Lustenau (; ) is a town in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg in the district of Dornbirn. It lies on the river Rhine, which forms the border with Switzerland. Lustenau is Vorarlberg's fourth largest town. Geography Lustenau is located on the eastern bank of the Alpine Rhine, in the lower Vorarlberg Rhine Valley, which serves as the border with the Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland. Its altitude is 404 meters above sea level. Because the town is located at the bottom of the Rhine Valley, there are no hills or mountains. Lustenau is bordered to the west by the Rhine and to the northeast by the Dornbirner Ach. The territory stretches about 8.5 km from north to south, and about 4 km from east to west. Four bridges connect Lustenau with Switzerland. The municipality is organised into four parishes, on which locals often refer to: Rotkreuz, Rheindorf, Kirchdorf and Hasenfeld. As the church square in Lustenau is painted in blue, the village center is called "Blue Square" (German Blauer Platz). History The name Lustenau derives from a document from January 24 887, signed by the Carolingian king Charles the Fat, with the title "Lustenauua curti regali," meaning "Royal Court of Lustenau." In 1395 the Counts of Werdenberg pledged the Zwingenstein fortress and Lustenau to the Knights of Ems, and in 1526 the pledge was converted into a final purchase. After the male line of the Hohenems family died out in 1759, a decade-long dispute over ownership of Lustenau developed between Maria Theresa of Austria on the one hand and the Hohenems heiress Maria Rebekka on the other. Until 1830, Lustenau was an independent county ruled over by the Counts of Waldburg-Zeil-Lustenau-Hohenems. After 1830 it became part of Austria. During the German Reich, there is no evidence of any organized resistance against National Socialism in Lustenau. However, a large number of cases of individual opposition are documented, which were punished with arrests, with the delivery to a concentration camp or even with the death penalty. After the Second World War, local embroidery industry gave Lustenau an economic boom. Population Regular Events Every Summer, since more than 30 years, the culture and youth association "Szene Lustenau" organizes an open-air festival at the Rhine bank, called Szene Openair, the largest festival in Western Austria. The Event hosts international Artists, as like local bands and attracts over 10.000 visitors from all over Austria,