History

The earliest traces of human colonization lead back to Neolithicum. Continuity of settlements
developped  from the middle of century 1 st with the foundation of a Roman fort for auxiliary forces, the most western one in the province of Pannonia.

Numerous archeological excavations give proof of Roman life and colonization at this locality until the fifth century, but the name of that fort remained unknown in our times. Provable settlement of this high plateau resumed in  century 11 th .

In 1113 the town obtained major importance when Margrave Leopold III. established an imposing seat of court there. Leopold III., who was married to Agnes, daughter of Emperor Henry IV., raised his new residence at the outskirts of the “Upper Town” – a residence suitable to his position as a sovereign, in structure as well as in dimensions. In the year 1114 Leopold III. celebrated the corner-stone ceremony for a monumental monastery. This church originally was a council for secular canons and was not turned into an Augustinus canon monastery before 1133. It was at that time that Klosterneuburg achieved an extension which it maintained for centuries after. The river Danube meant a severe threat for the inhabitants of this settlement, but at the same time it was its main spring, as commercial goods were mostly transported by water. Frequent flood disasters forced settlers from across the Danube to move more and more up country, so that at the beginning of century 13 th  the two quarters had grown apart. This natural separation caused big difficulties for the citizens, which could not be kept secret from Albrecht I., who let build a new castle for his residence at Neuburg in 1288. In the year 1298 Albrecht I. divided the two quarters and granted a new freedom of the city to “Neuburg klosterhalben”, the older part of the original centre.

The poorly protected “Lower Town” which was hard to defend therefore, had to be abandoned to hostile sieges again and again. It was pillaged and destroyed several times, only the population was saved by placing it under the protection of the “Upper Town”. This was of special importance during the Osman sieges of 1529 and 1683. It was mainly due to two canons and to the intense solidarisation between monastery and town that this city could resist until the end in 1683 despite its weak forces and thus was able to provide an important flank protection during the approach of the united Christian army for the relief of Vienna.

In the years 1805 and 1809 the town was occupied by French troops, and on the twentieth of December 1805 Napoleon stayed at Klosterneuburg monastery for a short while.

In the middle of century 19 th  Klosterneuburg still was a secluded small town of wine-growers of approximately five thousand inhabitants. As a result of the improvement of traffic conditions on the way to Vienna many Viennese officials and workers chose Klosterneuburg for their new residence. In the thirties Klosterneuburg already referred to more than fifteen thousand inhabitants.

For Klosterneuburg the “annexation” to the German Reich meant not only Austria´s loss of sovereignty but also Klosterneuburg´s loss of independence. The town became incorporated to an extended Vienna on October 15 th  1938 and from then onward Klosterneuburg, Gugging, Kierling, Höflein, Kritzendorf, Weidling, and Weidlingbach jointly represented the 26 th district of Vienna.

In July 1946 the Austrian National Assembly decided to reincorporate 80 communities to Lower Austria. But the Allied Council refused its consent to this law for many years, so that the reincorporation could not be executed until September 1 st 1954. The entire territories of the formerly independent communities ( before October 15 th 1938 ) Gugging, Kierling, Höflein, Kritzendorf, Weidling, and Weidlingbach became integrated into the reinstated municipality of Klosterneuburg. This way Klosterneuburg became third largest town of Lower Austria.