Floridsdorf (; ) is the 21st district of Vienna (), located in the northern part of the city and comprising seven formerly independent communities: Floridsdorf, Donaufeld, Greater Jedlersdorf, Jedlesee, Leopoldau, Stammersdorf, and Strebersdorf.
History
Prehistory
Settlements were already present during the New Stone Age (4000 to 2000 BC). Stone axes and potsherds unearthed from that time indicate that the first settlers in the area were hunters. In the vicinity of Leopoldau, bronze weapons and jewelry provide evidence of subsequent settlement. Several of these items are now in the District Museum.
Early history
Around 500 BC, Celts entered the territory of present-day Floridsdorf, losing ground to the Romans as their empire expanded. The territory became a no-man's-land, or buffer zone, between the Romans and teutonic tribes, during a period when repeated battles were fought between the two peoples.
After the end of Roman rule, the territory attracted Lombards, Pannonian Avars, and Slavs. The Avars were later defeated by Charlemagne.
Middle Ages
The Magyars had conquered the Pannonian Basin (present-day Hungary) by the end of the ninth century, and launched a number of plundering raids both westward and southward. The westward raids were stopped only with the Magyar defeat at the Battle of Lechfeld of 955, which led to a new political order in Western Europe centered on the Holy Roman Empire. Around 1000 AD, the Babenberg ruled in the area that is now modern Vienna. In 1014 came the first written mention of what today is Floridsdorf Jedlesee, then called Outcinesse (Sea of Uz).
For a long time, the Danube could be crossed only by ferry. In the year 1500, the first bridge was built. At the site of today's Floridsdorfer Haupstrasse, near the water park, the first wooden bridge (Tabor Bridge) was built. Another bridge, the Kuhbrückl, crossed a small arm of the Danube. At the fork of the main road to Bohemia and Moravia, the new settlement of Floridsdorf came into being.
Modern period
Floridsdorf was first called "Am Spitz" and was later assigned to the Klosterneuburg Monastery. In 1786 Floridus Leeb, abbot of the monastery, transferred 26 properties to settler families. Through industrialization, Floridsdorf, originally an agricultural area, changed in a short time, so that on 8 May 1894 with the villages Donaufeld, Jedlesee and New Jedlersdorf, Floridsdorf was augmented to form a larger community. The steam tramway and the Northwest Railway have also contributed to industrialization. Today, a commemorative panel at Floridsdorf train station proclaims that on 23 November 1837 with the opening of the first section of the Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway between Floridsdorf and Deutsch-Wagram, the age of the railways began in Austria.
From the middle of the 19th century, there were efforts to make Vienna reichsunmittelbar (self-governing under the Kaiser), separating it from the crown land of Austria at the Enns, Floridsdorf being envisaged as the future capital of Lower Austria.
By 1904, Floridsdorf was made up of the localities Jedlesee, Greater Jedlersdorf, Donaufeld, Leopoldau, Kagran, Hirschstetten, Stadlau, and Aspern. Then in 1910, Strebersdorf was also incorporated into Vienna. Through the establishment of the new district Donaustadt in 1938, Floridsdorf lost Kagran, Stadlau, Hirschstetten, Aspern and Lobau. During the Oil campaign of World War II, the Floridsdorf oil refinery and oil sidings were bombed by the Allies, in addition to a part of the southern Heinkel aviation firm's Heinkel-Süd military aircraft production facilities. In 1954, the borders of Lower Austria and Donaustadt were re-drawn and Stammersdorf incorporated.
Geography
Topography
North Floridsdorf is dominated by the southern foothills of Bisamberg. Since the summit of the Bisamberg hill, at , is today in Lower Austria, Floridsdorf's highest elevation is the Falkenberg, at .
The Danube marks Floridsdorf's southwestern border. Part of the New Danube and a section of the Danube Island fall within the district, while the wetlands immediately beyond form part of Döbling. Bridges spanning the Danube to Floridsdorf (listed by the Danube's direction of flow) include the Jedlesee bridge, the Vienna North Bridge, the Floridsdorf Bridge, the U6-Danube Bridge and the Brigittenauer Bridge. The northern section of the Old Danube flows through Floridsdorf. In 1992, the Marchfeld Canal, which crosses the district, was put into operation.