Sister cities of Obervellach

Obervellach (Slovene: Zgornja Bela ) is a municipality in the district of Spittal an der Drau in Carinthia in Austria. It is situated in the valley of the Möll river, on the southern slope of the Hohe Tauern mountain range. The municipal area includes the Katastralgemeinden of Pfaffenberg, Lassach and Söbriach.

The settlement of Velach was first mentioned in a deed issued by the Bishop Abraham of Freising (957-994), a Bavarian missionary among the East Alpine Slavs in the former principality of Carantania. The name is probably derived from Slavic bela ("white"). The traditional gold and silver mining area from the 12th century onwards was a possession of the Meinhardiner counts of Görz, their ministeriales resided at Falkenstein Castle high above the valley. After the conflict over the inheritance of Count Ulrich II of Celje, in which the Meinhardiner were defeated by Emperor Frederick III, the area of Obervellach in 1460 was finally incorporated into the Carinthian possessions of the House of Habsburg.