Feldbach (Styria)

Borough Feldbach
coat of arms	Austria map
Basic data
Country:	Austria
State :	Styria
Political District :	Southeast Styria
License plate :	SO (from 1.7.2013; old: FB)
Surface:	67.3 km²
Coordinates :	46 ° 57 '  N , 15 ° 53'  E Coordinates: 46 ° 57 '18 "  N , 15 ° 53' 18"  E
Height :	282  m above sea level A.
Residents :	13,450 (January 1, 2020)
Postcodes :	8330, 8332, 8333, 8334, 8344
Area code :	+43 3152
Community code :	6 23 79
Address of the municipal administration:	Hauptplatz 13 8330 Feldbach
Website:	www.feldbach.gv.at
politics
Mayor :	Josef Ober ( ÖVP )
Municipal Council : (2020) (31 members)	21st 5 4th 21st 5 4th  A total of 30 seats ÖVP : 21 SPÖ : 5 FPÖ : 4 NEOS : 0
Location of Feldbach in the district of Southeast Styria
The town hall in Feldbach
Source: Municipal data from Statistics Austria

The main square of Feldbach

The “Grazer Tor” was part of a closed fortification

former Franciscan monastery

Feldbach is the fifth largest city in Styria with 13,450 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2020). It is located in south-east Styria and is the seat of the district administration of the political district of south-east Styria .

geography

Hydrology catchment area

The metropolitan area of Feldbach is located in the middle Raab valley on a tertiary gravel deposit, the community extends to parts of the Southeast Styrian hill country, formerly trench and Riedel country since the mid-1990s Styrian volcano land called. The Raab extends here from west to east. Important feeders from the south starting from the west are Saazbach, Oedter Bach, Feldbach and Giemer Bach. From the north the Edelsbach and the Auersbach flow into the Raab.

geology

In the tertiary sedimentation area of ​​the Graz Basin, gravel deposits with a thickness of over three kilometers have formed for 20 million years. 17 million years ago this gravel basin was breached by a mighty shield volcano due to tectonic shifts in the earth's crust. The Gleichenberg volcano with a base diameter of 30 kilometers was created. As a result, the landscape expands from west to east and further volcanic activity occurs. The so-called Maar Diatrem volcanoes pierce the surface and leave tuff deposits in the entire municipality of Feldbach. Maars form, small lakes with no drainage. However, due to erosion in the last five million years, these lakes (compared to the partner region Vulkaneifel) have disappeared. In general, about 150 vertical meters of gravel pads were removed.

The most important volcanic elevations are from north to south: Altenmarkter Vulkan, Auersberg, Kalvarienberg, Steinberg, Forstkogel and Gleichenberger Kogel. There is still no agreement about the age of the younger volcanism. It varies between 3.2 and 11 million years.

nature

Fossil finds show a subtropical climate in the region at the time of volcanism and thus a more southerly location of the continent. At the current time of the formation of the Alps, the area is constantly rising and falling. Tropical seas appeared and disappeared. In between there were sweetened fallow water areas with subtropical marshland. Lignite deposits are evidence of this. Aesculapian snake and tree frog are relics of the warmer times past. Plants retreated far south during the Ice Age, most of them extinct in Europe. Compared to North America, we lost 2/3 of our tree species. During the Ice Age, there was a treeless cold steppe and large herds of herbivores roamed the region. Forests warmed and returned 12,000 years ago. According to pollen analyzes, this return of the current structure from Arctic to Mediterranean vegetation takes place with interposed warm phases (beech season) and small ice ages (e.g. 16th and 17th centuries) with the return of the conifers to the plains. Today the region belongs to the oak-hornbeam zone with numerous Mediterranean and sub-Mediterranean elements. In the last 20 years alone there has been an influx of 200 thermophilic insect species, which research has established. The nature guide Steirisches Vulkanland reports about it.

