Thal (Styria)

market community Thal
coat of arms	Austria map
Basic data
Country:	Austria
State :	Styria
Political District :	Graz area
License plate :	GU
Surface:	18.51 km²
Coordinates :	47 ° 5 '  N , 15 ° 21'  E Coordinates: 47 ° 4 '42 "  N , 15 ° 21' 15"  E
Height :	461  m above sea level A.
Residents :	2,288 (January 1, 2020)
Population density :	124 inhabitants per km²
Postcodes :	8051, 8052, 8113, 8151
Area code :	0316
Community code :	6 06 48
Address of the municipal administration:	Am Kirchberg 2 8051 Thal
Website:	thal.gv.at
politics
Mayor :	Matthias Brunner ( ÖVP )
Municipal Council : ( 2020 ) (15 members)	11 3 1 11 3 1  A total of 15 seats ÖVP : 11 SPÖ : 3 GREEN : 1
Location of Thal in the Graz-Umgebung district
Municipal Office
Source: Municipal data from Statistics Austria

Thal is a market town in the Graz-Umgebung district in Styria ( Austria ).

The place was known by those of Ernst Fuchs configured Church and as the birthplace of Arnold Schwarzenegger .

geography

The community is located about 4 km west of the Styrian capital Graz in western Styria . The natural boundaries to the neighboring communities form the Generalkogel - Steinkogel -Zug to the north and northwest, and the Plabutsch to the east . Lake Thaler , which is often used as a recreational area, is embedded in the hills and forests in between . A significant part of the municipality is drained by the Thaler Bach (in the upper reaches of the Katzelbach ), which also feeds the Thaler See.

Community structure

Thal is a scattered settlement whose houses are grouped into 19 hamlets . These hamlets are called: Eben, Eck, Hardt, Haslau, Kirchberg, Kötschberg, Linak, Oberbichl, Oberthal, Plabutsch, Schlüsselhof, Steinberg, Unterbichl, Unterthal, Waldsdorf, Waldsdorfberg, Wendlleiten, Windhof, Winkel.

Neighboring communities

Sankt Oswald near Plankenwarth	Gratwein street angel	Graz
Heat village		Graz
Heat village	Heat village	Graz

history

Up until the 9th century, today's municipality was uninhabited. The first settlement, Waldsdorf, was not founded until the 10th century. Around the same time there was a refuge for the rural population on the Frauenkogel above the Thalergraben (today Graz-Gösting) . The remaining villages followed in the next two centuries. The name Thal comes from a branch of the lords von Graben who also called themselves De Valle and Von Thal . On January 1, 1850, the forerunner of today's community was constituted in Thal, in the first few years under the name “St. Jakob Thal ”. On January 1st, 1995 Thal was raised to a market town.

Population development

Culture and sights

See also:  List of listed objects in Thal (Styria)

Parish church Thal near Graz

Interior of the parish church

Agricultural college Grottenhof-Hardt

• Parish church Thal near Graz : In 1735, the parish church of St. John was built in the baroque style on the site of a wooden chapel probably built over a plague cemetery . James the Elder and originally dedicated to St. Sebastian. In 1772 the statue of St. James was transferred from the dilapidated church of Untertal Castle to the new church, which has since been consecrated to this saint. From 1992 (laying of the foundation stone on May 23) to 1994 (consecration of the church by Johann Weber on May 15), an extension to the existing church took place under the architect Manfred Fuchsbichler, as well as the Austrian painter, graphic artist and architect Ernst Fuchs , who was responsible for the artistic design of the entire complex realized with a fantastic variety of colors and shapes and impressive light effects.

