Friedberg (Styria)

Borough Friedberg
coat of arms	Austria map
Basic data
Country:	Austria
State :	Styria
Political District :	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
License plate :	HF (from 1.7.2013; old: HB)
Surface:	25.87 km²
Coordinates :	47 ° 26 '  N , 16 ° 3'  E Coordinates: 47 ° 26 '29 "  N , 16 ° 3' 29"  E
Height :	601  m above sea level A.
Residents :	2,641 (January 1, 2020)
Postcodes :	8240, 8243
Area code :	03339
Community code :	6 22 11
Address of the municipal administration:	Hauptplatz 20 8240 Friedberg
Website:	www.friedberg.at
politics
Mayor :	Wolfgang Zingl ( SPÖ )
Municipal Council : (2020) (15 members)	5 9 1 5 9 1  A total of 15 seats ÖVP : 5 SPÖ : 9 FPÖ : 1
Location of Friedberg in the Hartberg-Fürstenfeld district
City center Friedberg
Source: Municipal data from Statistics Austria

Friedberg (right) around 1878 (recording sheet of the state survey )

Friedberg is a municipality with 2641 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2020) in north-eastern Styria (in the judicial district of Fürstenfeld in the political district of Hartberg-Fürstenfeld ).

geography

Geographical location

The municipality of Friedberg is exposed on the southern slope of the Wechsel Mountains near the triangle of Styria , Lower Austria and Burgenland . It is located in the northeast of the Hartberg-Fürstenfeld district at a distance of approx. 20 km from the district capital Hartberg .

The lowest point is at Oberwaldbauern at 455  m above sea level. A. , the highest point near the Hilm Gate with just over 1000  m . The old town itself is about 600  m . In terms of landscape, the northern part of the municipality belongs to the Wechsel / Styrian Central Alps and the southern part to the Riedelland / Alpine foothills in southern Burgenland .

The city itself has grown together spatially with the neighboring market town of Pinggau .

Community structure

structure Cadastral communities Locations in the municipality Ehrenschachen (8.21 km²) Friedberg (9.78 km²) Schweighof (7.88 km²) Ehrenschachen (D) Friedberg (Stt) Oberwaldbauern (W) Ortgraben (Stt)   Hochstraß (R) Maierhöfen (ZH) Schwaighof (R) Stögersbach (D) Legend

The municipality of Friedberg is divided

• geographically in the localities (residents as of January 1, 2020):
  • Honor Chests (650)
  • Friedberg (339)
  • Oberwaldbauern (31)
  • Ortgraben (1237) with Hochstraße and Maierhöfen
  • Schwaighof (240)
  • Stögersbach (144)

• administratively in the cadastral communities 64007 Friedberg , 64005 Ehrenschachen and 64018 Schwaighof
• administratively in the Wahlsprengel Stadt , Ortgraben and Ehrenschachen
• statistically in the counting areas 62211000 Friedberg-Stadt , 62211001 Friedberg-Umgebung and 62211002 Ehrenschachen

Incorporations

In 1968 the previously independent communities of Ehrenschachen and Friedberg were combined to form today's town of Friedberg.

Neighboring communities

Pinggau	Pinggau	Pinggau
Dechantskirchen		Pinggau
Dechantskirchen	Pinkafeld	Pinggau

history

Friedberg seen from Pinggau, lith. Around 1820, JF Kaiser

The town of Friedberg (formerly called Friburg and Friberg) was built below a fortified castle that had existed since around 1170 to protect the Wechsel Straße . The city was built by Leopold V in 1194 from part of the ransom money for the English King Richard I the Lionheart . The first known documented mention of the city as a city comes from 1254 ( fridberc ).

In the Middle Ages, the city was the seat of an important castle complex (later a double castle). Friedberg was repeatedly the victim of Turkish and Hungarian invasions as well as city fires. Today the castle has been demolished and a war memorial that can be seen from afar was erected in its place.

Population development

As of January 1, 2014, a total of 2,766 people lived in Friedberg (2,588 main and 178 secondary residences).

politics

mayor

Police officer Wolfgang Zingl (SPÖ) was elected mayor at the constituent meeting of the municipal council on April 16, 2015 . He is the first SPÖ mayor in the history of the city of Friedberg. Zingl succeeds Karl Mathä (ÖVP), who withdrew from city politics. The sensational change was made possible because the ÖVP lost an absolute majority in the municipal council elections and the SPÖ entered into a coalition with the FPÖ. District captain Max Wiesenhofer made the inauguration.

