Graz

Graz (gräts), city (1991 pop. 237,810), capital of Styria prov., SE Austria, on the Mur River. The second largest city in Austria, it is an industrial, rail, and cultural center. Manufactures include iron and steel, precision and optical instruments, machinery, paper, textiles, and chemicals. Probably founded in the 12th cent., Graz is built around the Schlossberg, a mountain peak, on which are the ruins of a 15th-century fortress and the famous Uhrturm [clock tower]. The city has a 15th-century Gothic cathedral; several medieval churches (13th–15th cent.); and a twin-naved Gothic parish church that contains Tintoretto's Assumption of the Virgin. The Landhaus [provincial parliament] dates from the 16th cent. The Johanneum museum (founded 1811) is one of the finest provincial museums in Austria. The astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) taught at the state university in Graz (founded in the 16th cent.). The new university (built 1890–95) is noted for medical studies. Emperor Ferdinand II is buried in Graz.

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Graz

City (pop., 2001: 226,424), capital of Steiermark (Styria) state, southeastern Austria. The country's second largest city, it lies on the Mur River at the foot of the Styrian Alps. It grew from a fortress settlement and received town rights c. AD 1240. It became the centre of Steiermark during the Middle Ages and was the residence of the Leopoldine Habsburgs after 1379. Its fortifications, built in the 15th and 16th centuries, successfully withstood numerous sieges by Hungarians and Turks; the fortifications were converted into parks in the 19th century. Astronomer Johannes Kepler taught at its university, founded in 1585. A rail and industrial centre, Graz has an active trade in agricultural products; tourism is also important.

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Graz

an industrial city in SE Austria, capital of Styria province: the second largest city in the country. Pop.: 226 244 (2001)

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Graz 

a city in Austria, at the southeastern foot of the Styr-ian Alps, on the Mur River where it flows out of the mountains into the plain. Administrative center of the province of Styria. Population, 253,000 (1968).

Owing to its favorable geographical position in relation to the routes connecting central European cities with the Adriatic Sea, Graz has become an important transport junction. In economic terms it is the second most important city of the country (after the capital. Vienna). Industries include a transportation workshop and producers of agricultural machinery, precision-engineering optical goods, and mining, metallurgical, and energy-production machinery. Chemical, glass, leather, food, textile, and printing industries are also located in Graz. There is a university (founded in 1586). The two sides of the river are connected by seven bridges.

On the left bank of the Mur River, on the Schlossberg (a prominent hill), are the ruins of a fortress, surrounded by the old parts of Graz with its circular layout. On the right bank of the Mur are the industrial regions. There are many old residential houses in Graz (Gothic and Renaissance periods), the late Gothic cathedral (1438–62), the bishop’s palace (13th century; rebuilt in 1781–82), the Landhaus (the building of the local government of the Land of Styria; 1557–65, by the architect D. dell’Allio), and the provincial museum of Styria, the Museum Joanneum.

REFERENCE

Semetkowski, W. Graz: Ein Führer durch die Stadt. Graz-Vienna-Cologne. 1968.