experience sankt veit

Conflicts with the nobility

In the course of the 15th century, time and time again there were conflicts between the self-confident citizens of St. Veit and the Carinthian nobility which caused aggravation in 1516 when the citizens refused admission to the town to corporative mercenary units, which had been mobilised for the suppression of a peasants’ revolt on Krappfeld. The Provincial Estates were furious about this and then tried to acquire their own town; Klagenfurt, which had just been destroyed by a blaze, was ideal for that. Annulling all of its civil freedoms so far, Emperor Maximilian handed over Klagenfurt to the Carinthian Provincial Estates on 24th April 1518.

This gift started a process, in the course of which Klagenfurt received more and more functions of a capital. But nevertheless, still in 1523 the princely armoury was not established in Klagenfurt, but in St. Veit. In 1599 Ferdinand II called the Landtag (provincial parliament) to the old ducal town of St. Veit, although the newly created Landhaus building was already available for this in Klagenfurt.

Until 1529 and then again between 1622 and 1747, St. Veit held the coinage prerogative. It was only in 1754 that Empress Maria Theresa ordered the transfer of the main shops of some guilds, which were still in St. Veit, to Klagenfurt, because the main representation of each professional group would have to have its seat in the provincial capital.