Deputy Mayor Leo Riebenbauer (ÖVP) and Finance Officer Günter Glatz (ÖVP) also belong to the city council.

Office manager is Ewald Grill.

fusion

A merger of the municipality of Friedberg with the market town of Pinggau , whose town centers have been forming a closed settlement area for decades, failed as part of the Styrian municipal structural reform in 2015. This can be justified by the fact that the town of Friedberg no longer plays a central role due to the economic hegemony of the market town of Pinggau would take in any joint congregation. In addition, there is no agreement between the two municipalities on the new name of a merged municipality. A merger of elementary and middle schools planned for the early 2020s also failed.

Municipal council

The municipal council consists of 15 members and, according to the results of the 2015 municipal council election, consists of mandataries from the following parties:

• 7 ÖVP ,
• 5 SPÖ and
• 3 FPÖ .

The last municipal council elections brought the following results:

Political party	2015			2010			2005			2000			1995			1990
	Sti.	%	M.	Sti.	%	M.	Sti.	%	M.	Sti.	%	M.	Sti.	%	M.	Sti.	%	M.
ÖVP	746	47	7th	979	57	9	856	50	8th	1,020	62	10	1,045	59	9	916	53	8th
SPÖ	563	35	5	591	35	5	692	41	6th	0459	28	04th	576	33	5	717	42	7th
FPÖ	291	18th	3	135	08th	1	150	09	1	0167	10	01	141	08th	1	093	05	0
voter turnout	76%			79%			81%			84%			90%			94%

badges and flags

Blazon : "In blue chevron as two interlocking set Silver Hands (the Right to the Left) with four beknöpften cuffs clad silver forearms, a tag framing, is in red a silver bar (shield)."

Declaration of coat of arms and coat of arms history: The two interlocking hands (trust), arranged in the form of a rafter, as a symbol of peace, originally referred to the castle complex and represent a talking coat of arms , the binding shield indicates the foundation of the city by Duke Leopold V of Babenberg.

There are no records whatsoever about the award of the coat of arms to the city of Friedberg. In 1313 Friedberg used its own seal, the appearance of which is not known. Friedberg has been using a new seal (Typar) since 1377 , the oldest existing stamp of which was retained as a seal on a document from 1491. The seal inscription "Sigillum civium in Friedberg" ("Seal of the Citizens in Friedberg") shows the so-called Treuhand as a seal image - two clasped hands on clothed arms reach growing out of the lower lateral seal edges over a binding shield. The city coat of arms used today was awarded in its current form on May 14, 2011.

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

Town twinning

The city has had a partnership with the city of the same name Friedberg in Bavaria since 1966 . In 1968 the municipality of Ljutomer in the north-eastern part of Slovenia was added. Another partnership has existed since 1979 with Söchtenau , a community with approx. 2600 inhabitants in the Upper Bavarian district of Rosenheim .

Tourism association

Together with Dechantskirchen, Pinggau and Schäffern, the community forms the “ Wechselland ” tourism association . Its seat is the municipality of Schäffern.

Culture and sights

The remarkable baroque high altar of the Friedberg parish church

See also:  List of listed objects in Friedberg

• The planned historical city center shows one of the most beautiful closed medieval main squares in Styria. The former Ungartor (one of the former town gates of Friedberg) was rebuilt in 1994 at the footbridge over the Ortgraben.
• Catholic parish church Friedberg hl. James the Elder: The church was built in Romanesque style at the end of the 12th century , but was destroyed by the Hungarians in 1418 . The new Gothic building was heavily damaged by the Turks between 1529 and 1532 . Today's church is built on a Gothic base and has rich baroque furnishings .
• The war memorial, visible from afar, stands on the site of the former double castle.
• Over 80 exhibits are on display in the Thonet armchair museum, including the World Exhibition Table in London in 1851 and the only privately owned Liechtenstein chair.

