Feistritz im Rosental

Feistritz im Rosental
St John parish church
Coat of arms
Feistritz im Rosental Location within Austria
Coordinates: 46°31′N 14°10′E / 46.517°N 14.167°E / 46.517; 14.167Coordinates: 46°31′N 14°10′E / 46.517°N 14.167°E / 46.517; 14.167
Country	Austria
State	Carinthia
District	Klagenfurt-Land
Government
• Mayor	Sonya Feinig (SPÖ)
Area
• Total	72.73 km2 (28.08 sq mi)
Elevation	549 m (1,801 ft)
Population (1 January 2016)
• Total	2,483
• Density	34/km2 (88/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	9181
Area code	04228
Website	www.rosengemeinde.at

Feistritz im Rosental (Slovene: Bistrica v Rožu) is a market town in the district of Klagenfurt-Land in the Austrian state of Carinthia.

It is located in the Rosental, the U-shaped valley of the Drava river north of the Karawanks mountain range along the Periadriatic Seam. The valley is named after the Carinthian noble house of Ras, who had Rosegg Castle built around 1200. It is a traditional settlement area of Carinthian Slovenes. The Karawanks in the south form the border with Upper Carniola.

The municipal area stretches from the Drava and neighbouring Ludmannsdorf beyond the river up to Mt. Stol (Hochstuhl), the highest peak of the Karawanks range at 2,236 m (7,336 ft) which can be reached via the Bärental (Rute) high valley. It comprises the cadastral communities of Feistritz (Bistrica), Gansdorf, Hundsdorf (Podsinja vas), Matschach (Mače), Suetschach (Sveče), and Weizelsdorf (Svetna vas).

Feistritz was a historic site of iron ore processing at least since the 16th century. The Bärental mines later supplied the raw material for the production of steel wire used for telegraphy. During the early stages of industrialisation, a large rolling mill was founded in 1840. It was replaced as main employer by a battery manufacturing site (Bären-Batterie) in 1938, until the production was shut down in 1998.