Melk

Melk
Melk Abbey
Coat of arms of Melk
Melk is located in Austria
Melk
Melk
Location within Austria
Coordinates: 48°14′N 15°21′E / 48.233°N 15.350°E / 48.233; 15.350
CountryAustria
StateLower Austria
DistrictMelk
Government
 • MayorPatrick Strobl (ÖVP)
Area
 • Total25.7 km2 (9.9 sq mi)
Elevation
213 m (699 ft)
Population
 (2018-01-01)[2]
 • Total5,529
 • Density220/km2 (560/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
3390
Area code0 27 52
Vehicle registrationME
Websitewww.melk.gv.at Edit this at Wikidata

Melk (German pronunciation: [mɛlk] ; older spelling: Mölk) is a city in the Austrian state of Lower Austria, next to the Wachau valley along the Danube. Melk has a population of 5,257 (as of 2012). It is best known as the site of a massive baroque Benedictine monastery named Melk Abbey.

The town is first mentioned as Medilica in 831 in a donation of Louis the German; the name is from a Slavic word for 'border.'[3] The area around Melk was given to Leopold I, Margrave of Austria, in the year 976 to serve as a buffer between the Magyars to east and Bavaria to the west. In 996 mention was first made of an area known as Ostarrîchi, which is the origin of the word Österreich (German for Austria). The bluff which holds the current monastery held a Babenberger castle until the site was given to Benedictine monks from nearby Lambach by Leopold II, in 1089. Melk received market rights in 1227 and became a municipality in 1898. In a very small area, Melk presents a great deal of architectural variety from many centuries.

  1. ^ "Dauersiedlungsraum der Gemeinden Politischen Bezirke und Bundesländer - Gebietsstand 1.1.2018". Statistics Austria. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  2. ^ "Einwohnerzahl 1.1.2018 nach Gemeinden mit Status, Gebietsstand 1.1.2018". Statistics Austria. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  3. ^ Johannes Binder, Travelling on the Danube (DDSG, 1987), p. 112.