Styrian municipal structural reform

The Styrian municipal structural reform is a regional reform in the Austrian state of Styria . It has been in effect since January 1, 2015 and is thus complete. Their basis is the Styrian Municipal Structural Reform Act (StGsrG) . This law was passed on December 17, 2013 by the Styrian state parliament and announced on April 2, 2014.

The reform reduced the number of municipalities in Styria from 542 by 255 to 287 municipalities (including Graz). On January 1, 2013, the former municipalities of Buch-Geiseldorf and Sankt Magdalena am Lemberg were merged to form the new municipality of Buch-St. Magdalena as well as the incorporation of the former communities Hafning bei Trofaiach and Gai into the community Trofaiach , whereby the number of communities had already been reduced to 539 before the actual reform came into force.

A total of 385 municipalities were affected by the reform (through the addition of other municipalities or parts of the municipality, territorial changes or dissolution), 157 municipalities remained unchanged.

An originally planned incorporation of the surrounding communities of the provincial capital Graz into this did not take place.

Starting position

The aim of the municipal structural reform was stated to be the desire to bring the Styrian municipalities permanently in a position to perform their tasks properly, efficiently and with high quality. The basics of the content were presented in the mission statement under the title “Stronger Communities - Greater Opportunities”.

This was proven by the fact that Styria had the most municipalities in Austria with 542 municipalities in relation to the population. 200 of them had fewer than 1,000 inhabitants, which means that 32% of all Austrian municipalities in this category were in Styria before the reform, but only 3.6% afterwards. In 302 of 542 municipalities, population declines are to be expected in the next few years, which particularly affects small municipalities. 77 municipalities with less than 500 inhabitants and thus 41% of all Austrian municipalities in this category were located in Styria, 63 (81.8%) of which have shown population decreases since the last census.

The number of leaving communities (see section on financial issues below ) that were no longer able to perform their duties on their own has increased steadily since 2006. In Article 118, however, the Austrian Federal Constitution assigns the municipalities important everyday tasks such as the security and event police, management of traffic areas, road police, health police, in particular also in the field of aid and rescue services as well as the corpse and funeral services, the moral police, Construction police, fire police or spatial planning for the respective municipality. The municipalities are responsible for these tasks, free of instructions and excluding legal remedies to administrative bodies outside the municipality, and also to finance them. If this is not possible, the municipality is dependent on financial subsidies from general tax funds.

In the years before 2010, attempts were unsuccessful to alleviate this situation by voluntarily merging several municipalities into small regions . Although many communities had actually done this, the desired effects of this measure fell far short of expectations. The experiences with the small regions were one of the bases for the work on the municipal structural reform.

Another argument in favor of the reform was that it was becoming increasingly difficult for the municipalities to find applicants for political positions (municipal council, mayor's office). Municipal associations offer an opportunity to make offices more attractive, as larger municipalities offer more room for maneuver and higher performance and make it possible to exercise the mayor's office as a full-time office and not just on the side. Political offices can be filled more easily if one can draw from a larger group of people.

Larger municipalities also have the option of using their own staff for technical questions more easily (or rewarding external specialists) than smaller municipalities with a low budget. Apart from the time burden, the shortage of applicants is also related to the fact that mayors can be exposed to the risk of criminal charges, even if they do not act actively, but e.g. B. Refrain from taking official steps (notification of an unapproved building) (over a long period of time). Even if such allegations or even personal attacks turn out to be unjustified in retrospect, the personal burden can be a disadvantage that does not promote the application for an office. Personal attacks on mayors cited, for example, include a gunshot attack (2003, Fohnsdorf ), strychnine-poisoned praline (2008, Spitz an der Donau ), an acid attack (2008, Weißkirchen an der Traun ), sending dead animals (2010, Ansfelden ; 2011, Eidenberg ), Death threats and other attacks. This situation can be better met with the resources of a larger community.

procedure

The reform took place in several phases. In the "proposal phase" from October 2011 to January 31, 2012, the municipalities and their citizens were already involved to present their points of view. In the “negotiation phase” until September 2012, the ideas of the state and the municipalities were then discussed mainly at the district level. In the “decision-making phase”, the concrete content of the reform should be worked out by January 2013. In this phase, by January 31, 2013, decisions in principle had been made by 207 municipalities to voluntarily unite with one or more neighboring municipalities - after clarifying open questions. In the subsequent "implementation phase", technical and organizational issues were dealt with and the conversion work began.

The procedure, especially if voluntary mergers were intended, is summarized in a manual. Preparatory work began in the years after 2009. Criteria for examining whether merging municipalities would make sense were as follows:

• Central facilities: catchment areas of schools, parish offices, shops.
• Community structure: In this context, already existing functional interdependencies between the communities, connections in the settlement structure and the infrastructure (e.g. joint disposal companies) were considered.
• Already existing cooperations and supply structures: small regions, school districts, parish districts, sewage associations, registry office associations, administrative communities, tourism associations and private sector partnerships such as industrial parks.
• Demographic development: population development, immigration and emigration, etc.
• Development of the municipal budgets, their income and expenditure, the economic and financial situation as the basis for the fulfillment of statutory tasks.
• Geographical situation: common borders, traffic development, geographical location, natural and topographical conditions

These principles were shown in criteria cards.

There are two types of parish consolidation: voluntary and compulsory:

• Voluntary mergers took place through consensus decisions of the respective municipal councils on the basis of the municipal law; they were announced by the governor in the state law gazette. Around 60 such announcements, each relating to at least two, but also several municipalities, were announced. There were financial incentives for voluntary mergers (merger bonuses, reform funds).
• Forced mergers were made by law of the state of Styria.

• As of January 1, 2020, at the request of a majority of the community citizens, the Murfeld community in the Southeast Styria district will be dissolved and divided between two neighboring communities in the Leibnitz district.

Effects

General

The amalgamation of congregations created completely new congregations (not only earlier congregations were “ incorporated ” into other existing congregations ). The rights and obligations of the affected municipalities are completely transferred to the new municipality.

The offices of mayors, municipal councilors and other officials expired when the changes took effect for all municipalities affected by the reform. In their place, a government commissioner conducted the current and urgent business. He was appointed by the state government, an advisory board could be attached to him.

The right to use a coat of arms expired for all affected communities, a coat of arms must be reassigned. This can be the previously used coat of arms, but it doesn't have to be. This is based on the provision of the municipal code, according to which municipal coats of arms of municipalities that have been dissolved due to territorial changes are no longer valid as municipal emblems. It therefore also applies to the coats of arms of an earlier municipality whose name is continued.

Dissolved municipalities can be declared part of local government by the municipality to which they belong from 2015 . The former municipal coat of arms can be used as the district coat of arms, a separate district mayor can be appointed. The municipal code also contains further rules on the transfer of rights and obligations of the dissolved municipalities.

The new election of the municipal councilors must be announced within six months. The municipal council elections in Styria 2015 were scheduled and held for March 22, 2015.

The organization of the courts in Styria was also redefined by the “District Courts Ordinance Styria 2015” in line with the changes in the municipal structural reform.

