Bad Kleinkirchheim is a municipality and spa town in the district of Spittal an der Drau, in Carinthia, Austria. Until the middle of the 20th century, agriculture was the dominant focus, but it is now a renowned spa and ski resort. Although records show people appreciating the area as a recreation area as early as the 11th century, and the first bathing guests arriving in the 17th century, it was only in the last few decades that Bad Kleinkirchheim began to move away from agriculture and focus on its potential for tourism. Geography Location Bad Kleinkirchheim is at an average elevation of in a stretch of a glacial trough valley in the Gurktal Alps (Nock Mountains), between the Millstätter See and the upper Gurk River. The populated section lies between and , and the highest point in the area is the peak of the Klomnock, at . North of Kleinkirchheim and St. Oswald, part of the Nockberge National Park is within the area’s boundaries. To the north and south of the valley, the hills rise relatively steeply to an elevation of about , so that the only way in and out is by the B88 road which links the area to Radenthein in the west and Reichenau in the east. Bad Kleinkirchheim also borders Krems in the northwest and Feld am See to the southwest. Municipal arrangement Bad Kleinkirchheim is divided into 3 Katastralgemeinden: Kleinkirchheim, Sankt Oswald, and Zirkitzen. It can be further divided into nine Ortschaften: {| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" textalign="right" style="margin-left:1em;font-size: 95%" " |---- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" ! colspan="1" align="center" |Kleinkirchheim ||colspan="1" align="center" |Sankt Oswald |colspan="1" align="center" |Zirkitzen |---- bgcolor="#FFFFFF" | Aigen (population: 57) || Sankt Oswald (168) || Rottenstein (99) |---- bgcolor="#FFFFFF" | Bach (302) || Staudach (167) || Zirkitzen (418) |---- bgcolor="#FFFFFF" | Kleinkirchheim (357) || || |---- bgcolor="#FFFFFF" | Obertschern (127) || || |---- bgcolor="#FFFFFF" | Unterschern (168) || || |} History The remote and densely forested valley apparently was not settled in Roman times, when the area became part of the Noricum province in 15 BC. From about 600, Alpine Slavs migrated up the Drava and its tributary valleys, followed by Bavarian settlers from the mid 8th century onwards. In the early 9th century, the region passed under Carolingian suzerainty. Part of the Imperial Duchy of Carinthia from 976, the Kleinkirchheim estates were held by the Bavarian Aribonid dynasty. In a document dated 5 July 1166,