Styria

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Styria (German: Steiermark [ˈʃtaɪ ̯ɐˌmaʁk] ( listen); Croatian and Slovene:

Štajerska; Hungarian: Stájerország; Czech: Štýrsko; Slovak: Štajersko) is a state,
or Bundesland, located in the southeast of Austria. Covering 16,401 km2
(6,332 sq mi), Styria is the second largest of the nine component states of
Austria (also sometimes referred to as provinces in English), after Lower
Austria. Styria's neighbor to the South is Slovenia (Carinthia Statistical Region,
Drava Statistical Region and Mura Statistical Region). Within Austria, the
contiguous states are Carinthia, Salzburg, Upper Austria, Lower Austria, and
The Burgenland. The state capital is Graz, which had 291,007 inhabitants at
the beginning of 2020.
 Styria
Steiermark

State

Flag
Coat of arms

Country  Austria

Capital Graz

Government

 • Governor Hermann Schützenhöfer (ÖVP)

Area

 • Total 16,401.04 km2 (6,332.48 sq mi)

Population (1 January 2020)

 • Total 1,246,576

 • Density 76/km2 (200/sq mi)

Time zone UTC+1 (CET)

 • Summer (DST) UTC+2 (CEST)

ISO 3166 code AT-6

HDI (2017) 0.902[1]

very high · 4th

NUTS Region AT2

Votes in Bundesrat 9 (of 62)

Website www.verwaltung.steiermark.at
Etymology

The March of Styria derived its name from the original seat of its ruling Otakar
dynasty: Steyr, in today's Upper Austria. In German, the area is still called
"Steiermark" while in English the Latin name "Styria" is used. The ancient link
between Steyr and Styria is also apparent in their nearly identical coats of
arms, a white Panther on a green background.

Geography

Grüner See

The term "Upper Styria" (German: Obersteiermark) refers to the northern and
northwestern parts of the federal-state (districts Liezen, Murau, Murtal,
Leoben, Bruck-Mürzzuschlag).

The term "Western Styria" (Weststeiermark) is used for the districts to the west
of Graz (Voitsberg, Deutschlandsberg, western part of the district Leibnitz).

The districts east of Graz (Weiz, Hartberg-Fürstenfeld, and Südoststeiermark )

are referred to as "Eastern Styria" (Oststeiermark).

The western and eastern parts of the district Graz-Umgebung (literally,

surroundings of Graz) may or may not be considered parts of West and East
Styria, respectively. The southern parts of the Duchy of Styria, which formed
part of former Yugoslavia and later Slovenia (with the exception of World War
II), were (and sometimes colloquially still are) referred to as "Lower Styria"
(Untersteiermark; Slovene: Štajerska).

History
 Graz, the capital of Styria

Historical view of the border between

Styria and Carinthia, 1830

During early Roman times, Styria was inhabited by Celtic tribes. After its
conquest by the Romans, the eastern part of what is now Styria was part of
Pannonia, while the western one was included in Noricum. During the
Barbarian invasions, it was conquered or crossed by the Visigoths, the Huns,
the Ostrogoths, the Rugii, and the Lombards. Slavs, who first were under the
domination of the Avars, settled in the valleys of this country (around 600 and
onwards). At the same time Bavarian people (under Frankish domination)
began to expand their area to the south and east and absorbed the Slavic
population.

In 1180 Styria separated from the Duchy of Carinthia and became a Duchy of
its own; in 1192 the Austrian Duke Leopold V became also Duke of Styria.
Later, Styria formed the central part of Inner Austria.

Styria developed culturally and economically under Archduke John of Austria

between 1809 and 1859.

In 1918, after World War I, it was divided into a northern section (forming what
is the current Austrian state), and a southern one, called Lower Styria, now
inhabited by Slovenians, and which was annexed to Yugoslavia, and later
became part of Slovenia. As a result of the turbulence of the two world wars,
the German-speaking population of Lower Styria, which had been concentrated
in the cities, migrated out of the region or was expelled.

Economy
 View over the vineyards of South-
Styria

The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the state was 49.6 billion € in 2018,
accounting for 12.9% of the Austria's economic output. GDP per capita
adjusted for purchasing power was 35,400 € or 118% of the EU27 average in
the same year.[2]

As elsewhere in the developed world, there has been a shift away from the
manufacturing sector towards the service sector in Styria. This has had
negative consequences for the industrial regions of upper Styria, which have
suffered a steady decline in population in recent years.

In 2004 Styria had the strongest economic growth rate in Austria at 3.8%—
mainly due to the Graz area which saw strong economic growth that year and
has continued to grow in economic and population terms since then.