Other organizational changes, such as B. The areas of the registry office and citizenship associations that existed after the reform were announced in November and December 2014 in the State Law Gazette for Styria or in the Grazer Zeitung (for the tourism associations).

Financially

The municipal structural reform was expected to have positive effects on the economic situation of the municipalities and thus also of the State of Styria in the medium to long term. Payments that previously had to be made to communities with negative behavior in order to continue to guarantee their tasks could be omitted. In 2010, 225 municipalities were unable to balance their regular budget on their own, the total outflow in the regular budget was 45 million euros; in 2011 this was the case for 152 municipalities with a total outflow of 29 million euros. According to the draft law on municipal structural reform, around 37.2 million euros in 2010 and almost 55 million euros in 2011 were spent on various severance payments and compensations. These sums were necessary to strengthen the budget and could not be used for investments or other purposes.

In the explanations of the draft law, the financial effects were summarized as follows:

“The enactment of a law corresponding to the present draft has little financial impact on the state of Styria. The reduction in the number of municipalities envisaged in the draft law will reduce the coordination effort and the number of procedures and transactions by state offices; taking into account the expected more intensive use of the regional offices by the newly formed municipalities in the first time after the law came into force, cost neutrality in the short and medium term and long-term savings for the state of Styria can be assumed. "

“In the first phase after the formation of the new municipalities, they will incur financial expenses, for example for organizational changes and restructuring, which can be covered by the federal merger premium (Section 21 (9) FAG 2008). As a result, through a focused use of budget funds, more efficient use of the infrastructure, optimized spatial planning, improved use of resources and, last but not least, a significant reduction in the number of political bodies at the municipal level, cost savings to the benefit of the municipalities can be expected. "

In October 2015, the Styrian Chamber of Commerce demanded further mergers of municipalities in order to increase their efficiency and to counteract the municipal fee increases. The Chamber of Commerce compared the development of community fees from 2002 to 2014 with that of inflation: While the rate of inflation in this period was 27 percent, the municipal fees rose by 56 percent. In the smaller communities with fewer than 2,500 inhabitants, the fees were increased particularly sharply - here the increase is 63 percent.

Proceedings before the Constitutional Court

The reform met with criticism. More than 40 complaints from Styrian communities were pending at the Constitutional Court (VfGH) in autumn 2014. In essence, it was alleged that the merger in each case was irrelevant and therefore unconstitutional. The applications associated with the complaints to repeal specific sections of the structural reform legislation were examined by the Constitutional Court separately for each case, insofar as they were procedurally admissible. This led to some extensive decisions, which ultimately confirmed the content of the measures taken and rejected the challenges. The Constitutional Court had to assess whether the measures envisaged by the legislature were factual in themselves based on the arguments put forward; The Constitutional Court does not assess whether alternatives are useful (possibly higher).

In addition to issues that appear to be locally relevant, it was objected that the reform violated the European Charter of Local Self-Government . This charter is an international treaty within the framework of the Council of Europe , which Austria has acceded to and which has to be fulfilled by law.
With regard to this argument, the Court pointed out that the Charter was not a constitutional law, it was only at the level of a simple law and thus did not constitute a measure of the constitutional conformity of another law.

Furthermore, referring to earlier decisions of a similar nature, the Court ruled that it belongs to the scope of legal policy (of the Styrian Landtag as state legislature) and that it is not unconstitutional if financially stronger municipalities with financially weaker ones or also positive-bearing municipalities are combined in order to create a balance or to create a (even) more efficient municipal system than before.

Initially, complaints from the following communities were dealt with: Tauplitz , Pichl-Kainisch , Rohrmoos-Untertal , Pichl-Preunegg , Etmißl , Raaba , Grambach , Waldbach , Ganz , Parschlug , Tragöß and Eisbach .
The applications were unsuccessful. In a first series of decisions, the Constitutional Court did not allow any contestation and set out the following principles in an official statement:

• The unconstitutionality of the municipal structural reform alleged in the motions for formal reasons, namely due to incorrect announcement of the law or the ordinance, does not apply.
• The constitution guarantees the individual community no right to "undisturbed existence".
• In its task of dividing the state into municipalities or changing municipal areas, the state legislature has extensive leeway in terms of legal policy.
• The Constitutional Court alone has to decide whether the principle of objectivity is observed (and not, for example, whether there would have been more appropriate alternatives).
• There are no constitutional concerns about the goals of the Styrian municipal structural reform (in particular strengthening the efficiency of the municipalities, more efficient use of the municipal infrastructure, better use of land for settlement and economic purposes, reaction to demographic developments).
• A parish amalgamation is only irrelevant if it is “foreseeable completely unsuitable due to very special circumstances” in order to achieve the goal of improving the parish structure.
• The Constitutional Court is aware that any change in the structure of the municipality not only brings advantages. Some things will not change at all, some to the disadvantage. This fact does not in itself make such a measure irrelevant.

In terms of content, only those complaints were dealt with that were raised by the affected communities and that gave concrete reasons for a possible unconstitutionality. Complaints that only contained general statements without specific reasons or that had been raised by individuals (e.g. mayors) were rejected without any substantive treatment. Regarding complaints from individuals, the Court stated that the Municipal Structural Reform Act did not interfere with their legal position (legal sphere) and that they were therefore not entitled to lodge a complaint (lack of legitimation for the application). Private individuals are not the norm addressees of the law. Since mayors in Styria are (only) elected by the municipal council (and not by the municipality citizens), this also applies to those who hold mayor's office. Statutory provisions that ended the term of office of a mayor elected by the municipal council did not interfere with his (personal) legal sphere.

The first information to be published was the VfGH's finding about the legality of the merger of the communities of Mönichwald and Waldbach .

On December 16, 2014, the Constitutional Court announced that further complaints against the structural reform had also remained unsuccessful and that only one of the most recent complaints by the municipality of Saifen-Boden had not yet been decided. Complaints from the communities of Teufenbach , Petersdorf II , Kleinlobming , Nestelbach im Ilztal , Gams bei Hieflau , Preßguts , Stein , Weißenbach bei Liezen , Dürnstein in Styria , Neumarkt in Styria , Gschnaidt , Seggauberg , Hart-Purgstall , Brodingberg , Höf- Präbach , Sulmeck-Greith , Reichendorf , Pitschgau , Großradl , Sankt Oswald ob Eibiswald , Hollenegg , Vogau , Zettling , Trahütten , Freiland near Deutschlandsberg , Osterwitz and Sankt Nikolai in Sölktal . The complaint by the municipality of Saifen-Boden was only rejected in February 2015, but with essentially the same basic arguments. In this decision, too, the Constitutional Court had no doubt that the Styrian Landtag (the provincial legislature) was moving within the framework of the Austrian constitutional concept of local communities (Art. 115 B-VG). The decision on the complaint by the municipality of Teufenbach was cited by the VfGH as an example of this series of decisions.

The Constitutional Court summarized several complaints that dealt with similar issues (e.g. complaints from neighboring municipalities, which concerned the same legislative body) in one decision. The number of his decisions therefore does not match the (larger) number of complaints.

