Graz
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| Coat of Arms | Map |
|---|---|
| | |
| General information | |
| Federal State: | Steiermark |
| Bezirk: | Graz |
| Area: | 127.58 km² |
| Population: of which Hauptwohnsitze | 305,000 (Census 2000) 226,244 |
| Population density: | 1,773/km² |
| Elevation: | 353 m |
| Postal code: | A-801x, A-802x, A-803x A-804x, A-805x |
| Area code: | +43 316 |
| Location: | 47° 04' 15° 26' |
| Community Identification Number: | 60101 |
| Address of the City Hall: | Rathaus A-8011 Graz |
| Website: | http://www.graz.at |
| e-mail: | buergerbuero@stadt.graz.at |
| Politics | |
| Mayor: | Siegfried Nagl (ÖVP) |
| Map: Graz in Steiermark | |
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| Image: Graz's clock tower | |
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Graz [graːts] (Slovenian: Gradec), with a population of 305,000 (council census 2000) is the second-largest city in Austria and the capital of the province of Styria (Steiermark in German). It has a long tradition of being a student city, with four Universities and two Universities of Applied Sciences with over 50,000 students. During the brief Lutheran phase of Graz, in 1540 Eggenberg founded the Paradies or Lutheran school, in which Johannes Kepler later taught.
The city is situated on the Mur river, in the southeast of Austria. Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria had 20,000 Protestant books burned in the square of what is now an insane asylum, and succeeded in returning Styria to the authority of Rome. Nikola Tesla studied electrical engineering at the Politechnic in Graz in 1875. Nobel Laureate Otto Loewi taught at the university from 1909 until 1938. Erwin Schrödinger was briefly chancellor of the University of Graz in 1936. Soon thereafter, there was a small concentration camp nearby, a sub-camp of Mauthausen, and Schrödinger had fled.
The name Graz is derived from the Slovenian word for castle, grad; gradec, pronounced gradets, means "small castle". Graz was built around the Schlossberg. The first mention of it under its present name is in a document of A.D. 881, after which its stronghold became the residence of the rulers of the surrounding district, known later as Styria. The privileges of its ancient charter were confirmed by the Habsburg Rudolph I in 1281. With a strategic situation at the head of the open and fertile valley of the Mur, Graz was often assaulted (unsuccessfully): by Hungarians under Matthias Corvinus in 1481, and by the Ottoman Turks in 1529 and 1532.
From the earlier part of the 15th century Graz was the residence of the younger branch of the Habsburgs, which succeeded to the imperial throne in 1619 in the person of Emperor Ferdinand II. New fortifications were constructed in the end of the 16th century, but, following the defeat of Austria by Napoleonic forces at the Battle of Wagram in 1809, the fortifications were blown down as demanded in the peace terms of 1815, with the exception of the belltower and the civic clock tower, often used as the symbol of Graz, which were permitted to remain after Grazers paid a ransom for their preservation.
In the last few years the city of Graz got some new public buildings. The most famous ones are the "Kunsthaus" (house of modern art), a museum which is constructed right next to the river Mur, and the "Murinsel" (island in the Mur) which is an island made out of steel in the river. It was designed by the American architect Vito Acconci and contains a cafeteria, an open-air theatre and a playground.
Olga Neuwirth, one of the most important contemporary Austrian composers was born here. Conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt, known throughout the world for his performances of classical works on period instruments, was raised in Graz, being born in Berlin. Current California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has sometimes regarded himself as a Grazer, although he was born and raised in a small farming village, Thal, about 10 km from the city.
Since 1999 the old town centre of Graz is listed as World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. During the year 2003 Graz had the title of "Cultural capital of Europe".
External links
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