City structure

The area of ​​the municipality is 67.3 km² and consists of nine cadastral communities (area 2016):

• Auersbach (1,270.43 ha)
• Feldbach (321.27 ha)
• Gniebing (875.53 ha)
• Gossendorf (936.71 ha)
• Leitersdorf (480.89 ha)
• Mühldorf (752.35 ha)
• Oedt (1,014.43 ha)
• Raabau (399.47 ha)
• Weißenbach (661.95 ha)

The 18 localities are (population in brackets, as of January 1, 2020):

• Auersbach (375)
• Edersgraben (181)
• Feldbach (4836)
• Gniebing (1146)
• Gossendorf (658)
• Höflach (56)
• Leitersdorf im Raabtal (723)
• Mühldorf near Feldbach (2017)
• Obergiem (115)
• Oberweißbach (234)
• Oedt near Feldbach (697)
• Paurach (256)
• Petersdorf (165)
• Raabau (588)
• Reiting (116)
• Untergiem (152)
• Unterweißbach (664)
• Wetzelsdorf (471)

Neighboring communities

Edelsbach near Feldbach Kirchberg an der Raab	Hartmannsdorf market district Weiz	Riegersburg
Paldau		Fehring
Gnas	Bad Gleichenberg	Kapfenstein

history

Finds from the Neolithic Age show that the Raab Valley was already settled in this area back then. There are also grave finds from the Hallstatt period , but on the left, northern bank of the Raab.

The first written mention of the place took place in 1188 as "Velwinbach". The parish has been recorded since 1232. In 1265 the market survey took place, which also gave trade a boom. Related to this is the use of the “stone mason”, which was used as a standard in large parts of Eastern Styria.

View from Feldbach to the Riegersburg around 1820, lith. JF Kaiser

From the second half of the 15th century, the area around Feldbach was repeatedly affected by the spreading feuds and invasions by Hungarians and Turks, with the market being plundered and destroyed several times. In 1469, for example, Andreas Baumkircher's troops attacked Feldbach and devastated the entire place. This event may also have been the decisive factor for the establishment of the Tabor .

After the Heiducken, allied with the Turks, invaded the Raab Valley in 1605 and completely destroyed Feldbach on October 26th with the exception of the Tabor , a closed fortification with city gates was built around the whole place.

The city received a great boost from the opening of the Hungarian Western Railway in 1873. At the same time, lively spa operations began in the nearby spa town of Bad Gleichenberg . During this time, Feldbach was raised to the status of town (1884) and the parish church was rebuilt from 1898 to 1900.

During the First World War, there was a prisoner-of-war camp in Feldbach , which in May 1915 also contained around 40,000 prisoners and 10,000 soldiers as guards. Due to the unclear situation on the Italian front (risk of escape), the prisoners were transferred to eastern Hungary . The camp was then converted into a multi-stage hospital with 6,500 beds (the most modern eye clinic in Europe at that time).

Since January 1, 2015, the city has merged with the former municipalities of Auersbach , Gniebing-Weißenbach , Gossendorf , Leitersdorf im Raabtal , Mühldorf bei Feldbach and Raabau as part of the municipal structural reform in Styria . The new enlarged community continues the name "Feldbach".

As a result of the amalgamation of the municipalities, the municipality of Feldbach now has eight volunteer fire departments:

• FF Auersbach
• FF Edersgraben-Höflach
• FF Feldbach
• FF Gniebing
• FF Gossendorf
• FF Leitersdorf
• FF Mühldorf
• FF Raabau

In addition, the Boxmark company fire department is located in the municipality.

Population development

As a result of the amalgamation of the municipalities, the population of the municipality of Feldbach almost tripled on January 1st, 2015.

Feldbach and surroundings from the Steinberg Panorama

View from Kalvarienberg to Feldbach

Feldbach from the northwest

politics

Municipal council

Municipal council elections  % 60 50 40 30th 20th 10 0 24.28% (-10.96  % p ) 53.36% (-2.69  % p ) 14.30% (+ 8.19  % p ) 3.59% ( n. K. ) 2.93% (+1.68  % p ) 1.54% ( n.k. ) SPÖ ÖVP FPÖ NEOS GREEN KPÖ 2010  2015 

The values ​​from 2010 are fictitious and represent the aggregated votes of the original municipalities. It is therefore not possible to compare mandates.

The municipal council consists of 31 members and has been made up of mandates from the following parties since the 2015 municipal council election:

• 18 ÖVP - represents the mayor
• 8 SPÖ
• 4 FPÖ
• 1 NEOS

Mayor and City Councilor

Since the last municipal council election in 2015, Ing. Josef Ober (ÖVP) has been the mayor of Feldbach.

