Regau

Infobox Ort in Österreich
Art = Marktgemeinde
Name = Regau
Wappen = Wappen_at_regau.pnglat_deg = 47 | lat_min = 59 | lat_sec = 31
lon_deg = 13 | lon_min = 41 | lon_sec = 17
Bundesland = Oberösterreich
Bezirk = Vöcklabruck
Höhe = 429
Fläche = 34
Einwohner = 6000
Stand = 2008-03-06
PLZ = 4844
Vorwahl = 07672
Kfz = VB
Gemeindekennziffer = 4 17 31
NUTS = AT312
Straße = Regau 9
Website = [http://www.regau.at www.regau.at]
Bürgermeister = Peter Harringer
Bürgermeistertitel = Bürgermeister
Partei = ÖVP
Gemeinderatanzahl = 31
Gemeinderat = 12 ÖVP, 11 SPÖ, 5 Grüne,
3 FPÖ
Wahljahr = 2003
image_photo = Regauermarktplatz.gif
Bildbeschreibung1 = Der Regauer Marktplatz

Regau is a municipality in Austria near Vöcklabruck, which is the capital of the region. This Upper Austrian municipality has 6,000 inhabitants of which about 700 live in the village of Regau itself.

Geography and population

Regau is bordered on the north by the river Ager. Another important body of water is the Baggersee, an artificial lake where many people like to stay in summer for swimming or other sports. Regau's football stadium, used by the Union Regau, is located nearby.

The municipality is composed of 36 smaller villages of which Schalchham with more than 1000 inhabitants is the largest. Other important villages are of course Regau, Rutzenmoos (a predominantly protestant village with a church), Wankham, and the Lixlau.

About 53,5% of Regau's area is used for agriculture, another third is covered by forests.

History

Regau's was first mentioned in a deed more than 1200 years ago, in 800 CE. At that time, Regau was the seat of the "Earls of Rebegau" Their castle is thought to have been near the village of "Burgstall" (translated: castle stable), which still exists.

The origin of the name Regau was the Latin "Repagauve"; later, this became "Rebengau" in German. Over time, this name was shortened and nowadays the municipality is called "Regau". All its names show that Regau once was famous for viniculture.

From the twelfth century Regau has been part of the Duchy of Austria, before that it was part of Bavaria. Since 1490 Regau has been part of the princedom "Austria above the Enns", today called Upper Austria, of which Regau has been a part since 1918.

June, 28th of 1981 Regau was officially given a coat of arms. In 2000 Regau was elevated from village to "market". (In Austria there are three different kinds of municipalities: villages, "markets" and cities.)

Culture and Sights

Rutzenmoos is the home of the "Protestant Museum of Upper Austria"

In Regau there are many traditional associations such as:
* The "Regau civil guard"
* The "Regau civil guard's band"
* a group of "Goldhauben"

and one society for contemporary culture, which is named "Treffpunkt Kulturverein Regau".

Moreover there are many other societies.

There are three churches in Regau:
* "St. Peter's" church in Regau's centre, a gothic building
* "St. Vitus" church in "Upper Regau"
* the protestant church of Rutzenmoos

Regau is connected to the Way of St. James.

The "Union Regau" is the municipality's most important sporting club.

External links

* [http://www.regau.at Official website of Regau]
* [http://www.treffpunktkulturverein.org Official website of the "Treffpunkt Kulturverein Regau"]