The Styrian districts before and after the reform

The district boundaries before the 2011 reform took effect

The district boundaries after the reform was completed in 2015

Municipal boundaries of Styria after the municipal structural reform (as of January 1, 2015)

In the course of administrative reforms announced together with the municipal structural reform, four new districts were created through mergers : in 2012 the district of Murtal (amalgamation of the former districts Judenburg and Knittelfeld ) and in 2013 the districts of Bruck-Mürzzuschlag (from Bruck an der Mur and Mürzzuschlag ), Hartberg -Fürstenfeld (from Hartberg and Fürstenfeld ) and southeast Styria (from Feldbach and Radkersburg ).

The number of districts thus decreased in two steps from 17 to 13.

The boundaries of some districts were also changed in such a way that newly formed communities (e.g. Schwarzautal and Landl ) belong completely to a single district, even if their districts were originally in different districts. The district of Southeast Styria has therefore ceded the municipal areas of Mitterlabill , Schwarzau im Schwarzautal and Weinburg am Saßbach to the Leibnitz district and the municipal area of Petersdorf II to the Graz-Umgebung district, which in turn transferred the municipal areas of Tyrnau and Tulwitz to the Weiz district. In addition, Hirnsdorf came from the Weiz district to the Hartberg-Fürstenfeld district and Hieflau from the Leoben district to the Liezen district.

Ultimately, only the borders of four districts remained unchanged:

City of Graz and the districts of Deutschlandsberg, Murau and Voitsberg.

In January 2018, Governor Schützenhöfer made an initial balance sheet on the district mergers, which showed that savings of around 5.2 million euros per year had been achieved in this area, but around 10 million had been hoped for. The governor ruled out further district mergers, except "they are voluntary". How a voluntary merger could be initiated by officials bound by instructions, such as district captains, was not explained.

Districts		Number of municipalities
2011	2015	2011	2015
Bruck an der Mur district	Bruck- Mürzzuschlag	21st	19th
Mürzzuschlag district		16
Deutschlandsberg	DL	40	15th
Graz	G	01	01
Graz area	GU	57	36
Fürstenfeld district	Hartberg- Fürstenfeld	14th	36
Hartberg district		50
Leibnitz	LB	48	29
Leoben	LN	19th	16
Liezen	LI	51	29
Murau	MU	34	14th
Judenburg district	Murtal	24	20th
Knittelfeld district		14th
Feldbach district	Southeast Styria	55	26th
Radkersburg district		19th
Voitsberg	VO	25th	15th
Wheat	WZ	54	31
2011	2015	2011	2015
17 districts	13 districts	542 gem.	287 gem.

Detailed list of the newly formed parishes

From the formerly 539 independent municipalities (as of December 2014), these 287 new municipalities were formed on January 1, 2015 (251 municipality names, which exactly continue to exist, are printed in bold; 157 municipalities without any change also have a dark gray background):

The five communities Kohlberg , Limbach bei Neudau , Oberstorcha , Schlag bei Thalberg and Stocking are listed twice in the left column, as their area has been divided into two subsequent communities. In the second column, the former total population is entered, but only the relevant part of the total on the right has been taken over.

Gnas was reassembled from most parts (nine communities and one district), and Feldbach and Neumarkt in Styria each from seven parts.

District boundaries have been moved for Hieflau and other former municipalities.

Pre-sorting of the table: 1st district, 2nd municipality (according to name from 2015)

