Editing Mauthausen, Upper Austria (section)

==History==
The area of Mauthausen has been settled for many millennia, as shown by archaeological discoveries dating back to the [[Neolithic|Neolithic age]]. During the time of the [[Roman Empire]], it was at the crossroads of two [[trade routes]].

At the end of the 10th century it became a toll (''Maut'' in [[German language|German]]) station for ships, and the name "Muthusen" for the settlement is first mentioned in 1007.

A village that had developed by the [[Third Crusade]] was ordered burned on 16 May 1189 by [[Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Frederick Barbarossa]] when it levied a tax on his army as it marched towards [[Vienna]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Freed|first=John B.|title=Frederick Barbarossa : The Prince and the Myth|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2016|isbn=978-0-300-22116-9|location=New Haven|pages=488–489|oclc=950613726}}</ref>

During the [[First World War]], a [[prisoner of war]] camp existed to the east of Mauthausen.<ref>Mauthausen is listed among Austro-Hungarian POW camps in Beiblatt Nr.13 zum Verordnungsblatt für das k.u.k. Heer from spring 1916, see [http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/powcamps.htm English language translation].</ref> Italian,<ref>{{Cite web |title=British Library |url=https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/italian-pow-austria-impressions-memories |access-date=2022-12-13 |website=www.bl.uk}}</ref> Serbian and Russian (at times 40,000 men) soldiers were imprisoned there, around 10,000 of whom died in the camp, mostly Serbs and Italians. A war cemetery exists in their memory. The prison had guards especially from [[Hungary]] who were known for their barbaric tortures of the soldiers.

During the Second World War, from 1938 to 1945, one of the first massive [[concentration camp]] complexes in Nazi Germany was [[Mauthausen concentration camp|set up]] to the west of the town. Inmates were subjected to barbaric conditions, the most infamous of which was being forced to carry heavy stone blocks up 186 steps from the camp quarry. The steps became known as the "Stairway to Death". A new museum was opened at the camp in 2003.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-05-12 |title=Austrian Nazi death camp brings out its history at last |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/may/12/germany.iantraynor |access-date=2022-12-13 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref>

Mauthausen experienced [[flooding]] from the [[River Danube]] in 1954 and 2002.