Dornbirn, Austria

Dornbirn is a city of roughly 44,000 inhabitants in the province of Vorarlberg in Austria, at 47°25′ N 9°44′ E, near the borders to Switzerland, Germany and Liechtenstein. The Dornbirner Ach river flows through the city and later into the Lake of Constance.

The largest and busiest city in Vorarlberg, Dornbirn is an important commercial center and shopping mecca. The regional ORF (Austrian Broadcasting Institution), the Fachhochschule (University of Applied Sciences), the Higher Technical Vocational College (HTL) and many large companies are situated there. The city used to be a major centre of the textiles industry, which has been in decline since the 1980s.

Dornbirn is also the name of a county, which also includes the township Lustenau and the city of Hohenems.

History

The name "Dornbirn" derives from 'torrin puirron', meaning the 'Settlement of Torro' (the name of an Alemannic farmer living there and thus has nothing to do with "pears" (German "Birnen"), although this fruit is prominently portrayed on the city emblem.

This name is mentioned for the first time in 895, in a document from St. Gallen (Switzerland). Dornbirn became part of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1380. In 1793 it was elevated to a market community. It was not given municipal status until 1901. In 1932 the mountain village of Ebnit was added. In 1969 Dornbirn became the seat of the new Dornbirn district administrative authority.