Old parish name	Population before the reform as of January 1, 2014	New community name (2015)	Population after the reform as of January 1, 2014 *	District after the reform
Aflenz health resort	1,001	Aflenz	2,445	Bruck-Mürzzuschlag
Aflenz land	1,444
Breitenau am Hochlantsch	1,761	Breitenau am Hochlantsch	1,761	Bruck-Mürzzuschlag
Bruck an der Mur	12,541	Bruck an der Mur	15,730	Bruck-Mürzzuschlag
Oberaich	3,189
Kapfenberg	21,503	Kapfenberg	23,235	Bruck-Mürzzuschlag
Parschlug	1,732
All Saints' Day in the Mürz Valley	1.953	Kindberg	8,243	Bruck-Mürzzuschlag
Kindberg	5,331
Mürzhofen	959
Krieglach	5,198	Krieglach	5,198	Bruck-Mürzzuschlag
Langenwang	3,926	Langenwang	3,926	Bruck-Mürzzuschlag
Casting	1,227	Mariazell	3,997	Bruck-Mürzzuschlag
Hall Valley	321
Mariazell	1,434
Saint Sebastian	1,015
All	346	Mürzzuschlag	8,814	Bruck-Mürzzuschlag
Mürzzuschlag	8,468
Altenberg on the Rax	324	Neuberg an der Mürz	2,805	Bruck-Mürzzuschlag
Chapels	643
Mürzsteg	594
Neuberg an der Mürz	1,244
Pernegg on the Mur	2,345	Pernegg on the Mur	2,345	Bruck-Mürzzuschlag
Mitterdorf in the Mürz Valley	2,378	Sankt Barbara in Mürz Valley	6,834	Bruck-Mürzzuschlag
Veitsch	2,417
Wartberg in the Mürz Valley	2,039
Sankt Lorenzen in Mürz Valley	3,521	Sankt Lorenzen in Mürz Valley	3,521	Bruck-Mürzzuschlag
Frauenberg	147	Sankt Marein in the Mürz Valley	2,704	Bruck-Mürzzuschlag
Sankt Marein in the Mürz Valley	2,557
Spital am Semmering	1,577	Spital am Semmering	1,577	Bruck-Mürzzuschlag
Stanz im Mürz Valley	1,857	Stanz im Mürz Valley	1,857	Bruck-Mürzzuschlag
Etmißl	479	Thörl	2,362	Bruck-Mürzzuschlag
Sankt Ilgen	275
Thörl	1,608
Sankt Katharein an der Laming	971	Tragöß-Sankt Katharein	1.952	Bruck-Mürzzuschlag
Tragedy	981
Turnau	1,549	Turnau	1,549	Bruck-Mürzzuschlag
Bad Gams	2,306	Deutschlandsberg	11,382	Deutschlandsberg
Deutschlandsberg	8,186
Outdoors near Deutschlandsberg	153
monastery	194
Osterwitz	147
Trahütten	396
Aibl	1,386	Eibiswald	6,669	Deutschlandsberg
Eibiswald	1,437
Großradl	1,397
Pitschgau	1,568
Sankt Oswald ob Eibiswald	562
Soboth	319
Frauental on the Laßnitz	2,888	Frauental on the Laßnitz	2,888	Deutschlandsberg
Great Saint Florian	2,891	Great Saint Florian	4,229	Deutschlandsberg
Unterbergla	1,338
Lannach	3,337	Lannach	3,337	Deutschlandsberg
Pölfing-Brunn	1,635	Pölfing-Brunn	1,635	Deutschlandsberg
Preding	1,687	Preding	1,687	Deutschlandsberg
Sankt Josef (West Styria)	1,438	Sankt Josef (West Styria)	1,438	Deutschlandsberg
Sankt Martin im Sulmtal	1,781	Sankt Martin im Sulmtal	3,099	Deutschlandsberg
Sulmeck-Greith	1,318
Sankt Peter im Sulmtal	1,336	Sankt Peter im Sulmtal	1,336	Deutschlandsberg
Greisdorf	966	Sankt Stefan ob Stainz	3,548	Deutschlandsberg
Gundersdorf	406
Sankt Stefan ob Stainz	2.176
Garanas	270	Schwanberg	4,665	Deutschlandsberg
Gressenberg	283
Hollenegg	2,077
Schwanberg	2,035
Georgsberg	1,528	Stainz	8,554	Deutschlandsberg
Marhof	1,047
Rassach	1,413
Stainz	2,587
Stainztal	1,444
Stable yard	535
Wettmannstätten	1,555	Wettmannstätten	1,555	Deutschlandsberg
Limberg near Wies	950	Wies	4,444	Deutschlandsberg
Wernersdorf	634
Wielfresen	577
Wies	2,283
Graz	269.997	Graz	269.997	Graz
Deutschfeistritz	3,871	Deutschfeistritz	4,222	Graz area
Großstübing	351
Dobl	1,805	Dobl-Zwaring	3,357	Graz area
Zwaring-Pöls	1,552
Brodingberg	1,277	Eggersdorf near Graz	6,394	Graz area
Eggersdorf near Graz	2.139
Hart-Purgstall	1,593
Höf-Präbach	1,385
Feldkirchen near Graz	5,696	Feldkirchen near Graz	5,696	Graz area
Fernitz	3,300	Fernitz-Mellach	4,557	Graz area
Mellach	1,257
Frohnleiten	5,863	Frohnleiten	6,675	Graz area
Röthelstein	210
Schrems near Frohnleiten	602
Gössendorf	3,774	Gössendorf	3,774	Graz area
Burr grain	7,622	Burr grain	7,622	Graz area
Eisbach	2,955	Gratwein street angel	12,811	Graz area
Gratwein	3,664
Gschnaidt	341
Judendorf street angel	5,851
Hard near Graz	4,547	Hard near Graz	4,547	Graz area
Haselsdorf-Tobelbad	1,346	Haselsdorf-Tobelbad	1,346	Graz area
Hausmannstätten	2,968	Hausmannstätten	2,968	Graz area
Attendorf	1,831	Heat village	6,895	Graz area
Heat village	3,643
Rohrbach-Steinberg	1,421
Kainbach near Graz	2,699	Kainbach near Graz	2,699	Graz area
Kalsdorf near Graz	6,120	Kalsdorf near Graz	6,120	Graz area
Kumberg	3.714	Kumberg	3.714	Graz area
Laßnitzhöhe	2,620	Laßnitzhöhe	2,620	Graz area
Dear	4,820	Dear	4,820	Graz area
Edelsgrub	707	Nestelbach near Graz	2,645	Graz area
Langegg near Graz	833
Nestelbach near Graz	1.105
Peggau	2.144	Peggau	2.144	Graz area
Grambach	1,758	Raaba-Grambach	4.026	Graz area
Raaba	2,268
Saint Bartholomew	1,400	Saint Bartholomew	1,400	Graz area
Krumegg	1,450	Sankt Marein near Graz	3,627	Graz area
Petersdorf II	877
Sankt Marein near Graz	1,300
Sankt Oswald near Plankenwarth	1,225	Sankt Oswald near Plankenwarth	1,225	Graz area
Sankt Radegund near Graz	2,054	Sankt Radegund near Graz	2,054	Graz area
Pirka	3,286	Seiersberg-Pirka	10,637	Graz area
Seiersberg	7,351
Semriach	3,292	Semriach	3,292	Graz area
Stattegg	2,780	Stattegg	2,780	Graz area
Stiwoll	719	Stiwoll	719	Graz area
Thal	2,240	Thal	2,240	Graz area
Ubelbach	2,000	Ubelbach	2,000	Graz area
Unterpremstätten	3,964	Unterpremstätten-Zettling , since 2016 Premstätten	5,534	Graz area
Sheet	1,570
Vasoldsberg	4,328	Vasoldsberg	4,328	Graz area
Weinitzen	2,596	Weinitzen	2,596	Graz area
Werndorf	2,248	Werndorf	2,248	Graz area
Wound shoe	1,539	Wound shoe	1,539	Graz area
