resort for the nearby cities (cultural events, hiking, riding, etc.). More than 200 companies are responsible for the economic growth in the last 20 years. In addition, Kremsmünster offers 4 nursery schools, 3 primary schools, 1 extended elementary school, 1 grammar school and a vocational school for joinery.

Kremsmünster – the “trend-setter”:

In terms of telecommunication projects Kremsmünster is well known as one of the most innovative municipalities in Austria. Together with software companies and other levels of administrations Kremsmünster has always been a pioneer in the introduction of new telecommunication technologies. Kremsmünster has already been involved in several national projects as well as in EU RTD projects (such as TeleRegions SUN – II). In these projects Kremsmünster usually takes the roles and pilot implentations of newly developped applications. Kremsmünster is seen as one of the “trend setters” in the field of e-government of regional administrations in Austria.

Public authority – General information

Apart from the local authorities Kremsmünster also offers a police station, a notary, several lawyers offices and a post office. Since 2003 there is no more court in Kremsmünster, this works are done now in Kirchdorf. The members of the local authorities (photo) took care to make the local authority more interesting and customer-friendly.

Education

Of course there is the principle in Kremsmünster which says that the adults should be educated permanently and that the children should be integrated into culture event programmes. So the guiding principle says: “ The education with this in mind of the permanent, comprehensive development from the baby to the adults is a particular request of the local authority.” or “The culture concerns everybody and is an essential part of lifequality in Kremsmünster”. Nevertheless in practise “education” is reserved for children and “culture” for adults. Both of this two principals are represented in the municipality. This picture shows our mayor in the kindergarten.

Educational institution:

(in brackets the numbers of children) • 5 Caritas-kindergardens: Stift, Kremsegg, Krühub, Schulzentrum and Markt (all together about 190 children) • 3 elementary schools: Kirchberg (83), Krühub (35), and Markt (232) • 1 secondary modern school: Markt (217) • 1 grammar school: Stift (300) • 1 vocational school for joinery in Kirchberg (248) • 1 music school: Markt (600) • 1 adult education programme • After-school-care centre (since 9th September 2002) in the elementary school Markt All together there are more than 1 700 pupils in Kremsmünster.

Cultural Institutions:

• museum, showrooms at the monastery and in the Kremsegg castle.

• culture centre cinema and the culture society “AUSSERDEM”

• theatre at the Tötenhengst and the “Dilettanten-club” 1812

• gallery at the Tötenhengst and the painter Franz de Paul Armbruster

• 2 libraries: local library and parish library

Big cultural arrangements:

• concerts at the “Kaisersaal” in the monastery

• different arrangements at the Kremsegg castle

• bordun music celebrations

• annual concerts with national and international acts (e.g. Rainhard Fendrich, STS-Open-Air, ....)

Leisure time and tourism

Nature: very long walking, hiking and biking ways (e.g. Wolfgangway, Adalbert-Stifter-cultureway), Muststreet, recreation area, Schacherponds, as well fishing, camping, riding and swimming.

Sports: TUS (gymnastic - and sportsclub Kremsmünster) with different sections: badminton, football, fistball, track-and-field sports, tennis, gymnastics, volleyball, baseball and Tae Kwon Do. Sport arrangements: open air swimming pool, gymnasium, sports grounds (Schulstraße), fistballground (Hofwiese), baseballground (Hofwiese), TUS-tennisground (Hofwiese), tenniscentre Stadlhuber (Linzer Straße), covered court and open air tennis places at the Kremsegg castle, gymnastic way, riding court Galtbrunner (Dirnberg 7), massage-gymnastic Theresia Obermayr (Hauptstraße 25).

Culture: The most popular places at Kremsmünster are the monastery and the (Sternwarte) observatory (about 30.000 visitors a year) and the Kremsegg castle with the instrument-museum (about 25.000 visitors a year).

Arrive: From where in Europe you come, our route-planner www.tiscover.com will help you find the shortest or fastest way. At this page you will also get more information about tourism in Kremsmünster.

Leisure time and clubs

More than 110 associations enrich the social life in Kremsmünster in the ambits of culture, sport, nature, society and so on. The picture at the right side shows the traditional market band which isn’t only a presentable picture but also has produced a perfect web side. The entry and maintenance of the statements is left to each club. Catering trade/gastronomy The market lived in those days of high repute of his restaurants. They dominated the picture of the village and were important meeting places. Often they seemed to be more attractive than any other shop. Also if the number of restaurants today is lower than 50 years ago, the quality has increased a lot. Eating and drinking mean of course more than being full and not being thirsty anymore. For an overnight stay or a longer stay there is also more than one sleeping quarter necessary. The old sociability at the native catering trade stayed: The warmth and cleverness of the hosts, the conversations and jokes, the meetings without obligation and the regulars’ table. An old motto says: “Where you sing, there let’s stay.” At the restaurants in Kremsmünster it happens very often that music will be played. The refreshing initiative “Kremsmünster has LOKALkultur” provides that. There native musicians play at different restaurants and pubs. Sociable, spontaneous, warm, and with best quality!

november 2006