Schwarzfurt Cross, Villacher Straße
At the western exit of St Veit, where Ossiacher Bundesstraße meets Prof.-Anton-Schmied-Weg, stands a striking roadside shrine – the Schwarzfurt Cross. The slender stone column, topped by a niche, is crowned with a finely carved figure of St Vitus, the town’s patron saint. This marble sculpture, created from Sölker marble by sculptor Herbert Unterberger, adds a graceful presence to the site. An information panel in front of the monument recounts the history and meaning of this distinctive local landmark.
Historical Background
For centuries, the Schwarzfurt Cross marked an important boundary point of St Veit’s judicial district. It was already mentioned in 1565 in a record of the so-called Burgfriedbereitung – the formal determination of the town boundaries – and again in 1656. The Burgfried in the Middle Ages referred to the area surrounding a town or castle where special legal and protective rights applied. The boundaries were regularly inspected, or “ridden out”, and checked at prominent landmarks such as this one.
The name refers to its original location: the cross once stood near a ford (shallow crossing) across the River Glan, close to the former inn “Reidenwirt“, where the Villach Road branched off towards Klagenfurt. This was one of the main access routes into the town.
Until the mid-20th century, the Schwarzfurt Cross also played a role in local religious life. Folklore accounts describe how Corpus Christi processions once made a large circuit from the parish church to the Schwarzfurt Cross and then to the Friesach Cross.
Dismantling and Reconstruction
During the expansion of Villacher Straße, the shrine – then known as the Mansfeld Cross – was dismantled in 1960. An old photograph shows that its original design was very similar to that of the Friesach or Kölnhof Cross in Friesacher Straße, likely also dating to around 1600.
The initiative to rebuild the monument came from the St Veit Beautification Society, which launched a public fundraising campaign. Together with the municipal authorities and with the support of HTL Ferlach and HTL Villach, a new shrine was completed in 2006. The technical realisation was led by DI Winfried Pichorner and Gerhard Stippernitz. On 28 October 2006, the renewed Schwarzfurt Cross was blessed during a ceremony accompanied by a brass ensemble from the St Veit Music School.
Today, the Schwarzfurt Cross unites medieval legal history, popular piety, and modern civic engagement in preserving the cultural landscape.