Bad Blumau	1,595	Bad Blumau	1,595	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Bad Waltersdorf	2,192	Bad Waltersdorf	3,704	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Limbach near Neudau	351
Sebersdorf	1,407
Burgau	1,066	Burgau	1,066	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Dechantskirchen	1,627	Dechantskirchen	2,043	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Stroke near Thalberg	911
Ebersdorf	1,229	Ebersdorf	1,229	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Blaindorf	668	Feistritztal	2,404	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Brain village	677
Kaibing	392
Sankt Johann near Herberstein	380
Siegersdorf near Herberstein	287
Friedberg	2,582	Friedberg	2,582	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Altenmarkt near Fürstenfeld	1,134	Fürstenfeld	8,237	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Fürstenfeld	5,964
Übersbach	1,139
Grafendorf near Hartberg	2,513	Grafendorf near Hartberg	3,145	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Stambach	632
Greinbach	1,783	Greinbach	1,783	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Grosssteinbach	1,285	Grosssteinbach	1,285	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Großwilfersdorf	1,401	Großwilfersdorf	2.017	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Hainersdorf	616
Hartberg	6,449	Hartberg	6,449	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Hartberg surroundings	2,226	Hartberg surroundings	2,226	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Great hard	635	Hartl	2.133	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Hartl	808
Tiefenbach near Kaindorf	690
Ilz	2,552	Ilz	3,693	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Nestelbach in the Ilztal	1,141
Dienersdorf	690	Kaindorf	2,810	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Hofkirchen near Hartberg	639
Kaindorf	1,481
Lafnitz	1,420	Lafnitz	1,420	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Loipersdorf near Fürstenfeld	1.405	Loipersdorf near Fürstenfeld	1,900	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
stone	495
Limbach near Neudau	351	Neudau	1,445	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Neudau	1,199
Ottendorf an der Rittschein	1,525	Ottendorf an der Rittschein	1,525	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Pinggau	3.126	Pinggau	3.126	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Pöllau	2,041	Pöllau	6,072	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Raven forest	604
Saifen floor	1,034
Schönegg near Pöllau	1,367
Sonnhofen	1,026
Pöllauberg	2.127	Pöllauberg	2.127	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Rohr near Hartberg	1.103	Rohr near Hartberg	1,482	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Wörth an der Lafnitz	379
Eichberg	1,178	Rohrbach an der Lafnitz	2,719	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Rohrbach an der Lafnitz	1,046
Stroke near Thalberg	911
Saint Jacob in the forest	1,071	Saint Jacob in the forest	1,071	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Sankt Johann in der Haide	2,043	Sankt Johann in der Haide	2,043	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Sankt Lorenzen am Wechsel	1,548	Sankt Lorenzen am Wechsel	1,548	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Shepherds	1,409	Shepherds	1,409	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Söchau	1,412	Söchau	1,412	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Stubenberg	2,278	Stubenberg	2,278	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Puchegg	551	Advance	4,816	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Riegersberg	995
Schachen at Vorau	1,174
Advance	1,374
Vornholz	722
Mönichwald	864	Waldbach-Mönichwald	1,557	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Waldbach	693
Wenigzell	1,422	Wenigzell	1,422	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
Book-St. Magdalena	2.156	Book-St. Magdalena	2.156	Hartberg-Fürstenfeld
All Saints' Day at Wildon	1,425	All Saints' Day at Wildon	1,425	Leibnitz
Arnfels	1,081	Arnfels	1,081	Leibnitz
Berghausen	632	Ehrenhausen on the Weinstrasse	2,523	Leibnitz
Ehrenhausen	1,019
Ratsch on the Wine Route	445
Retznei	427
Empersdorf	1,325	Empersdorf	1,325	Leibnitz
Gabersdorf	1,126	Gabersdorf	1,126	Leibnitz
Gamlitz	3.110	Gamlitz	3,236	Leibnitz
Sulztal on the Wine Route	126
Gleinstätten	1,441	Gleinstätten	2,843	Leibnitz
Pistorf	1,402
Gralla	2,188	Gralla	2,188	Leibnitz
Big small	2,292	Big small	2,292	Leibnitz
Heiligenkreuz am Waasen	1.924	Heiligenkreuz am Waasen	2,704	Leibnitz
Sankt Ulrich am Waasen	780
Heimschuh	1999	Heimschuh	1999	Leibnitz
Hengsberg	1,395	Hengsberg	1,395	Leibnitz
Kitzeck in Sausal	1,223	Kitzeck in Sausal	1,223	Leibnitz
Long	1,231	Long	1,231	Leibnitz
Lebring-Sankt Margarethen	2,028	Lebring-Sankt Margarethen	2,028	Leibnitz
Kaindorf an der Sulm	2,510	Leibnitz	11,314	Leibnitz
Leibnitz	7,853
Seggauberg	951
Eichberg-Trautenburg	773	Leutschach on the Wine Route	3.811	Leibnitz
Shine on the wine route	1,395
Leutschach	567
Schlossberg	1,076
Oberhaag	2,196	Oberhaag	2,196	Leibnitz
Ragnitz	1,481	Ragnitz	1,481	Leibnitz
Sankt Andrä-Höch	1,759	Sankt Andrä-Höch	1,759	Leibnitz
Sankt Georgen an der Stiefing	1,085	Sankt Georgen an der Stiefing	1,500	Leibnitz
Stocking	1,455
Sankt Johann in the Saggau Valley	2,037	Sankt Johann in the Saggau Valley	2,037	Leibnitz
Sankt Nikolai im Sausal	2,206	Sankt Nikolai im Sausal	2,206	Leibnitz
