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Styria

Coordinates: 47°15′N 15°10′E / 47.250°N 15.167°E / 47.250; 15.167
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(Redirected from Styria (state))
"Steiermark" redirects here. For the region in Slovenia, see Styria (Slovenia). For other uses, see Styria (disambiguation) and Steiermark (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Syria.
Styria
Steiermark (German)
Federal state
Flag of Styria
Flag
Coat of arms of Styria
Coat of arms
Anthem: Steirische Landeshymne
Location of Styria
Coordinates: 47°15′N 15°10′E / 47.250°N 15.167°E / 47.250; 15.167
Country Austria
CapitalGraz
Government
 • BodyLandtag of Styria
 • GovernorChristopher Drexler (ÖVP)
Area
 • Total16,399.34 km2 (6,331.82 sq mi)
Population
 (1 January 2023)
 • Total1,265,198
 • Density77/km2 (200/sq mi)
GDP
[1]
 • Total€51.596 billion (2021)
 • Per capita€41,300 (2021)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeAT-6
HDI (2019)0.919[2]
very high · 4th of 9
NUTS RegionAT2
Votes in Bundesrat9 (of 62)
WebsiteFederal state government

Styria (German: Steiermark [ˈʃtaɪɐˌmaʁk] ⓘ; Bavarian: Steiamårk, Slovene: Štajerska, Hungarian: Stájerország) is an Austrian state in the southeast of the country, famed for its idyllic landscapes, as well as rich folk- and high culture. With an area of 16,401 km2 (6,332 sq mi), Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and clockwise, from the southwest, by the other Austrian states of Carinthia, Salzburg, Upper Austria, Lower Austria, and Burgenland. The state's capital is Graz, the second largest city in Austria after only Vienna.

Name[edit]

The March of Styria derived its name from the original seat of its ruling Otakar dynasty: Steyr, in today's Upper Austria, which in turn derives its name from the namesake river of Steyr, stemming from the Celtic Stiria. In the native German the area is still called "Steiermark" while in English the Latin name "Styria" is used. Until the late 19th century however the German name "Steyer", a slightly modernized spelling of Steyr, was also common. The ancient link between the city of Steyr and Styria is also apparent in their nearly identical coats of arms, a white Panther on a green background. Styria is also popularly known as the "Green March", owing to it being the most forested of all the Austrian states, or as the "Iron Margraviate" for its long heritage of iron manufacturing. The world's most advanced steel plant was opened in the Upper Styrian city of Kapfenberg in 2023. In addition, a myriad of significant inventions such as the radio or time-lapse come from Styria.

Geography[edit]

Styria is virtually synonymous with natural idyll. In Austria most folk music is usually simply referred to as "Styrian music" (see also Styrian accordion) and Schladming (Reiteralm and Planai) or Semmering are well-known luxury destinations.

Grüner See with the Hochschwab mountain in the background
  • 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 districts of Leoben and Bruck-Mürzzuschlag are also referred to as "High Styria" (Hochsteiermark).
  • The term "Western Styria" (Weststeiermark) is used for the districts west of Graz (Voitsberg, Deutschlandsberg, western part of the district Leibnitz). Because of the similar landscape with hills, valleys, wine and culture, the region in western Styria is also called "Styrian Tuscany".[3]
  • 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[edit]

Graz, the capital of Styria
Historical view of the border between Styria and Carinthia, 1830
Main article: History of Styria

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 under the domination of the Avars settled in the valleys around 600. At the same time, Bavarians under Frankish domination began to expand their area to the south and east, ultimately absorbing the Slavic population.

Under the Otakar dynasty, Styria was made into a margraviate in 1056 and in 1180, also separated from the Duchy of Carinthia to become a Duchy of its own; In accordance with the Georgenberg Pact the Austrian Duke Leopold V also became Duke of Styria in 1192. After the demise of the Babenberg dynasty (to which Leopold belonged), Styria came briefly under the control of Hungary and later Bohemia. During this time, it lost vast parts of its territory, including the former capital Steyr (which would later form a significant part of the emerging "Duchy of Austria above the Enns" or Upper Austria), as well as Pitten (now the southern part of Lower Austria). When the Habsburgs reunified Austria in 1282, Pitten was returned to Styria until the 16th century when it was finally annexed by Austria. During this time, 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 the current federal state), and a southern one, called Lower Styria. Lower Styria was inhabited by Slovenes and was annexed to Yugoslavia. The majority German-speaking parts along the border such as the Abstall basin were also annexed and subsequently became part of Slovenia. As a result of the turbulence of two world wars, the German-speaking population of Lower Styria, which had been concentrated in the cities, migrated from the region or was expelled.