In addition, the first Vice Mayor Rosemarie Puchleitner (ÖVP), the second Vice Mayor Mag. Bernhard Koller (SPÖ), the finance officer Manfred Promitzer (ÖVP) and the city ​​councilors Christian Ortauf (ÖVP), Andreas Rinder (SPÖ) and Franz Halbedl (FPÖ) of the Feldbach city government.

The last municipal council elections brought the following results

Political party	2015			2010
	Large community			Feldbach			Auersbach			Gniebing-W.			Gossendorf			Leitersdorf			Mühldorf			Raabau
	be right	%	Mandates	St.	%	M.	St.	%	M.	St.	%	M.	St.	%	M.	St.	%	M.	St.	%	M.	St.	%	M.
ÖVP	4171	53	18th	1191	42	09	511	73	8th	883	66	11	377	57	5	125	25th	2	1310	68	12	309	71	7th
SPÖ	1898	24	08th	1453	51	12	123	18th	1	301	23	03	213	32	3	315	64	6th	0430	22nd	03	124	29	2
FPÖ	1118	14th	04th	0103	04th	00	062	09	0	147	11	01	072	11	1	055	11	1	0074	04th	00
The green	0229	03	03	0090	03	03	not running												0105	05	00	not running
KPÖ	0120	02	00	not running
NEOS	0281	04th	01	not running
BZÖ	not running			0023	01	00	not running
Eligible voters	10,680			3,647			761			1,779			757			538			2,556			482
voter turnout	74%			79%			92%			76%			89%			94%			76%			92%

badges and flags

• Coats of arms of the previous municipalities
• 

  Auersbach

• 

  Gniebing-Weissenbach

• 

  Gossendorf

• 

  Leitersdorf in the Raabtal

• 

  Mühldorf

• 

  Raabau

• 

  Feldbach
  (since 2016)

• 

  Feldbach
  (until 2014)

All previous municipalities had a municipal coat of arms. Due to the amalgamation of municipalities, these lost their official validity on January 1st, 2015. The first award of the coat of arms to the city of Feldbach took place on February 1, 1909 by Emperor Franz Joseph I.
The blazon (coat of arms description) read:

“In an oval silver shield, an angel with silver wings turned forward holds a blue label on both upper corners that extends down to the base of the main shield. This label shows a fish swimming to the right in a body of water filling the base of the shield, whose back rises above the surface of the water. The main shield is surrounded by an ornamental bronze-colored border, on the main border of which a silver-colored wall crown rests with five visible battlements. "

The new award of the municipal coat of arms for the merged municipality took effect on December 15, 2016.
The new blazon reads:

"Above a blue shield base covered with a silver barbel in a silver, diagonally square damascene field, a black, richly profiled column with a double, differently circular openwork chalice, in the damascene U-shape surrounded by seven black squares each set on top."

The city flag has two stripes in the colors white and blue with the coat of arms.

A detailed description of the coat of arms history can be found in Neue Stadt Feldbach - Die Zeitung .

Town twinning and cooperation

As a European city, Feldbach also maintains international partnerships with different municipalities and cities in Europe.

The city of Feldbach is twin city of:

• Siklos , Hungary
• Adelsdorf , Germany
• Zywiec , Poland

Economy and Infrastructure

As a district metropolis, Feldbach is not only a school town, but also an administrative town and therefore already has a large number (approx. 1500) public employees. Feldbach is a place for small businesses and industry. The focus is on the refinement of agricultural products. The region is one of the most important agricultural regions in Styria and Austria. The city of Feldbach has always been determined by the food industry and tanneries. In addition to general service companies, the vehicle trade plays a major role. Feldbach is also an important medical center with LKH and numerous general practitioners and specialists.

Public facilities

The Von der Groeben barracks of the Austrian Armed Forces is located in Feldbach , where parts of the 7th reconnaissance and artillery battalion are stationed.

traffic

Feldbach station with railcars to Bad Gleichenberg

Feldbach was and is an important bridge point on the Raab for the north-south connections and the west-east connections. The daily traffic volume is over 25,000 cars on the routes B 68 ( Gleisdorf - Feldbach), B 66 ( Halbenrain - Ilz) and B 57 (Feldbach - Oberwart ).