Sankt Nikolai ob Draßling	1,097	Sankt Veit in southern Styria	4,044	Leibnitz
Sankt Veit am Vogau	1.918
Weinburg am Saßbach	1,029
Breitenfeld am Tannenriegel	197	Schwarzautal	2,301	Leibnitz
Hainsdorf in the Schwarzautal	289
Mitterlabill	394
Schwarzau in the Schwarzau valley	622
Wolfsberg in the Schwarzautal	799
Obervogau	862	Straß-Spielfeld , since 2016 Straß in Styria	4,742	Leibnitz
matchfield	968
Straß in Styria	1,797
Vogau	1,115
Tillmitsch	3,197	Tillmitsch	3,197	Leibnitz
Wagna	5,426	Wagna	5,426	Leibnitz
Stocking	1,455	Wildon	5,186	Leibnitz
Weitendorf	1,542
Wildon	2,604
Iron ore	4,520	Iron ore	4,520	Leoben
Kalwang	1,054	Kalwang	1,054	Leoben
Chambers in the Liesingtal	1,645	Chambers in the Liesingtal	1,645	Leoben
Kraubath on the Mur	1,277	Kraubath on the Mur	1,277	Leoben
Leoben	24,466	Leoben	24,466	Leoben
Mautern in Styria	1,814	Mautern in Styria	1,814	Leoben
Niklasdorf	2,560	Niklasdorf	2,560	Leoben
Proleb	1,537	Proleb	1,537	Leoben
Radmer	618	Radmer	618	Leoben
Sankt Michael in Upper Styria	3,040	Sankt Michael in Upper Styria	3,040	Leoben
Sankt Peter-Freienstein	2,419	Sankt Peter-Freienstein	2,419	Leoben
Sankt Stefan ob Leoben	1.933	Sankt Stefan ob Leoben	1.933	Leoben
Traboch	1,364	Traboch	1,364	Leoben
Trofaiach	11,190	Trofaiach	11,190	Leoben
Vordernberg	1.006	Vordernberg	1.006	Leoben
Forest on the Schober Pass	598	Forest on the Schober Pass	598	Leoben
Admont	2,508	Admont	4,988	Liezen
Hall	1,744
Johnsbach	150
Weng in the Gesäuse	586
Aich	920	Aich	1,205	Liezen
Goessenberg	285
Aigen in the Ennstal	2,557	Aigen in the Ennstal	2,557	Liezen
Altaussee	1,825	Altaussee	1,825	Liezen
Altenmarkt near Sankt Gallen	852	Altenmarkt near Sankt Gallen	852	Liezen
Ardning	1,197	Ardning	1,197	Liezen
Bad Aussee	4,779	Bad Aussee	4,779	Liezen
Bad Mitterndorf	3.127	Bad Mitterndorf	4,875	Liezen
Pichl-Kainisch	743
Tauplitz	1.005
Gaishorn at the lake	997	Gaishorn at the lake	1,363	Liezen
Treglwang	366
Grobming	2,803	Grobming	2,803	Liezen
Grundlsee	1,219	Grundlsee	1,219	Liezen
House	2,402	House	2,402	Liezen
Donnersbach	1,085	Irdning-Donnersbachtal	4.148	Liezen
Donnersbachwald	314
Irdning	2,749
Gams near Hieflau	561	Rural	2,943	Liezen
Hieflau	730
Rural	1,258
Palfau	394
Lassing	1,667	Lassing	1,667	Liezen
Liezen	6,865	Liezen	7,982	Liezen
Weißenbach near Liezen	1,117
Michaelerberg	551	Michaelerberg-Pruggern	1,174	Liezen
Pruggern	623
Mitterberg	1,157	Mitterberg-Sankt Martin	1.931	Liezen
Sankt Martin am Grimming	774
Niederöblarn	598	Öblarn	2,045	Liezen
Öblarn	1,447
Ramsau am Dachstein	2,766	Ramsau am Dachstein	2,766	Liezen
Oppenberg	242	Rottenmann	5,283	Liezen
Rottenmann	5,041
St. Gallen	1,396	St. Gallen	1,879	Liezen
Weißenbach on the Enns	483
Pichl-Preunegg	898	Schladming	6,676	Liezen
Rohrmoos-Untertal	1,376
Schladming	4,402
Selzthal	1,641	Selzthal	1,641	Liezen
Großsölk	489	Sölk	1,557	Liezen
Kleinsölk	583
Sankt Nikolai in Sölktal	485
Pürgg-Trautenfels	891	Stainach-Pürgg	2,848	Liezen
Stainach	1,957
Shoots	3,353	Shoots	3,353	Liezen
Wild Alps	500	Wild Alps	500	Liezen
Wörschach	1,165	Wörschach	1,165	Liezen
Krakaudorf	645	Krakow	1,495	Murau
Krakauhintermühlen	533
Krakau shadow	317
Mills	904	Mills	904	Murau
Laßnitz near Murau	1,036	Murau	3,758	Murau
Murau	2.131
Pride alpe	457
Triebendorf	134
Dürnstein in Styria	278	Neumarkt in Styria	5,072	Murau
Kulm am Zirbitz	308
Mariahof	1,352
Neumarkt in Styria	1,690
Perchau on the saddle	301
Sankt Marein near Neumarkt	932
Zeutschach	211
Niederwölz	617	Niederwölz	617	Murau
Oberwölz city	987	Oberwölz	3,049	Murau
Oberwölz surroundings	777
Schönberg-Lachtal	429
Winklern near Oberwölz	856
Rants	1,037	Rants	1,184	Murau
Rinegg	147
Sankt Georgen ob Murau	1,387	Sankt Georgen am Kreischberg	1,851	Murau
St. Ruprecht-Falkendorf	464
Santa bubbles	552	Saint Lambrecht	1,948	Murau
Saint Lambrecht	1,396
Sankt Lorenzen near Scheifling	634	Scheifling	2,186	Murau
Scheifling	1,552
Schöder	981	Schöder	981	Murau
St. Peter am Kammersberg	2,063	St. Peter am Kammersberg	2,063	Murau
Predlitz-Turrach	822	Stadl-Predlitz	1,790	Murau
Stadl an der Mur	968
Frojach-Katsch	1,155	Teufenbach-Katsch	1,842	Murau
Teufenbach	687
Fohnsdorf	7,813	Fohnsdorf	7,813	Murtal
Gaal	1,453	Gaal	1,453	Murtal
Grand lobbying	1,215	Großlobming , Lobmingtal since 2016	1,846	Murtal
Petty lobming	631
Hohentauern	434	Hohentauern	434	Murtal
Judenburg	9,191	Judenburg	10.141	Murtal
Oberweg	574
Reifling	376
Apple mountain	1,145	Knittelfeld	12,446	Murtal
Knittelfeld	11.301
Kobenz	1,830	Kobenz	1,830	Murtal
Amering	1,080	shelter	3,876	Murtal
shelter	2,033
Sankt Anna am Lavantegg	388
Sankt Wolfgang-Kienberg	375
Oberkurzheim	694	Pöls-Oberkurzheim	3,061	Murtal
Pöls	2,367
Bretstein	302	Pölstal	2,768	Murtal
Oberzeiring	834
Sankt Johann am Tauern	476
Sankt Oswald-Möderbrugg	1,156
Pusterwald	485	Pusterwald	485	Murtal
Sankt Georgen ob Judenburg	875	Sankt Georgen ob Judenburg	875	Murtal
Feistritz near Knittelfeld	789	Sankt Marein-Feistritz	2,034	Murtal
Sankt Marein near Knittelfeld	1,245
Rachau	613	Sankt Margarethen near Knittelfeld	2,715	Murtal
Sankt Lorenzen near Knittelfeld	804
Sankt Margarethen near Knittelfeld	1,298
Sankt Peter ob Judenburg	1,072	Sankt Peter ob Judenburg	1,072	Murtal
Seckau	1,285	Seckau	1,285	Murtal
Flat chess	192	Spielberg	5,295	Murtal
Spielberg	5,103
Unzmarkt-Frauenburg	1,393	Unzmarkt-Frauenburg	1,393	Murtal
Eppenstein	1,217	Weißkirchen in Styria	4,916	Murtal
Maria Buch-Feistritz	2,244
Rice road	167
Weißkirchen in Styria	1,288