Economy[edit]

View over the vineyards of Western Styria

The federal state's gross domestic product (GDP) was 49.6 billion € in 2018, accounting for 12.9% of Austria's economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 35,400 € or 118% of the EU27 average in the same year.[4]

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 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.[5]

The Formula One Austrian Grand Prix has been held in the region, first at the Zeltweg Airfield in 1964 and then at the Osterreichring from 1970 to 1987. The sport returned to the circuit, now redesigned and rebranded as the A1-Ring, from 1997 to 2003. Formula One once again returned to the circuit, now renamed the Red Bull Ring, in 2014 and has been held at the track every year since. The COVID-19 pandemic saw the 2020 Formula One calendar massively revised, resulting in the Red Bull Ring becoming the first circuit to host consecutive Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, with the first round running under the Austrian Grand Prix name and the second held as the Styrian Grand Prix. This continued in 2021.[6]

Administrative divisions[edit]

The federal state is divided into 13 districts (Bezirke), one of them a statutory city. There are 286 municipalities.

StyriaLänd Bezirke
StyriaLänd Bezirke

Statutory city[edit]

Districts[edit]

Largest cities in Styria[edit]

The following is a list of the nine largest cities and towns in Austria by population:[7]

name district population

(as of 2023)[8]

Graz Graz (statutory city) 298,479
Leoben Leoben 25,140
Kapfenberg Bruck-Mürzzusschlag 22,182
Bruck an der Mur Bruck-Mürzzusschlag 15,970
Feldbach Südoststeiermark 13,421
Leibnitz Leibnitz 13,014
Knittelfeld Murtal 12,781
Gratwein-Straßengel Graz-Umgebung 12,770
Seiersberg-Pirka Graz-Umgebung 12,112

Demographics[edit]

The historical population is given in the following chart:

Politics[edit]

An enshrined crucifix amidst cornfields near Mureck in rural Styria, attesting to enduring Catholic faith and popular piety ("Volksfrömmigkeit")

The federal state had been a stronghold of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) since 1945. Graz is markedly more left-wing than the rural districts of the federal state.

The governor (Austrian political term: Landeshauptmann) of Styria has typically been a ÖVP candidate.

In the 2021 municipal election in Graz, the Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) surprisingly took over first place from the ÖVP, thus pushing long-time mayor Siegfried Nagl (ÖVP) out of office. The result was noted internationally. Elke Kahr led the KPÖ for a third time in the 2021 Graz local election. Despite opinion polling suggesting a victory for the ruling ÖVP, the KPÖ became the largest party with 28.8% of votes and 15 seats. After the election, the KPÖ entered into coalition talks with The Greens – The Green Alternative and the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ).[9] On November 13, 2021, the KPÖ, the Greens and the SPÖ announced their coalition: Graz gets a communist mayor with Elke Kahr.

Recent elections[edit]

In the 2005 elections for the federal state's parliament the 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 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 SPÖ, the ÖVP, and the KPÖ each lost between one fourth and one third of their shares of the vote relative to 2005. The FPÖ grew from 4.6 percent to 26.8 percent.[10][11] The current government of Styria is a coalition of SPÖ and ÖVP. The governor, Christopher Drexler, is a representative of the People's Party. His deputy, Anton Lang, is a SPÖ member.

Notable Styrians[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Basisdaten Bundesländer" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-09-01.
  2. ^ "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  3. ^ "Die Steiermark ist da, wo es aussieht wie in der Toskana (in German)". Neue Zürcher Zeitung. Archived from the original on November 13, 2021. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  4. ^ "Regional GDP per capita ranged from 30% to 263% of the EU average in 2018". Eurostat.
  5. ^ Lesser, Shawn. "Top 10 cleantech cluster organizations for 2010". Clean Tech Group. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  6. ^ "Styrian Grand Prix 2021 - F1 Race". Formula 1® - The Official F1® Website.
  7. ^ "Städte / Gemeinden". www.bmi.gv.at. Retrieved 2024-04-08.
  8. ^ "Statistics". www.statistik.at. Statistics Austria.
  9. ^ "Graz: dark-red–green–red as good as fixed". ORF (in German). 23 October 2021.
  10. ^ "Landtagswahl 2010" (PDF).
  11. ^ "Landtagswahl 2015" (PDF).

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Styria.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Styria.
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