• Oberthal Castle : As early as the 12th century, the seat of the Lords of Waldsdorf was located on the site of today's castle in the form of a fortified noble farm with a large dairy. From 1315 to 1605 the noble Windisch-Graetz family was the owner. In 1563, as a result of major renovation and repair work under the then client and owner Erasmus von Windisch-Graetz, a palace in the Renaissance style with an inner courtyard enclosed on three sides by three-storey arcades. From this time there is also an underground corridor that leads in the direction of Graz and is no longer accessible after a few hundred meters. From 1605 to 1622 owned by Bernhard Walther von Walthersweil, from 1622 to 1624 owned by the Schranz zu Schranzenegg family, after which it was sold to Siegmund Friedrich Graf Trautmannsdorff. During the reign of Siegmund Friedrich dj von Trautmannsdorff, Oberthal Castle was rebuilt and expanded between 1656 and 1661 into one of the most glamorous castles in the area around the state capital. A large pleasure garden based on French models was built above the palace, surrounded by a wall and equipped with grottos and a pleasure house. In 1798 Schloss Thal and its rulership were sold to Leopold Edler von Warnhauser and remained in the possession of this family until 1841. From 1841 the castle belonged to the Barons von Walterskirchen. In 1846 the castle was redesigned in the romanticizing style of a Scottish castle. In 1905 Oberthal was sold to a Slovenian group of entrepreneurs who had to give up the property after a short time for financial reasons. As a result, the property changed hands several times and gradually fell into disrepair until it came into the possession of Friedrich Schuster, who repaired the castle and removed the modifications from 1846 and thus restored the original baroque building. In 1940 the castle and the property came into the hands of the Essberger family. The British headquarters were housed here from 1945 to 1955, and part of the castle was rented to the British Embassy from 1955 to 1957. On November 1, 1958, the property was returned to John Theodor Essberger , who died in 1959 and the property passed to his daughter Liselotte von Rantzau-Essberger , who bequeathed it to her sons Eberhart and Heinrich von Rantzau in 1993.

• Unterthal Castle : The castle was first mentioned in a document in 1259 and was probably built at the beginning of the 13th century on a hill between today's parish church and Lake Thalersee. The castle was surrounded by a mighty defensive wall with loopholes and battlements. Inside the wall was the palace and other residential buildings as well as the castle church dedicated to St. Jacob. In 1569, during the reign of Sebastian von Windisch-Graetz, the Unterthal Castle was sold to the Carinthian governor Georg von Khevenhüller . From 1621 in the possession of the Eggenberger the castle fell into ruin. In 1715 a fire destroyed large parts of the fortress. By 1750 the castle chapel was also derelict. In 1772 the statue of the church patron was solemnly transferred to the current parish church and the church ruins demolished. As a result, only the round tower was inhabited until 1979. In 1996 parts of the castle were restored and made habitable again.

• Schwarzenegger Museum: There has been a museum in the birthplace of today's honorary citizen Arnold Schwarzenegger since 2011. Schwarzenegger's school friend Peter Urdl and others have tried to get exhibits for years. Today, in the building where the bodybuilder, actor and governor spent the first 19 years of his life, you can see the tubular steel bed in which the young person slept, a motorcycle from one of his films and a replica of the California governor's desk. The opening took place on Schwarzenegger's 64th birthday.

• Thalersee : This artificially created lake not only attracts those looking for relaxation, but also serves as a sports meeting point for walking, running, ice skating and curling. An archery course has also been in operation in the hamlet of Haslau since 2007.
• Arnold Schwarzenegger Hiking Trail: This hiking trail was put together and opened in October 2004 around the media attention generated by the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger as Governor of California .
• Graz Golf Club in Thal near Graz: The Graz Golf Club in the municipality of Thal has been offering an 18-hole course with a further 9 holes as an attractive addition since 2007.

Economy and Infrastructure

The economic structure of Thal is made up of agriculture and forestry on the one hand, and a few small commercial and service companies on the other.

The waste water of the municipality are in the water treatment plant of the city of Graz in Gössendorf cleaned and then the Mur fed.

traffic

In terms of traffic, the villages are well developed for individual traffic (cars). The Pyhrn motorway (A9) runs through the municipality in the Plabutsch tunnel and can be reached in approx. 8 km via the Graz-Nord junction (175). The Grazer Straße (B 67) is about 5 km away. Public transport by buses operated by Graz AG Verkehrsbetriebe plays a very minor role. There is no train station in Thal itself, the nearest train station is Graz Central Station , approx. 8 km away. The Graz Airport is about 20 km away.

education

• Kindergarten in Thal
• Elementary school in Thal
• Agricultural college Grottenhof-Hardt in the hamlet of Hardt

politics

The municipal council has 15 members.

