page_title: Mödling
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Mödling / History
caption_attribution_description: English: A sundial on an old building on Kostkahaus, Freiheitsplatz 6 (Freedom Square) in Mödling, Austria. The sundial is originally from the year 1503, as indicated by the painting. The sundial pictures an angel. Deutsch: Eine Sonnenuhr auf dem Kostkahaus am Freiheitsplatz 6 in Mödling, Österreich. Die Sonnenuhr stammt aus dem Jahr 1503. Abgebildet ist ein Engel. &#160; This media shows the protected monument with the number 32903 in Austria. (Commons, de, Wikidata)
context_page_description: Mödling is the capital of the Austrian district of the same name located approximately 14 km south of Vienna.
  Mödling lies in Lower Austria's industrial zone. The Mödlingbach, a brook which rises in the Vienna Woods, flows through the town. Near Achau it joins with the Schwechat. Woodland occupies a large part of the municipality, part of the Föhrenberge.
  Located immediately south of Vienna, and within the boundaries of the district of Mödling, is one of the largest shopping centres in Europe: Shopping City Süd.
context_section_description: The settlement dates back to the Neolithic era. Through the centuries, the name of the town evolved from Medilihha to Medelikch, Medling and, finally, Mödling. These names traces back to old Slavic meaning 'slowly running water'. Today there is a quaint old town with a pedestrian area. The town was the residence of a branch of the Babenberg family, as a result of which it received the nickname Babenbergerstadt ('Town of the Babenbergs').
  Traces of the first settlements of the Hallstatt culture from the Neolithic era were found on the Kalenderberg. Roman coins and a Roman burial site have been found near today's railway station.
  After Charlemagne's victory in 803 AD against the Avars, the area around Mödling was settled by settlers from Bavaria. About 500 Avar graves were found in the area of the "Goldene Stiege" (very close to today's old city).
  The first ancient document mentioning "MEDILIHHA ULTRA MONTEM COMMIGENIUM" is dated 8 September 903, when two bishops (of the then Roman Catholic church) exchanged lands. However, in 907 the settlement seems to have been destroyed again. After the Battle of Lechfeld settlement in the area of today's Mödling started again.
  After this, for some time Mödling housed a relative of the then ruling House of Babenberg. In 1177, Henry the Elder, son of Henry II Jasomirgott, became landlord in an area reaching from Liesing to Piesting and Bruck an der Leitha. You can read this in old documents kept in the nearby monastery of Heiligenkreuz. In Henry's days arts and culture dominated in the castle of Mödling; the famous minnesinger Walther von der Vogelweide stayed there more than once. The Spitalkirche and today's St. Othmar were built in the 15th century, the Karner (charnel house) in the 12th.
  Even in these times, Mödling grew grapes; after Langenlois, it was the largest grape-growing community in Lower Austria.
  In 1343, Duke Albrecht II granted the rights of a market town to Mödling.
  In 1529, the Ottomans devastated Mödling for the first time during their first siege of Vienna. In 1679, many citizens died of the Black Death. When the Ottomans came again in 1683, almost all the citizens of Mödling were killed. The second epidemic of the Black Death only brought death to 22 inhabitants, hence the survivors built the monument of the Holy Trinity (Dreifaltigkeits- or Pestsäule) at the Freiheitsplatz.
  In the early 19th century, Ludwig van Beethoven often visited his favorite pub, the Three Ravens, in Mödling.
  Arnold Schönberg lived in Mödling between 1918 and 1925, and invented his twelve-tone technique of composition there.
  On 18 November 1875, Mödling was designated a city.
  From 1883 to 1932, Mödling was the starting point of the Mödling and Hinterbrühl Tram, Austria's first electric railway and world's first long-lasting tram with overhead lines.
  In 1938, after the Anschluss with Nazi Germany, Mödling was incorporated into the newly formed 24th District of Vienna. In 1954, it became once again a part of Lower Austria.
caption: A sundial on an old building on Freiheitsplatz (Freedom Square). The sundial is originally from the year 1503, as indicated by the painting.
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