Amstetten, Lower Austria

Amstetten is situated between Linz (60 km; 40 miles) and Vienna (120 km; 75 miles) on the highway and just over an hour from Vienna by highspeed-train, and lies on the river Ybbs and Url [de] as well near the Danube river.

It contains the City of Amstetten and the Amstetten boroughs of Mauer, Greinford (German: Greinsfurth), Prinebrook (German: Preinsbach), Elmsfield (German: Ulmerfeld), Hausmening and Newford (German: Neufurth).

There are traces of human settlements from the Stone Age and the Bronze Age in the area. The first permanent settlement in the area to be mentioned in written sources was Ulmerfeld, mentioned in 995. The first mention of Amstetten itself is dated to 1111. In 1858, the town was linked to the rest of Austria-Hungary by railroad. Since 1868, it has also been the seat of the local district administration.

In 1938, it was annexed by Germany. During World War II, there were two subcamps of the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp in Amstetten,^[3] one for men, and one for women.^[4] Up to 3,500 people were imprisoned in the subcamps, including Poles, Jews, Greeks, French, Soviets, Hungarians, Belgians, Romanis, Sinti, Germans, Italians, Dutch, Czechs, Slovaks and Yugoslavs.^[4] There were also one British, American, Latvian, Norwegian, Romanian, and Spanish woman each.^[4] Many prisoners were killed during an Allied bombing of the town on 20 March 1945, as they were not allowed to enter the air-raid bunkers.^[4] After the defeat of Germany in the war, it was again part of restored independent Austria.

The Doka Group, a major international producer/supplier of formwork, has their company headquarters in Amstetten.

Amstetten has a variety of schools which cater to the needs of its residents, and residents of neighbouring villages. These include a Gymnasium, HLW Amstetten and HAK Amstetten. Language learning in Amstetten is enhanced greatly by the presence of English Language Assistants from the UK and USA, who also run regular extra-curricular events in the local area.^[5] There is also a vocational boarding school for technical professions and craftsman education.

Old churches and chapels of Amstetten

St. Stephen church

St. Francis church

Sacred Heart of Jesus church

St. Leopold chapel

Amstetten has several churches. There is a small forest and a river for walking opportunities. There is an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, the 'Stadtbad', which offers attractions such as two slides, a current pool and its own park, the 'Uferpark'.^[6] There are several gyms in Amstetten as well as a dance and music school.

There is a shopping centre named CCA with clothes shops, shoe shops, a supermarket, technology shops and other amenities. Amstetten's high street has some clothes shops and several restaurants.

Johann Pölz Halle is the local concert hall where school balls, theatre performances and concerts are held.^[7] Amstetten has an annual 'Kulturwochen', a series of weeks in Autumn dedicated to Culture. This includes performances from the Amstetten Symphony Orchestra and local Amateur dramatic groups, as well as professional theatre, cabarets, story-telling, lectures and exhibitions. In Winter, Amstetten has its own Christmas Market. In Summer, a summer musical theatre made of amateurs and professionals entertains in what is called 'Musicalsummer Amstetten'.^[8]

Amstetten has a train station that is served by OEBB trains and the Westbahn trains.^[9][10] From the station, there are direct rail services to Vienna, Munich and Salzburg as well as local tourist attraction Melk.

Amstetten is twinned with:^[11]

• Alsfeld, Germany (1979)
• Ruelle-sur-Touvre, France (1992)
• Pergine Valsugana, Italy (1999)

• Theodor von Frimmel (1853–1928), art historian, musicologist and Beethoven researcher
• Friedl Czepa (1898–1973), stage, film and television actress
• Josef Fritzl (born 1935), criminal, rapist and murderer; see Fritzl case^[12]
• Helene von Damm (born 1938), American diplomat, US Ambassador to Austria
• Margit Palme (1939–2025), painter
• Jochem Schindler (1944–1994), Indo-Europeanist
• Erwin Wagenhofer (born 1961), author and filmmaker
• Paulus Hochgatterer (born 1961), writer and psychiatrist
• Michael Garschall (born 1967), theatre director
• Georg Breinschmid (born 1973), bassist, composer and jazz musician
• Gernot Wagner (born 1980), climate economist and author