Döbling () is the 19th district in the city of Vienna, Austria (). It is located in the north of Vienna, north of the districts Alsergrund and Währing. Döbling has some heavily populated urban areas with many residential buildings, and borders the Vienna Woods. Statistik Austria, 2008, website: (in German: population is "Einwohner"). Wien.gv.at webpage (see below: References). It includes some of the most expensive residential areas such as Grinzing, Sievering, and Neustift am Walde, and is home to many Heurigen taverns. There are some large Gemeindebauten, including Vienna's most famous, the Karl-Marx-Hof.
Geography
Location Döbling is located in the northwest of Vienna and spans the slope of the Wienerwald (Vienna Woods) to the Danube and the Donaukanal () that make up the border of the district in the east. The Danube forms the border between Döbling and the district Floridsdorf, and the Canal forms the border to the district Brigittenau. At the Gürtel Bridge, crossing the Donaukanal, the district border turns southwest and separates Döbling in the south along Gürtel Road () from the district Alsergrund. At Schrottenbachgasse the district turns towards the northwest and separates Döbling from the district Währing along the line Währinger Park–Hasenauerstraße–Peter-Jordan-Straße–Starkfriedgasse–Sommerhaidenweg. There is then a short stretch of border to the district Hernals at the edge of Vienna. In the northwest, the district borders on the municipality of Klosterneuburg, Lower Austria.
Nearly 32.6% of the Döbling district area is urban (compared to Vienna citywide as 33.3%). Of this, 85.2% is for housing, whilst only 2.2% of the district is taken up by businesses, which is very low compared to other districts (Vienna 7.6%). With 51.8% of the district green space (48.3% for Vienna), Döbling is the fifth greenest district of Vienna. Agricultural land accounts for 14.9% of district land, with vineyards playing the biggest role around Grinzing, Nußdorf, Sievering, Neustift am Walde, and Salmannsdorf. A further 25.4% of the district is forested, plus 5.3% for meadows, 2.7% for small gardens, 2.5% for parks, and 0.9% as sports and recreational areas. Of the remaining district territory, 11.0% is taken up by transportation and 4.6% by bodies of water. While the proportion of water is higher in relation to the whole city of Vienna, the proportion of transportation is lower.
Hills Since the Vienna Woods make up a large portion of Döbling, numerous forested hills of Vienna are located within the district limits. Many lie on the border with Lower Austria and the neighboring districts. The highest summit is Hermannskogel (542 m, 1778 ft;) with an outlook tower; however, the symbols of Döbling are Kahlenberg (484 m, 1588 ft) with an outlook and a radio mast, and nearby Leopoldsberg (427 m, 1401 ft). Other hills in this region are: Reisenberg, Latisberg, Vogelsangberg, Dreimarkstein, and Nussberg. Besides, there are hills in partially built-up areas in Döbling, such as Hohe Warte in Heiligenstadt, Hungerberg in Grinzing, and Hackenberg in Sievering.
Watercourses In the district, numerous streams originate, but are now mostly canalized or led underground in pipes. Originally they all flowed, with the exception of the Waldbach (forest stream), into the Danube Canal. Because the catchment areas of the streams lie in the sandstone zone of the Viennese forest, the streams can and were able to swell to a multiple of their normal water quantity, leading again and again to destructive flood waters, especially along the Krottenbach. Krottenbach was the most important stream in Döbling, and is now almost entirely led in pipes. In the area behind Billrothstraße Federal Secondary School, it absorbs the Arbesbach (Erbsenbach) stream that runs through Sievering, in its upper reaches still flowing openly until Obersievering.
Nesselbach passes to the Krapfenwaldl openly, before it unites underground with the Reisenbergbach stream in Grinzing. Reisenbergbach stream passes openly until shortly before the center of Grinzing. Almost entirely in the open, the Schreiberbach stream passes up to Nußdorf, as does the Waldbach stream at Kahlenbergerdorf.
The Döblinger Bach stream that originally sprang in the Cottage area and flowed into the Danube Canal at Spittelau has entirely disappeared because its water has been diverted.
District sectors
Döbling was composed of these formerly independent municipalities: Grinzing Heiligenstadt Josefsdorf Kahlenbergerdorf Neustift am Walde Nußdorf Oberdöbling Salmannsdorf Sievering Unterdöbling.
History
Etymology Döbling was first mentioned in 1114 as "de Teopilic". The name derives from the Slavic * topl'ika ("swampy waters" or "swampy place").Heinz D. Pohl: Slawische und slowenische (alpenslawische) Ortsnamen in Österreich The name "Döbling" relates to the lake of the Krottenbach stream, while further possibility of interpretation derives from Old Slavic Toplica ( "warm stream"). Later spellings of the place-name were for example Toblich, Töbling and Tepling. In the formation of the district 1890/92, the name was finally "Döbling", from the largest municipality, Oberdöbling, in the incorporated district.