Styria is home to more than 150 clean technology companies, of which one
dozen are world technology leaders in their field. The revenue of Styrian
cleantech companies totals €2.7 billion. This equals to 8 percent of the Gross
Regional Product (GRP), and is one of the highest concentrations of leading
clean technology companies in Europe. The companies have an average (real)
growth rate of 22 percent per year—well above the worldwide cleantech market
growth of 18 percent per year. The region created roughly 2,000 additional
green jobs in 2008 alone.[3]

Administrative divisions

The state is divided into 13 districts (Bezirke), one of them a statutory city.

Statutory city
Graz

Districts
Bruck-Mürzzuschlag

Deutschlandsberg
 Graz-Umgebung

Hartberg-Fürstenfeld

Leibnitz

Leoben

Liezen (with the

subdistrict Gröbming)

Murau

Murtal

Südoststeiermark

Voitsberg

Weiz

Politics

An enshrined crucifix amidst

cornfields near Mureck in rural Styria,
attesting to enduring Catholic faith

The state had been a stronghold of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) since
1945. Graz however is more left leaning than the more rural parts of the
province, with strong representation of the Green Party in local politics and
elections, and a less-than-marginal presence of the far left Communist Party
(KPÖ).

The governor (Austrian political term: Landeshauptmann) has usually been a

member of the ÖVP.
Recent elections

In the 2005 elections for state parliament the Social Democrats (SPÖ) under
their regional chairman Franz Voves won the majority after the ÖVP had
damaged its credibility through scandals and the secession of a high-ranking
party member who took part in the 2005 elections after setting up his own
party. In these elections, the KPÖ also received many votes after it had gained
much popularity through its role in local politics in Graz during the preceding
few years. The two right-wing populist parties, the Freedom Party of Austria
(FPÖ) and the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ), failed to win seats.

In subsequent elections in 2010 and 2015, the Social Democrats, the Austrian
People's Party, and the Communist Party each lost between one fourth and
one third of their shares of the vote relative to 2005. The Freedom Party grew
from 4.6 percent to 26.8 percent.[4][5] The current government of Styria is a
coalition of Social Democrats and People's Party, with each party holding 4
seats of the 8 seats available. The governor, Hermann Schützenhöfer, is a
representative of the People's Party. His deputy, Michael Schickhofer, is a
Social Democrat.[6][7][8]

Notable people

Palman (fl. 1310–1363), knight and mercenary commander of the Serbian

Empire

Johann Joseph Fux (1660–1741), composer and music theorist, wrote Gradus
ad Parnassum – a composition manual used by Beethoven and Mozart

Archduke John of Austria (1782–1859)

Peter Rosegger (1843–1918), honoured poet

Johann Puch (1862–1914), founded Johann Puch Erste Steiermärkische

Fahrrad-Fabriks-Aktiengesellschaft at Graz in 1899.

Robert Stolz (1880-1975), composer born in Graz

Karl Böhm, (1894-1981), conductor

Bert Isatitsch (1911–1994), first president of the International Luge Federation

Frank Stronach (b. 1932), founder of Magna International, billionaire

Jochen Rindt (1942–1970), Formula 1 World Champion

Dr. Helmut Marko (b. 1943), former racing driver

 Dietrich Mateschitz (b. 1944), founder and CEO of Red Bull, billionaire

Klaus Maria Brandauer (b. 1944), actor and director

Elfriede Jelinek (b. 1946), Nobel Prize in Literature winner

Arnold Schwarzenegger (b. 1947), bodybuilder, film actor and former Governor
of California

Getty Kaspers (b. 1948), lead vocals of Dutch band Teach-In, who won the
1975 Eurovision Song Contest.

Eva Rueber-Staier (b. 1951), Miss Austria 1969, Miss World 1969

Wolfgang Muthspiel (b. 1965), jazz composer and guitarist

Ulla Weigerstorfer (b. 1967), Miss Austria 1987 and Miss World 1987

Thomas Muster (b. 1967), former World No. 1 tennis player

Renate Götschl (b. 1975), alpine skiing World Champion

Elisabeth Görgl (b. 1981), professional alpine skier

Christoph Strasser (b. 1982), champion ultra cyclist

Conchita Wurst (b. 1988), singer and winner of the Eurovision Song Contest
2014

See also

Lower Styria

References

1. "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab" . hdi.globaldatalab.org.

Retrieved 2018-09-13.

2. "Regional GDP per capita ranged from 30% to 263% of the EU average in
2018" . Eurostat.

3. Lesser, Shawn. "Top 10 cleantech cluster organizations for 2010" . Clean Tech
Group. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2011.

4. "Landtagswahl 2010" (PDF).

5. "Landtagswahl 2015" (PDF).

6. "Regierungsmitglieder" .

7. "Skepsis gegenüber schwarz-roter Neuauflage" .

 8. "Schwarz-rot in der Steiermark" .

External links

Media related to Styria at Wikimedia Commons

Styria travel guide from Wikivoyage

Imperial Austria: Treasures of Art, Arms and Armor from the State of Styria –
The Canadian Museum of Civilization

Official Tourism Website of Styria