Zeltweg	7,303	Zeltweg	7,303	Murtal
Bad Gleichenberg	2,221	Bad Gleichenberg	5,278	Southeast Styria
Bavarian Kölldorf	1,038
Merkendorf	1,143
Trautmannsdorf in Eastern Styria	876
Bad Radkersburg	1.317	Bad Radkersburg	3,064	Southeast Styria
Radkersburg surroundings	1,747
German Goritz	1,239	German Goritz	1,848	Southeast Styria
Ratschendorf	609
Edelsbach near Feldbach	1,338	Edelsbach near Feldbach	1,338	Southeast Styria
Eichkögl	1,241	Eichkögl	1,241	Southeast Styria
Fehring	2,996	Fehring	7,338	Southeast Styria
Hatzendorf	1,751
Hohenbrugg vineyard	973
Johnsdorf-Brunn	808
Pertlstein	810
Auersbach	867	Feldbach	12,989	Southeast Styria
Feldbach	4,646
Gniebing-Weissenbach	2,194
Gossendorf	884
Leitersdorf in the Raabtal	677
Mühldorf near Feldbach	3,145
Raabau	576
Aug-Radisch	280	Gnas	6,016	Southeast Styria
Baumgarten near Gnas	541
Gnas	1.913
Grabersdorf	345
Kohlberg	506
Maierdorf	514
Poppendorf	689
Raning	795
Trössing	269
Unterauersbach	442
Halfway	1,752	Halfway	1,752	Southeast Styria
Jagerberg	1,671	Jagerberg	1,671	Southeast Styria
Kapfenstein	1,598	Kapfenstein	1,598	Southeast Styria
Kirchbach in Styria	1,543	Kirchbach in Styria , since 2016 Kirchbach-Zerlach	3.233	Southeast Styria
Zerlach	1,690
Fladnitz in the Raab Valley	755	Kirchberg an der Raab	4,389	Southeast Styria
Kirchberg an der Raab	2,073
Oberdorf am Hochegg	724
Oberstorcha	620
Studenzen	704
Kloch	1,220	Kloch	1,220	Southeast Styria
Mettersdorf am Saßbach	1,292	Mettersdorf am Saßbach	1,292	Southeast Styria
Eichfeld	879	Mureck	3,582	Southeast Styria
Gosdorf	1,152
Mureck	1,551
Murfeld	1,675	Murfeld	1,675	Southeast Styria
Kohlberg	506	Paldau	3,208	Southeast Styria
Oberstorcha	620
Paldau	2,102
Perlsdorf	341
Precious perennials	451	Pirching am Traubenberg	2,594	Southeast Styria
Frannach	548
Pirching am Traubenberg	1,595
Breitenfeld on the Rittschein	788	Riegersburg	4,948	Southeast Styria
Kornberg near Riegersburg	1,143
Lödersdorf	711
Riegersburg	2,306
Frutten-Gießelsdorf	620	Sankt Anna am Aigen	2,366	Southeast Styria
Sankt Anna am Aigen	1,746
Bierbaum am Auersbach	463	Sankt Peter am Ottersbach	3,043	Southeast Styria
Dietersdorf am Gnasbach	373
Sankt Peter am Ottersbach	2,207
Glojach	242	Sankt Stefan im Rosental	4.016	Southeast Styria
Sankt Stefan im Rosental	3,774
Hof bei Straden	846	Straden	3,691	Southeast Styria
Krusdorf	389
Stainz near Straden	946
Straden	1,510
Tieschen	1.306	Tieschen	1.306	Southeast Styria
Unterlamm	1,225	Unterlamm	1,225	Southeast Styria
Bärnbach	5,224	Bärnbach	5,591	Voitsberg
Piberegg	367
Precious scrap	1,583	Precious scrap	1,787	Voitsberg
Modriach	204
Geistthal	807	Geistthal-Södingberg	1,630	Voitsberg
Soedingberg	823
Hirschegg	653	Hirschegg pack	1,067	Voitsberg
pack	414
Gallmannsegg	305	Kainach near Voitsberg	1,671	Voitsberg
Kainach near Voitsberg	664
Cabbage black	702
Degrees	475	Köflach	10,042	Voitsberg
Köflach	9,567
Krottendorf-Gaisfeld	2,433	Krottendorf-Gaisfeld	2,433	Voitsberg
Ligist	3,207	Ligist	3,207	Voitsberg
Goessnitz	441	Maria Lankowitz	2,921	Voitsberg
Maria Lankowitz	2,197
Salla	283
Mooskirchen	2,106	Mooskirchen	2,106	Voitsberg
Rosental on the Kainach	1,687	Rosental on the Kainach	1,687	Voitsberg
Sankt Martin am Wöllmißberg	811	Sankt Martin am Wöllmißberg	811	Voitsberg
Sankt Johann-Köppling	1,795	Söding-Sankt Johann	3,981	Voitsberg
Soeding	2,186
Stallhofen	3.130	Stallhofen	3.130	Voitsberg
Voitsberg	9,535	Voitsberg	9,535	Voitsberg
Albersdorf-Prebuch	2,000	Albersdorf-Prebuch	2,000	Wheat
Anger	829	Anger	4.126	Wheat
Baierdorf near Anger	1,632
Feistritz at Anger	1,069
Naintsch	596
Birkfeld	1,610	Birkfeld	5,139	Wheat
Gschaid near Birkfeld	930
Haslau near Birkfeld	440
Koglhof	1,094
Waisenegg	1,065
Fischbach	1,526	Fischbach	1,526	Wheat
Fladnitz at the Teichalm	1,170	Fladnitz at the Teichalm	1,836	Wheat
Tulwitz	508
Tyrnau	158
Floing	1,209	Floing	1,209	Wheat
Gases	942	Gases	942	Wheat
Gersdorf an der Feistritz	1,203	Gersdorf an der Feistritz	1,681	Wheat
Oberrettenbach	478
Gleisdorf	5,869	Gleisdorf	10,067	Wheat
Labuch	809
Laßnitzthal	1,070
Nitscha	1,453
Ungerdorf	866
Gutenberg on the Raabklamm	1,234	Gutenberg-Stenzengreith	1,755	Wheat
Stenzengreith	521
Hofstätten on the Raab	2.117	Hofstätten on the Raab	2.117	Wheat
Ilztal	1,743	Ilztal	2.148	Wheat
Pressed material	405
Ludersdorf-Wilfersdorf	2.176	Ludersdorf-Wilfersdorf	2.176	Wheat
Hartmannsdorf market	2,982	Hartmannsdorf market	2,982	Wheat
Miesenbach near Birkfeld	742	Miesenbach near Birkfeld	742	Wheat
Mitterdorf on the Raab	2,091	Mitterdorf on the Raab	2,091	Wheat
Mortantsch	2,032	Mortantsch	2,032	Wheat
Naas	1,390	Naas	1,390	Wheat
Arzberg	544	Passail	4,316	Wheat
Hohenau an der Raab	1,331
Neudorf near Passail	480
Passail	1.961
Kulm near Weiz	486	Pischelsdorf am Kulm	3,667	Wheat
Pischelsdorf in Styria	2,556
Reichendorf	625
Puch near Weiz	2,085	Puch near Weiz	2,085	Wheat
Rats	1,179	Rats	1,179	Wheat
Rettenegg	749	Rettenegg	749	Wheat
Sankt Kathrein am Offenegg	1,136	Sankt Kathrein am Offenegg	1,136	Wheat
Etzersdorf-Rollsdorf	1.108	Sankt Ruprecht an der Raab	4,927	Wheat
Sankt Ruprecht an der Raab	2,244
Unterfladnitz	1,575
Sinabelkirchen	4,081	Sinabelkirchen	4,081	Wheat
St. Kathrein am Hauenstein	676	St. Kathrein am Hauenstein	676	Wheat
St. Margarethen on the Raab	3,954	St. Margarethen on the Raab	3,954	Wheat
Strallegg	1,951	Strallegg	1,951	Wheat
Thannhausen	2,362	Thannhausen	2,362	Wheat
Krottendorf	2,383	Wheat	11.302	Wheat
Wheat	8,919