Döbling in antiquity The district Döbling had been inhabited over 5,000 years ago, with the area Döbling–Nußdorf–Heiligenstadt (aside from the area Simmering-Landstraße) probably as oldest settlement area in the Vienna area. Known is that on the Leopoldsberg hill, an armed village with a fortified tower existed where the inhabitants of surrounding villages took refuge in the case of risk. Little is known about the residents of that time; science refers to them as members of "Donauländische" (Danube-land) culture. They were not, however, Indo-Germanic. Indo-European peoples only arrived into the Vienna area one thousand years later, when the resident population mixed with the immigrant Illyrians and Celtic people.
In the last years of the 1st century BC, the Vienna area became part of the Roman Empire. Starting in 9 AD, it belonged to Pannonia province. The activities of the Romans, at the current site of Döbling, are documented by several findings, such as: in Heiligenstadt, a fortified tower of the limes (border wall); in Sievering, a Mithraeum temple was found; and excavations in Heiligenstadt's church revealed a Roman cemetery. In Sievering, a great quarry existed in Roman times, with a large worker settlement.
A major source of subsistence of the population was wine growing, which presumably already had been done before the Romans arrived. Otherwise, the people practised agriculture for their own needs.
Döbling in the Middle Ages After the Romans left, little is known about further development of the villages in the area. The first mentions of the villages date back to the 12th century. Gradually, the later communities of Unterdöbling, Oberdöbling, Heiligenstadt, Nussdorf, Sievering, Kahlenbergerdorf, Josefsdorf, Salmannsdorf, and Neustift am Walde formed in the district area. There were also other settlements at times. In the 13th century there was a place called Chlaitzing (Glanzing) on the south-west slope of Hackenberg, about which only vineyards but no houses were mentioned in 1330. Along Hackhofergasse there was a small, one-line street village called Altes Urfar. Finally, there was even a place called Kogelbrunn on Hermannskogel in 1200, which was last mentioned in 1417.
Döbling in the Modern Era The villages of Döbling were devastated several times during modern times. When the siege of Vienna by the army of Matthias Corvinus began in 1482, his soldiers also plundered the surrounding villages. In 1529, too, Turkish soldiers overran the villages of Döbling during the first Turkish siege of Vienna, killing numerous residents and kidnapping many as slaves. However, while the churches were looted, most of the villages survived. The Thirty Years' War also brought economic hardship. The slump in wine exports and the tax increases led to a severe impoverishment of the population. The great plague epidemic in 1679 claimed just as many victims in the villages as the second Turkish siege of Vienna that began in the summer of 1683. On July 13, the Ottoman vanguard, the Tatars, stormed and plundered the villages of Döbling. The liberation of Vienna was ultimately decided in the Battle of Kahlenberg on September 12, when the relief army, led by Jan Sobieski, advanced over the heights of the Vienna Woods in the rear of the Turkish besiegers.
In 1713 the plague came to Vienna again, with the towns of Sievering and Grinzing being particularly hard hit. While the numerous destructions and victims of the plague had hampered the development of the district area for a long time, a steady rise began in the second half of the 18th century. Due to the hilly terrain, large forested areas spread between the creeks and villages throughout the district, used as hunting grounds by the nobility. The topology also attracted wine growers. This combination increased the prosperity of the suburb, as noblemen built villas and hunting lodges whilst the burghers of Vienna relaxed at the Heurigen wine-gardens. The existing villages expanded, as the population increased. Oberdöbling in particular became attractive for the nobility and the Viennese citizens. Those who could afford it built a second home here. Similar to Hietzing, which benefited from its proximity to Schönbrunn Palace, the cornerstone for a special development of the suburb was laid here. Between 1765 and 1786, five new streets were built in Oberdöbling and four hunting lodges were built in what is now the area of the district.
The abolition of numerous orders by Joseph II also had an effect on the manors in Döbling. The confiscated assets of the Camaldolese (Kahlenberg), the Tulln nunnery (Oberdöbling) and the Gaming monastery (Untersievering) were used to set up the parishes of Nussdorf and Grinzing as well as the creation of the Döbling cemetery could be financed. The town of Josefsdorf also owes its existence to the abolition of the Camaldolese monastery on Kahlenberg. Through the parish reform of Joseph II, the parishes of Oberdöbling, Nussdorf and Neustift am Walde, which were now independent of Heiligenstadt, gained their independence.
Döbling in the 19th century The Napoleonic Wars brought difficult times for the region. After the victory in the Battle of Ulm in 1805, the French army advanced to Vienna and the soldiers plundered the villages. Following the failed campaign against Bavaria, the French advanced again to Vienna in 1809, and so the communities were plundered again and had to feed the French soldiers.
After the Congress of Vienna, the regular surveying of the Döbling area began. The operations lasted from 1817 to 1819 and ended with the introduction of the cadastral communities and the fixing of the borders between the localities. The growth now ensured an initial upswing in trade and industry in the rural villages. At the same time, the villages of Döbling became popular excursion destinations for the Viennese. Above all, the Heurigen taverns and the Nussdorf brewery attracted visitors from Vienna and its suburbs.
During the Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire, Döbling remained on the fringes of events. On October 20, 1848, the district area was occupied by imperial troops, who built a bridge across the Danube from Nussdorf and shelled the opposite bank.