Historical Overview

Timeline

As early as the Bronze and Iron Ages folk are settling at the strategically important Danube crossing at Mautern

1st Century | A Roman military camp (Favianis) is established, initially of wood and earth construction.

100 | The 2nd Batavorum Cohort is quartered in Favianis, followed 10 years later by the 1st Aelia Brittonum Millaria Cohort.  Both groups belong to the auxiliary troops recruited by the Romans. 

180 | Destruction of the fortifications and settlement during the Marcomannic Wars.

300 | The 1st Noricorum Legio is stationed in Favianis.

450 | Severin von Noricum, "Saint Severin", founds a monastery here.

482 | Severin dies in his monastery near Mautern on 8th January.

511 | The church writer Eugippius publishes "Vita Sancti Sverini", a biography of Severin that very vividly depicts his life and work in Noricum.

893 | Mautern passes into the possession of the Kremsmunster seminary and the patronage of the Agapits Church (Nikolaihof).

9th Century | Mautern is mentioned in the Fuldaer Annalen (Fulda Chronicles) as a "civitas mutarensis" (a toll gathering settlement).

902/906 | Mautern is mentioned in the Raffelstettener Zollordnung (Raffelstetten Customs Regulations) as a customs post in the eastern region of Franconia-Bavaria.

985-991 | Mautern passes into the possession of the Bishopric of Passau.

11th Century | The Parish Church of St Stephen's is established.

1083 | Bishop Altman of Passau founds the Göttweig seminary.

1137 | The Mautern Exchange Treaty "Tauschvertrag zu Mautern" between the Bishop of Passau and the Margrave Leopold 4th is signed, leading to the building of St Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna.

13th Century | A first written version of the Nibelungenlieds appears; on her bridal journey to the east Krimhild passes through "Mutaren" (Mautern) and it is here that she bids farewell to Bishop Pilgrim.

1276-79 | King Rudolf I grants civil liberties, rights to build castles and establishes the high court.

14th Century | The daughter church of St John's in Hundsheim is mentioned as a pilgrimage church.

1463 | First records of the building of a wooden bridge ("the wooden grating") over the Danube between Mautern and Stein.

1467 | Town coat of arms granted by Emperor Friedrich III.

16th Century | Almost all of the inhabitants of Mautern convert to the reformed teachings of Martin Luther.

17th Century | Under pressure from the Counter Reformation the protestants of Mautern are forced to renounce their protestant faith or leave the town.

1645-46 | While Krems and Stein are being occupied by Swedish troops, the emperor's troops successfully defend the town of Mautern after the destruction of the wooden Danube bridge.

1695-96 | St Stephen's church is reappointed in Baroque style by the architect Carlo Antonio Carlone.

1734 | The Passau-owned domain of Mautern is sold to the Schönborn family.

1805 | French soldiers are taken prisoner in Mautern as they attempt to flee downstream by boat after the Battle of Loiben.

1848 | As Emperor Ferdinand and his family, complete with military escort, flee the capital during the turmoil of the Vienna October Revolution, they pass over the Danube Bridge at Stein-Mautern.  A little later Hans Kudlich, a member of the imperial council, is arrested on the bridge, charged with revolutionary activity.

1866 | Fearing the approach of the victorious Prussian troops at the Battle of Königgrätz the wooden Danube Bridge is set alight.

1895 | Completion of the steel girder bridge over the Danube, linking the towns of Stein and Mautern.

1907 | A catastrophic fire destroys large sections of the castle in Mautern.

1913 | The Town of Mautern acquires Schönborn Castle complete with all its lands.

1938 | As from August 1st 1938, after the annexation of Austria by the German Reich, the communities of Mautern, Mauternbach and Baumgarten are forced into being incorporated into the Nazi regional capital of Krems.  The military infrastructure is subsequently massively expanded by the German air force.  However the planned barracks building project is only partially completed. 

1938-1945 | The few remaining Jews living in Mautern, together with the residents of the local district old people's home who were deemed "unworthy" to live, become victims of the criminal policies of National Socialism.

1945, 17th April | Soviet planes bomb the town with some 30 civilian and military fatalities.

1945, 8th May | With the arrival of the first units of the Red Army in the early hours of the morning the town of Mautern is liberated from Nazi tyranny.

1945, 30th September | Ceremonial reopening of the Stein-Mautern road bridge that had been blown up by the German army at the end of the war and rebuilt by the Soviets using prisoners of war.  In attendance were Chancellor Karl Renner and representatives of the four occupying powers.

1948, 1st January | Mautern, Mauternbach and Baumgarten once again become independent communities.

1955, 6th September | The last of the occupying Soviet soldiers leave Mautern.  Austria regains its liberty.

1957 | Laying of the foundation stone for the Austrian Army's Julius Raab Barracks.

1970 | The community of Baumgarten is incorporated into the town of Mautern.

1972 | Mauternbach und its district of Hundsheim are likewise incorporated into Mautern.

1985 | The Römerhalle is opened for public use and events.

2000 | UNESCO grants the cultural landscape of the Wachau, including large parts of the parish of Mautern, World Heritage Site status.

2009 | Work begins on flood prevention measures along the Danube in the Hundsheim district.

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