^*The population of the newly formed municipalities corresponds to the total of the population of all sub-municipalities as of January 1, 2014. Since five formerly independent municipalities were each divided into two different new municipalities, the population figures for these newly formed municipalities are not yet fully applicable. The new data from Statistics Austria are stored in the template: Metadata Population AT-6 .

Designation of the municipalities

• 251 old community names remained, even if incorporations took place. The names of the newly formed congregation usually only take on one of those from which they emerged.
• In 21 cases, two names (or parts of names) were coupled with a hyphen, new names were created by reformulation (Ehrenhausen an der Weinstrasse, Leutschach an der Weinstrasse, Pischelsdorf am Kulm, Sankt Georgen am Kreischberg, Sankt Veit in southern Styria) or through simplification (Aflenz , Krakau, Oberwölz, Schwarzautal, Sölk) from the core name of two. Kirchbach in Styria, Neumarkt in Styria merely given the article the inserted.
• For Feistritztal, Pölstal and St. Barbara im Mürz Valley, completely new names were chosen in the main part.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Styrian municipal structural reform .
2. ↑ derstandard.at - "Schützenhöfer:" Some in Vienna hope that we will fall on the nose "
3. ↑ Law of December 17, 2013 on the reorganization of the municipalities of the State of Styria ( Styrian Municipal Reform Act ).
4. ↑ Provincial Law Gazette for Styria of April 2, 2014. No. 31, volume 2014. ZDB -ID 705127-x , a correction that is not relevant in terms of content and only affects the promulgation clause was made in the State Gazette No. 36/2014 of April 8 2014. The relatively long time between the decision and the announcement is due to the fact that this law according to § 8 para. 5 lit. d of the Transitional Act 1920 required the approval of the federal government (because it concerns organizational rules to which federal authorities are also linked , therefore different from other state laws) BGBl 1925/368. In:  Federal Law Gazette for the Republic of Austria , year 1925, pp. 1412–1420. (Online at ANNO ). .
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Presentation on municipal structural reform.
6. ↑ www.kleinezeitung.at - "Graz should grow by nine GU communities"
7. ↑ Model of the municipal structural reform .
8. ↑ Starting point for the reform efforts.
9. ↑ Mission statement, p. 3.
10. ↑ Mission statement, p. 4.
11. ↑ Mission statement, p. 7.
12. ↑ Mission statement, p. 22.
13. ↑ Explanations ( Memento of the original from December 4, 2014 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. on the government bill for the Styrian Municipal Structural Reform Act. P. 9. 
14. ↑ Questions and answers on municipal structural reform. Starting point and goals. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
15. ^ Judgment of the Supreme Court of May 27, 2013, 17 Os 1 / 13w, accessed on May 25, 2015.
16. ↑ Poison attack from a dispute over a land dedication (accessed May 25, 2015).
17. ↑ Alexandra Keller: Mayor's chairs are no longer in demand. In: public. The magazine for decision-makers in politics and administration. Issue 10/2019. PBMedia GmbH, Vienna. ZDB ID 2505166-0 . Pp. 8-11.
18. ↑ Marlene Penz: Dead mice and poisonous chocolates. Targeting politicians. Due to their proximity to the population, mayors are increasingly exposed to violence. In: daily newspaper Kurier , Sunday 8 March 2020, p. 21.
19. ↑ Mission statement, p. 39.
20. ^ Handbook of municipal structural reform .
21. ^ Criteria of the municipal structural reform .
22. ↑ Mission statement, p. 38.
23. ↑ Section 8, Paragraph 4 of the Municipal Code: Law of June 14, 1967, which enacts municipal code for the municipalities of the Province of Styria with the exception of cities with their own statute. (Styrian Municipal Code 1967 - GemO), as amended by the amendment LGBl. No. 131/2014 .
24. ↑ Section 11, Paragraph 1 of the Municipal Code.
25. ↑ § 103 Municipal Code.
26. ↑ The new names ring out across the pond . 385 coats of arms go out. Interview with the head of the place name commission in Graz, Gernot Peter Obersteiner. kleinezeitung.at, December 24, 2014.
27. ↑ § 4 Municipal Code.
28. ↑ Section 1, Paragraph 4 of the Municipal Code.
29. ↑ Section 4, Paragraph 5 of the Municipal Code.
30. ↑ § 48 Municipal Code.
31. ↑ §§ 6–11 Municipal Code.
32. ↑ Federal Law Gazette II No. 298/2014 : District Courts Ordinance Styria 2015. ZDB -ID 1361921-4 p. 1.
33. ↑ Ordinance of the Governor of Styria dated December 11, 2014 on the registry office and citizenship associations of Styria. Provincial Law Gazette for Styria of December 17, 2014. No. 139 Volume 2014. ZDB -ID 705127-x .
34. ^ Grazer Zeitung, Official Gazette for Styria. Year 2014. ZDB -ID 1291268-2 pp. 623–632.
35. ↑ Explanations of the Styrian Municipal Structural Reform Act ( Memento of the original dated December 4, 2014 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. P. 2. 
36. ↑ Explanations of the Styrian Municipal Structural Reform Act ( Memento of the original dated December 4, 2014 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. Pp. 10-11. 
37. ↑ Federal Law Gazette I No. 103/2007 : Financial Equalization Act, through which the tax revenue is distributed to the federal, state, municipalities and their tasks ( financial equalization ). Such laws are renegotiated and enacted at regular intervals. They are based on the Financial Constitutional Law ( Federal Law Gazette No. 45/1948 ) from 1948.
38. ^ ORF Steiermark: Community fees: WK for community mergers , October 7, 2015, accessed on October 7, 2015.
39. ↑ recognition of the Constitutional Court of 24 November 2014 G 75/2014, 76/2014 G, G 77/2014, margin note 24, p. 44
40. ↑ recognition of the Constitutional Court of 24 November 2014 G 75/2014, 76/2014 G, G 77/2014, margin note 54, pp 54-55.
41. ↑ Charter of Local Self-Government]. Announcement in the Austrian Federal Law Gazette No. 357/1988 . Pp. 2569-2581. (Legal reservation at the beginning, line 2).
42. ↑ recognition of the Constitutional Court of 24 November 2014 G 75/2014, 76/2014 G, G 77/2014, margin note 25, p. 44
43. ↑ recognition of the Constitutional Court of 24 November 2014 G 75/2014, 76/2014 G, G 77/2014, margin note 44, p. 51
44. ↑ Press release of the VfGH about its autumn session 2014.
45. ↑ ^{a b} first decisions of the VfGH on community mergers . Press release from October 14, 2014. First applications against community mergers rejected. VfGH makes fundamental statements on mergers in Styria.
46. ↑ Finding of the VfGH, p. 45, paragraph 52.
47. ↑ Using the example of Tragöß's complaint, decision of the Constitutional Court of October 8, 2014, G 65/2014.
48. ↑ Legal sentence on the decision of the Constitutional Court of 23 September 2014, G 41/2014; G 170/2014; G 177/2014.
49. ↑ recognition of the Constitutional Court of 23 September 2014 G 44/2014, 46/2014 V on the requests of the community forest stream.
50. ↑ Press release of the VfGH from December 16, 2014: Community mergers: Not irrelevant, therefore all applications rejected. All proceedings on this subject - with the exception of one application - have been completed at the VfGH.
51. ↑ recognition of the Constitutional Court of 23 February 2015 G 220/2014.
52. ↑ recognition of the Constitutional Court of 24 November 2014 G 61/2014.
53. ↑ E.g. the complaints of the communities of Trahütten, Freiland bei Deutschlandsberg and Osterwitz in the decision G 149/2014, G 155/2014, G 158/2014 of December 9, 2014 . In practice, such decisions are based on the addition “u. a. "recognizable by the file number. Which file number belongs to which complaint can be seen from the text of the decision.
54. ↑ Ordinance of the Styrian Provincial Government of 10 July 2014, with which the Styrian District Authority Ordinance is changed. Provincial Law Gazette for Styria dated September 10, 2014. No. 99 Volume 2014. ZDB -ID 705127-x .
55. ↑ steiermark.orf.at - "District mergers: Land saves less than planned"
56. ^ The new municipal structure of Styria as a list
57. ↑ ^{a b} Distribution to the municipalities of Bad Waltersdorf and Neudau
58. ↑ ^{a b} Allocation to the communities Dechantskirchen and Rohrbach an der Lafnitz
59. ^ Union of the former municipalities of Buch-Geiseldorf and Sankt Magdalena am Lemberg to form the new municipality of Buch-St. Magdalena on January 1st, 2013
60. ↑ ^{a b} Distribution between the communities of Sankt Georgen an der Stiefing and Wildon
61. ↑ Incorporation of the former communities Hafning bei Trofaiach and Gai to the community Trofaiach on January 1st, 2013
62. ↑ ^{a b} Distribution to the communities Gnas and Paldau
63. ↑ ^{a b} Distribution to the communities Kirchberg an der Raab and Paldau