Economy and Infrastructure

traffic

The Wechsel road B 54 from Wiener Neustadt to Gleisdorf runs through the municipality. Via it and Steinamangerer Straße B 63, the south A 2 motorway can be reached in about five kilometers via the Friedberg-Pinggau junction (95). In addition, the bus stations along the B54 between Schäffernsteg and Graz are served by a bus line that offers traffic to Vienna via Schäffernsteg and back. Since there is a service ban on the line between Schäffernsteg and Graz, Graz cannot be reached directly from Friedberg via that line. There are direct connections to Vienna and some that require a change at Schäffernsteg. The bus line is mainly used by commuters. The district capital Hartberg and the provincial capital Graz can be reached via regional bus routes.

The train station in Friedberg

The Friedberg railway station is a railway junction. This is where the thermal baths to Fehring , the Wechselbahn to Aspang and the Pinkatalbahn to Oberwart meet . The thermal baths and the Wechselbahn offer two-hour regional train connections to Hartberg and Vienna. Passenger traffic on the Pinkatalbahn between Friedberg and Oberwart was discontinued in August 2011.

economy

Friedberg is a member of the East Styrian 8-City Cooperation, which aims to strengthen purchasing power in the region.

Education and Social

education

In Friedberg there is an elementary school, a secondary school and a polytechnic school. The Wechselland Library is also located in Friedberg.

health care

In the city's social center there are bases of the Red Cross, Volkshilfe, home nursing and a psychosocial counseling center. Furthermore, there is a pharmacy, general practitioners and several specialists in Friedberg.

maintenance

The Caritas Styria operates a residential care home in Friedberg.

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the church

• Johann Weitzer (1832–1902), founder of the Grazer Maschinen- und Waggonbau-Aktiengesellschaft
• Franz Xaver Reitterer (1868–1932), local poet, publicist and politician, honorary citizen of the city of Friedberg
• Anna F. (actually Anna Wappel, * 1985), Austrian singer from Friedberg

Personalities associated with Friedberg

• Aquiline Julius Caesar (1720–1792), Styrian historian and Augustinian canon, from 1765 to 1784 city pastor of Friedberg
• Elias of Bourbon-Parma (1880–1959), titular duke of Parma and Piacenza, died in Friedberg

Events

Spring rock festival

• Festhalle Friedberg / end of April
• Organizer: Friedberger Kultur Klub

Pentecost

• Festhalle Friedberg / Pentecost
• Organizer: Sportverein Friedberg

Quarry proof

• Quarry Friedberg / August
• Organizer: Friedberg Volunteer Fire Brigade

Oktoberfest

• Festhalle Friedberg / end of September
• Organizer: Stadtkapelle Friedberg

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Local council election 2020 - results Friedberg. orf.at , accessed on August 22, 2020 . 
2. ↑ Statistics Austria: Population on January 1st, 2020 by locality (area status on January 1st, 2020) , ( CSV )
3. ↑ Topographia Austriacarum p. 198
4. ^ Community Friedberg: Mayor (accessed on May 18, 2015)
5. ↑ My week of April 17, 2015: First "red" mayor in Friedberg (accessed on May 18, 2015)
6. ^ Friedberg community: community organs (accessed on May 18, 2015)
7. ↑ 8 4 pm, February 20, 2013: Merger failed due to "hardliners". February 20, 2013, accessed May 4, 2020 . 
8. ↑ Elections. Retrieved June 19, 2020 . 
9. ^ Name and coat of arms of Friedberg in Styria
10. ↑ Entry on Friedberg on the website kommunalflaggen.eu
11. ↑ partner communities. Retrieved June 19, 2020 . 
12. ^ Grazer Zeitung , Official Gazette for Styria. December 30, 2014, 210th year, 52nd piece. No. 327. ZDB -ID 1291268-2 p. 632.
13. ^ Stadtgemeinde Friedberg, Economy, 8-City Cooperation. Retrieved June 23, 2019 . 
14. ↑ Stadtgemeinde Friedberg, Bildung. Retrieved June 23, 2019 . 
15. ^ Stadtgemeinde Friedberg, health, social center. Retrieved June 23, 2019 . 
16. ^ Stadtgemeinde Friedberg, Gesundheit, Ärzte. Retrieved June 23, 2019 . 
17. ↑ Caritas Styria, Our Offers, Nursing Homes. Retrieved June 23, 2019 . 

Web links

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

• 62211 - Friedberg (Styria). Community data, Statistics Austria .
• Friedberg on 24cities.eu, Competence Center Steirisches Thermenland -Oststeiermark