Theresienfeld

Theresienfeld was founded in 1763 by the Empress Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina, the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the driving force of the Austrian Succession Wars. On her command, tax exemptions of great landowners were abolished in the name of “God’s pleasing equality”, a regulation that showed her interest towards agricultural land.

During the Middle Ages and the early modern times, Theresienfeld, located in an area between Wiener Neustadt and Sollenau in Austria, was an unpopulated wasteland that was only used as a pasture due to the lack of water. However, Maria Theresa’s tendency to promote agriculture in combination with the increasing population, put Theresienfeld in the list of the areas that can be used more intensively. In this perspective, the Empress ordered the installation of an "kk Ackerbaukolonie Theresienfeld", which was built according to the plans of the Wiener Neustädter by Landphysikus Dr. Andreas Fourlani von Felsenburg.

Theresienfeld became the only place that was founded as a colonist village on the territory of today’s Republic of Austria. Tirolerbach, the name of the artificial irrigation system of the area is not arbitrary, but finds its roots on the fact that the first settlers came from Tyrol, with the inducement of no taxes.

Tilorerbach is a 5.3 km long canal from the Piesting near Wöllersdorf that carried the essential water for the cultivation, and which is distributed into quarter canals in the town center. Farmhouses were built on both sides every 100 meters, while the associated farming land lay behind them. In 1832, the irrigation system was expanded in the west, six wells with a depth of over 30 meters were dug and in 1928, a local water pipeline was built to draw water from the 1st Vienna high spring water pipeline.

Currently, Tirolerbach is still the main source of water for cultivation and the sewer network covers approximately 30km.

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1873, Plan of the Wiener Neustädter Landphysikus, Dr. Andreas Fourlani von Felsenburg

Sources:https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiener_Neustadt#/media/Datei:Aufnahmeblatt_4856-4_Wiener_Neustadt_Zillingdorf.jpg