Wels, city, northern Austria, in Oberösterreich (Upper Austria) Province, on the Traun River, near Linz. The transportation hub of the Innviertel district, where grains, cattle, and poultry are raised, the city includes among its industries food processing and dairying and the manufacture of agricultural equipment, textiles, pharmaceuticals, and construction materials. Nearby are natural-gas wells, first developed in 1891, and a large hydroelectric plant.
An annual fall folk festival is held here, and the city contains a museum of prehistoric and Roman remains; a 9th- to 15th-century Gothic parish church; the Renaissance Polheim Castle, where Maximilian I, Holy Roman emperor, died in 1519; and numerous baroque buildings. The Roman town of Ovilava was founded on the site in 15 BC and later served as a barrier to invading Avars and Magyars. Wels was the seat of local dukes in the 8th century; the modern city started in the 11th century. Population (1991) 40,676.Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
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