In the train station Feldbach that meets Styrian Eastern Railway with the country's web of Bad Gleichenberg together. More than 5,000 people are transported daily by trains on the eastern railway line Fehring - Graz. Another stop is the Feldbach Landesbahnhof station, which is mainly used as a marshalling and freight yard. This is where all of the Styrian State Railways' ballast wagons are located. In addition, every passenger train stops here.

Furthermore, the Gniebing stop (Styrian Eastern Railway) belongs to Feldbach, as Gniebing-Weißenbach was incorporated into the Feldbach community in 2015.

Due to the schools in Feldbach, public transport with buses was expanded to all peripheral areas of the community and beyond.

education

The following schools are located in Feldbach:

• Upper secondary school
• Business Academy and Business School
• Higher educational establishment for economic professions
• Home economics school
• Polytechnic school
• State vocational school

The following schools belong to the jurisdiction of the city:

• General special school Feldbach
• Elementary school Gossendorf
• Elementary school Feldbach I
• Elementary school Feldbach II
• New Middle School & Sports Middle School Feldbach
• New Middle School Feldbach II
• Feldbach Polytechnic School
• Auersbach volcano school, Wetzelsdorf

as well as the music schools

• Feldbach Music School
• Music in the volcano.

Culture and sights

Parish Church of St. Leonhard

Villa Hold

View from Steinberg to the Mühldorf quarry and the city of Feldbach

Buildings and monuments

• See also:  List of listed objects in Feldbach
• Parish church of St. Leonhard : built in the Renaissance style by Johann Pascher from1898–1900. With old parish church: Gothic core from the 14th century, modified in Baroque style in 1688, at that time a tower with an onion roof. In 1945 the tower was blown up and the church was badly damaged; since 1956 it has been designed as a war memorial. In the chancel there is a crucifixion group by Veit Königer around 1780.
• Evangelical Christ Church Feldbach
• Villa Hold
• Museum in Tabor : In Hexenkeller the 1474 built building was during the Feldbacher witch trials incarcerated defendants (1673-75). One of the most famous victims of this witch trial was Katharina Paldauf .
• Styrian Red Cross Museum

Regular events

• Summer festival with classical music and cabaret from late June to early July
• Every two years the Christian Schölnasts Foundation Prize for literary work on Styrian folklore and regional studies is awarded here
• Every year special exhibitions take place in the museum in the Tabor

Personalities

Honorary citizen

• 1975: Otmar Dinacher , district captain
• 2004: Fritz Luttenberger (* 1932), mayor
• 2009: Rudolf Grasmug (* 1939), city historian
• 2020: Anton Schuh, Former Mayor of Mühldorf bei Feldbach

Sons and daughters of the city of Feldbach

• Wieland Backes (* 1946), TV journalist and presenter of the SWR programs Ich carry a big name and formerly a night café
• Marc Berndorfer (* 1997), Austrian national champion, vice-European champion at the EuroSkills 2018 and vice-world champion at the WorldSkills 2019 in "Bricklaying" (Maurer)
• Brigitte Bierbauer-Hartinger (* 1961), politician ( SPÖ )
• Roswitha Dautermann (* 1962), Austrian ceramist, painter and illustrator
• Judith Draxler (* 1970), Austrian national champion and Olympic participant in various swimming disciplines
• Klaus-Dieter Ertler (* 1954), Romance studies
• Julian Fink (* 1999), Austrian state master in carpentry planning technology and building joinery, winner of the Danish championships and bronze winner at the WorldSkills 2019 in "Joinery" (building joinery)
• Richard Fortmüller (* 1957), university professor at the Vienna University of Economics and Business
• Roman Hebenstreit (* 1971), Group Works Council Chairman of the ÖBB and member of the ÖGB Federal Board
• Andrea Kahofer (* 1973), politician ( SPÖ )
• Kurt Keinrath (* 1956), musician
• Verena Kicker , presenter and speaker
• Hermann Kirchner (1890–1953), officer
• Edi Köhldorfer (* 1966), guitarist, composer, arranger and author
• Maria Magdalena Koller (1957–2019), film director and screenwriter
• Franz Lackner (* 1956), Archbishop of Salzburg and Primate Germaniae
• Georg Mayer (* 1973), politician (FPÖ), club chairman, member of the European Parliament
• Erwin Pfundner (* 1954), member of the pop band " Die Paldauer "
• Franz Karl Praßl (* 1954), musicologist, internationally active artist
• Michael Praßl (* 1955), politician ( ÖVP )
• Thomas Spitzer (* 1953), musician, copywriter and graphic artist, founding member of the EAV
• Sonja Steßl (* 1981), politician ( SPÖ ), State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Finance
• Johann Tengler (1814–1899), master builder and mayor 
• Philipp Waller (* 1995), volleyball and beach volleyball player
• Franz Weinzettl (* 1955), writer and psychotherapist
• Siegfried Wolf (* 1957), Chief Executive Officer of Magna International Inc.
• Josef Zotter (* 1961), entrepreneur

