Meidling - History

History

Meidling, as a district of Vienna, was founded in 1892. It consists of five former villages: Obermeidling, Untermeidling, Gaudenzdorf, Hetzendorf and Altmannsdorf. Obermeidling and Untermeidling were one village called Meidling until 1806, when they were divided. Altmannsdorf still has its rural character.

The settlement at Meidling had been documented under the name "Murlingen" since the year 1104. Originally, the area belonged as a large part of the Klosterneuburg Abbey. In the Middle Ages, mainly farms and vineyards were operated in Meidling.

In 1755, a sulphurous source was discovered, whereupon the area and Theresienbad became a popular destination for the Viennese. At the end of the 18th century, more and more industry established itself, changing the character of the place totally. This led in 1806, to the division of the community, already quite large, into Obermeidling (upper) and Untermeidling (lower). In Untermeidling, a separate settlement developed on the former brickworks site, which was detached in 1846 under the name Wilhelmsdorf. In 1819, the suburb Gaudenzdorf had emerged along the current Vienna Belt, in which, because of the situation in Vienna, numerous dyers, tanners and launderers settled.

The place Altmannsdorf was mentioned for the first time in 1314 and had a rural character for a long time. In 1190 was the first written mention of Hetzendorf, after which Henricus von Hetzendorf received it as a feudal village. Later, it came into possession of the Klosterneuburg Abbey and the German Knights Order. In the 18th Century, the site developed into a residential colony.

On 1 January 1892, all these communities were united to the 12th Viennese community district, Meidling. As a consequence, it became a typical worker district. In the area of the Vienna Belt, many community buildings emerged in the 1920s. The zones of Hetzendorf and Altmannsdorf remained rurally stamped to be sure, but expanded dwelling plants emerged there also, after the Second World War.