Feldkirch, the 800-year-old town, has a lot to offer
An eventful history, an exciting present and a promising future.
City history Over time
The first mention of an "Ecclesia St. Petri ad campos", a church by the fields, appears in a deed of ownership. The village of Altenstadt grew up around the solitary "Feldkirch", today's Petronilla Chapel, and its inhabitants can rightly boast that they live in the very heart of the settlement. However, the centre shifted over time and Altenstadt was incorporated in 1925. Only the ghost of history does not forget and still tells anyone who pricks up their ears about its faded splendour.
Around 1200 | Count Hugo I von Montfort founds the town with 50 farmsteads in a convenient location.
1218 | Count Hugo I founds the Johanniter monastery with the Johanniter church and the first hospital.
1265 | The first part of Schattenburg Castle, the mighty keep, is completed.
1375 | The childless Count Rudolf V von Montfort sells the town and castle to the Habsburgs for 30,000 guilders. He remains in office as bailiff until his death in 1390.
1510 | Emperor Maximilian visits Feldkirch, pays homage to the wine and the Countess of Helfenstein. From this time onwards, the "Bläsi" strikes the hours at St John's Church.
1515 | The heyday of humanism begins in Feldkirch with scholars such as Georg Joachim Rheticus, Achilles Pirmin Gasser, Ulrich Ellenbog, Hieronymus Münzer and the Hummelberger brothers.
1605 | Capuchin monastery and church are consecrated.
1649 | Martha Lochbüchlerin is tortured and sentenced in the last witch trial. She dies in prison before the public execution.
1647 | Feldkirch is occupied by the Swedes and has to pay high taxes to prevent the town and castle from being razed. People feel extremely bitter towards the Swedes.
1697 | 150 houses fall victim to the biggest town fire in history.
1768 | Under Empress Maria Theresa, Feldkirch loses the privileges granted by Count Rudolf V in the Great Charter of Freedom.
1799 | Baron Franz von Jellachich defeats the French troops under General Massena during their attack on Feldkirch.
1856 | The Jesuits found the Stella Matutina grammar school, which later becomes internationally renowned. The most famous pupil is Arthur Conan Doyle, who learns German here in 1875.
1864 | Josef Gasser is the last delinquent to be hanged in the forest of Göfis.
1919 | Emperor Karl I leaves Austria via Feldkirch after his abdication. Stefan Zweig describes the depressing scene in his autobiography.
1938 | Feldkirch railway station, well guarded by the Nazis, becomes a place of destiny for many people as an escape route to neutral Switzerland.
1943 | 200 people lose their lives in a bombing raid. The Antoniushaus used as a military hospital, the teacher training college and several private houses are destroyed.
1977 | The Vorarlberg State Conservatory is founded.
2008 | James Bond chases evil through Marktgasse in "Quantum of Solace".
2012 | The ground-breaking ceremony for the new Montforthaus takes place. Citizens follow the construction of the futuristic event centre with excitement.
2015 | The Montforthaus, Feldkirch's new cultural and congress centre, opens its doors.
2018 | Feldkirch celebrates 800 years of town charter.