Gurk

	GURK Country: Austria State: Kärnten District : Sankt Veit an der Glan Loading map... {"minzoom":false,"maxzoom":false,"mappingservice":"leaflet","width":"250px","height":"250px","centre":false,"title":"","label":"","icon":"","lines":[],"polygons":[],"circles":[],"rectangles":[],"copycoords":false,"static":false,"zoom":7,"defzoom":14,"layers":["OpenStreetMap"],"image layers":[],"overlays":[],"resizable":false,"fullscreen":false,"scrollwheelzoom":true,"cluster":false,"clustermaxzoom":20,"clusterzoomonclick":true,"clustermaxradius":80,"clusterspiderfy":true,"geojson":"","clicktarget":"","imageLayers":[],"locations":[{"text":"","title":"","link":"","lat":46.87429999999999807869244250468909740447998046875,"lon":14.2885000000000008668621376273222267627716064453125,"icon":""}],"imageoverlays":null}

Official blazon
German	In Blau eine goldene, langgestreckte romanische Basilika mit zwei barock behelmten Türmen; das Langhaus ist von einer Biedermeierwaage überhöht.
English	blazon wanted

Origin/meaning

The arms were officially granted on February 20, 1969 and again on June 8, 1973.

From the Middle Ages on, a bishop resided at Gurk to take care of the Carinthian parts of the archdiocese of Salzburg. A beautiful Cathedral was built at Gurk, a well-known example of the Romanesque style in Austria.

According to tradition, St. Hemma, the non-official patron-saint of Carinthia, supervised the building personally. It is said that every labourer received his just wages - even when he tried to grab more than his due out of the money-bag at the accounting table.

The arms refer to this tradition, depicting the Cathedral at Gurk.

From around 1900-1969 the town used rather different arms, based on the arms of the local cathedral chapter, see below.

Image gallery

Seal from around 1920

Literature : Image provided by Karl Palfrader (k.palfrader@aon.at)

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