Bregenz : Austria
Bregenz is the capital of Vorarlberg, the westernmost federal state of Austria. The town is located on the shores of Lake Constance, the largest freshwater lake in Europe. It is especially famous for the annual summer music festival Bregenzer Festspiele. This renowned festival takes place on and around a stage on Lake Constance, where a different opera is performed every second year. Other landmarks of Bregenz are Martins Tower, St. Gallus Church, the Art House, the Post Office Building and the Lake Promenade.
The city is situated on the eastern shores of Lake Constance, on a plateau falling in a series of terraces to the lake at the foot of Pfnder mountain. It is a junction of the arterial roads from the Rhine valley to the German Alpine foothills, with cruise ship services on Lake Constance.
Local Businesses and Services
Bregenz is the seat of the Vorarlberg provincial government (Landtag), home of most provincial authorities (e.g. school supervisor, police headquarters), department of human resources development (AMS), the police headquarters for the province of Vorarlberg, Office for Environmental Protection, consulates of Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Turkey, Chamber of Labour, Economics Chamber, Chamber of Agriculture, Chamber of Pharmacists, military regional headquarters, military garrison, on of the main hospitals of the province (Landeskrankenhaus) as well as a sanatorium, farmers’ health and social insurance office, VLV (Mutual Fire Insurance Institute). Schools: 4 Gymnasium secondary schools, commercial college (HAK), technical college (HTL), upper secondary business schools (Hhere Lehranstalt fr wirtschaftliche Berufe), 3 Berufsschulen vocational schools, crafts colleges, Academy of Social Sciences, nursing school; adult education centre, school boarding houses, provincial archives, provincial library, provincial museum, Kunsthaus Bregenz (modern arts centre), Knstlerhaus art centre – Thurn und Taxis Palace, 5 monasteries, Heimatwerk (autonomous institution fostering the manufacturing of traditional craft products, etc.), various newspapers, Festival and Congress centre, Theater am Kornmarkt, casino, harbour for sailing boats and yachts, cable car up the Pfnder mountain. Economic structure (14,769 employed people in 1991) mainly dominated by small businesses in the service, trade and industry sectors: textile industry (Wolford AG), iron-fittings manufactory (Julius Blum GmbH), glass processing and machine construction. Bi-seasonal tourism, a major attraction is the Bregenz Festival (since 1946, floating stage since 1949, modernised in 1979, Festival and Congress Hall in 1980), winter sports at the Pfnder mountain.