literature

• Rudolf Grasmug: 8 centuries of Feldbach, 100 years of the city. City of Feldbach, Feldbach 1984, OBV .
• Rainer Karasek, Gerhard Jettl (collaborators): The garrison town of Feldbach and the artillery barracks von der Groeben - from history to the present. Austria Medien Service, Graz 2000, OBV .
• Rudolf Grasmug: 125 years of the city of Feldbach. City book. Stadtgemeinde Feldbach, Feldbach 2009, OBV .

Web links

Commons : Feldbach  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• 62379 - Feldbach (Styria). Community data, Statistics Austria .
• www.feldbach.gv.at Homepage of the municipality of Feldbach
• Museum in the Tabor
• 3D tour through the city of Feldbach, in: Kleine Zeitung , November 2010
• Feldbach on 24cities.eu, Competence Center Steirisches Thermenland -Oststeiermark
• Steiermark360, 360 ° panorama city of Feldbach (aerial view)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ wir-haben-zukunft.at community consolidation Feldbach
2. ↑ Federal Office for Metrology and Surveying, Regional Information, reference date December 31, 2016, accessed on February 19, 2017.
3. ↑ Statistics Austria: Population on January 1st, 2020 by locality (area status on January 1st, 2020) , ( CSV )
4. ↑ Announcement of the Styrian state government of November 14, 2013 on the unification of the municipality of Feldbach and the municipalities of Auersbach, Gniebing-Weissenbach, Gossendorf, Leitersdorf im Raabtal, Mühldorf near Feldbach and Raabau, all political districts of southeast Styria. Styrian Provincial Law Gazette of December 2, 2013. No. 145, 34th issue. ZDB -ID 705127-x , p. 673.
5. ↑ ^{a b} Stadtgemeinde Feldbach: The new organizational structure of the Stadtgemeinde Feldbach (PDF document, 166 KB; accessed on February 2, 2015)
6. ↑ City Council. Retrieved September 29, 2019 (German). 
7. ^ R (one) Puschnig: The Styrian municipal coat of arms awarded before 1945. In: Communications from the Styrian State Archives. Volume 13.1963. Steiermärkisches Landesarchiv, Graz 1963, ZDB -ID 510427-0 , OBV , p. 71 f.
8. ↑ 142. Announcement of the Styrian state government of December 1, 2016 on the granting of the right to use a municipal coat of arms to the municipality of Feldbach (political district of Southeast Styria) , accessed on December 6, 2016.
9. ↑ Entry on Feldbach on the Kommunalflaggen.eu page
10. ↑ Award of the new city coat of arms. (PDF) In: NEUE STADT FELDBACH - DIE ZEITUNG Edition 271. Stadtgemeinde Feldbach, February 1, 2017, accessed on April 6, 2019 . 
11. ↑ The history of the witch trials ( Memento of the original from May 10, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 10, 2016. 
12. ↑ Neue Zeit (January 30, 1975), p. 7.
13. ↑ https://www.feldbach.gv.at/feldbach2015/wp-content/uploads2020/FB-Zeitung-2020Maerz-4spaltig-DRUCK-Web.pdf , accessed on June 14, 2020.
14. ^ Antonia Nitsch: The Feldbach master builder and mayor Johann Tengler (1814–1899). Building culture and local politics in Southeast Styria in the 2nd half of the 19th century. Thesis. University of Graz, Graz 2009. - Full text online (PDF; 3.5 MB) .