• With the municipal council elections in Styria in 2000, the municipal council had the following distribution: 9 SPÖ, 3 ÖVP, 2 Greens and 1 FPÖ.
• With the municipal elections in Styria in 2005 , the municipal council had the following distribution: 10 SPÖ, 3 Greens and 2 ÖVP.
• With the municipal elections in Styria in 2010 , the municipal council had the following distribution: 9 SPÖ, 3 ÖVP and 3 Greens.
• With the municipal elections in Styria in 2015 , the municipal council had the following distribution: 8 ÖVP, 6 SPÖ and 1 Greens.
• With the municipal council elections in Styria 2020 , the municipal council has the following distribution: 11 ÖVP, 3 SPÖ and 1 Greens.

mayor

• until 2008 Peter Urdl (SPÖ)
• 2008–2015 Peter Schickhofer (SPÖ)
• since 2015 Matthias Brunner (ÖVP)

coat of arms

Since July 1, 1987 Thal has been entitled to use its own coat of arms: two silver stakes in red, each stake covered with six shells in the color of shadows .

The stakes come from the family coat of arms of the oldest verifiable aristocratic manor "von Waldsdorf". The shells point to the parish patron, the apostle James the Elder. Ä.

The official award ceremony took place on July 11, 1987.

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the church

Arnold Schwarzenegger, born and raised in Thal

• Arnold Schwarzenegger (* 1947), Austrian bodybuilder, Mister Universum, actor and former governor of California , born and raised in Thal
• Carina Wenninger (* 1991), soccer player

People related to the community

• Joe Polaischer (1946–2008), Austrian-born permaculture expert ( comes from the Koralpe ), emigrated to New Zealand, spent several years of youth in Thal

Honorary citizen

(The date of the municipal council resolution in brackets)

• Johann Bloder (June 15, 1987)
• Fritz Dulnig (June 15, 1987)
• Otto von Habsburg (April 11, 1936)
• Franz Purkt (June 15, 1987)
• Lieselotte von Rantzau (June 15, 1987)
• Arnold Schwarzenegger (July 17, 1988)
• Lieutenant Field Marshal August Urbański von Ostrymiecz
• Peter Urdl (September 25, 2008)
• Simpert Wehinger (July 18, 1929)

literature

• Walter Brunner : Thal - The living space and its inhabitants . Riegler, Graz 1994, ISBN 3-901202-09-9 .

Web links

Commons : Thal bei Graz  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Homepage market town Thal
• Photos from Thal, on About.com
• 60648 - Thal (Styria). Community data, Statistics Austria .
• www.grottenhof.com Agricultural college Grottenhof
• Arnold Schwarzenegger Museum

Individual evidence

1. ^ Walter Brunner : Thal. The habitat and its inhabitants. Verlag Josef Riegler, Hausmannstätten 1994, pp. 24-27.
2. ^ Schwarzenegger Museum opened in Austria , zeit.de -online from July 30, 2011
3. ↑ Holding Graz quoted in: Josef Riegler: Chronik der Marktgemeinde Gössendorf . 2nd, updated and expanded edition, Marktgemeinde Gössendorf 2017, pp. 163–165.
4. ^ Election result of the 2005 municipal council election in Thal. State of Styria, March 13, 2005, accessed on July 1, 2020 . 
5. ^ Election result of the municipal council election 2010 in Thal. State of Styria, March 21, 2010, accessed on July 1, 2020 . 
6. ^ Election result of the 2015 municipal council election in Thal. State of Styria, March 22, 2015, accessed on July 1, 2020 . 
7. ↑ Results of the municipal council election 2020 in Thal. State of Styria, June 28, 2020, accessed on July 1, 2020 .