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.