Wies

The community of Wies is located in southern western Styria at the foot of the Koralpe . The community is traversed by the Weißen Sulm , the place Wies is at an altitude of 341 m. The municipal area extends up to 2000 m on the Koralm (since the municipal amalgamation in 2015).

Localities and cadastral communities

The community is divided into 17 localities or 16 cadastral communities (residents as of January 1, 2020; area as of December 31, 2019):

Localities	Ew.	Cadastral communities	Area in ha
Altenmarkt	917	Altenmarkt	298.74
Aug	139	Aug	132.64
Buchegg	49	Buchegg	80.99
Buchenberg	82	Buchenberg-Burgstall	414.53
Etzendorf	151	Etzendorf	239.48
Gaisseregg	126	Gaisseregg	268.66
Gieselegg	54	-	-
Kogl	218	Kogl	164.15
Lamberg	46	-	-
Limberg	232	Limberg	408.28
Mitterlimberg	663	Mitterlimberg	358.66
Poerbach	144	Poerbach	234.83
Milling under	413	Milling under	1,488.89
Front village	412	Front village	420.57
Wernersdorf	164	Wernersdorf	182.83
Wiel	112	Wiel St. Anna	814.45
-	-	Wiel St. Oswald	2,080.35
Wies	397	Wies	55.78

Incorporations

The name of the municipality of Altenmarkt was changed to Altenmarkt bei Wies on June 1, 1951 . On January 1, 1960, part of the thus divided community of Altenmarkt bei Wies was united with Wies.

The former community of Vorderesdorf was merged with the community of Wies on January 1, 1969.

As part of the Styrian municipal structural reform , Wies was merged with the municipalities of Wernersdorf , Wielfresen and Limberg bei Wies in 2015 and continues the name Wies. The basis for this is the Styrian Municipal Structural Reform Act - StGsrG.

Neighboring communities

Five of the six neighboring communities are in the Deutschlandsberg district, St. Martin surrounds Pölfing-Brunn and therefore borders twice.

Bad Schwanberg	Sankt Peter im Sulmtal	Sankt Martin im Sulmtal Pölfing-Brunn
St. Georgen im Lavanttal (District Wolfsberg, Carinthia)		Sankt Martin im Sulmtal
	Eibiswald

population

Population development

The population in the market town of Wies developed very quickly due to the beginning of industrialization in the 18th century. The reputation of the place through the church of the Scourged Savior on the Wies contributed a lot to this and the development of Wies by the railway (1872/73) brought a small increase in population with it. From 1880 to 1990 the number fluctuated between 5000 and 5500 people. Since then, the municipality has been losing inhabitants due to a negative migration balance . Since 2001 the birth balance has also been negative.

Population structure

According to the 2001 census, the municipality had 2,484 inhabitants. 95.8% of the population had Austrian citizenship. 95.8% of the population committed to the Roman Catholic Church, 2.0% were without religious belief, 0.8% Islamic and 0.7% Protestant.

history

Old cleared area

Wies as an industrial center around 1877/78, the transport connection is dominated on the map by the Wieserbahn and a number of connecting railways.

For the year 1318, a settlement called Weczelsgerewt is documented near Wies , which is traced back to a clearing and the personal name Wetzil .

Black Sunday from Wies

Wies was a popular place of pilgrimage in the 19th century. On the night of Monday, September 23, 1850 (according to another source on Sunday, September 22nd), however, at three o'clock in the morning in an inn in a barn between the Brauchhart bakery and the Kirchenwirt (according to other sources: in the attic of the bakery ) a fire. 200 pilgrims had found quarters there. The landlord (or his housekeeper) locked them up overnight so that no one could leave without paying. By the time help came, six people were burned, three died the next day. Many injured were brought home and it was said that another 30 (according to another source: 33) died. This event became known throughout Styria. Since then, the servant's soul, which would have found no rest, has been said to wander through the rooms of the disaster as a black man.

The July coup of 1934 in Wies

The Wies Rayon gendarmerie was put on alert on July 25, 1934 . At the border to Wies, in Jagernigg, around 8 p.m. numerous National Socialists gathered, allegedly with 180 rifles, 6,000 rounds of ammunition and some machine guns. Around 100 men from the Jagernigger coal mine now went to Schwanberg. At around 11 p.m., National Socialist putschists drove into Wies from Schwanberg and Steyeregg. At the entrance to the village there was a shooting with the Ostmärkische Sturmscharen , in which the 25-year-old Sturmschärler Karl Masser was fatally hit. At that time there were around 100 putschists in Wies, who occupied the already abandoned gendarmerie post at around 11:15 p.m. On July 26th, the news of the nationwide failure of the coup sparked extensive refugee movements, including in Wies. The gendarmerie post was not reoccupied until the morning of July 27th.

Northern lights as messengers of war 1938

On the evening of January 25, 1938, a northern light (northern lights) caused a sensation in Wies and the neighboring communities , which was interpreted as a bad omen and a sign of an approaching war, but also as a sign of a major fire in the Koralm area. The light is described as so bright that one could read a newspaper outdoors. The Wies fire brigade moved out and drove to Schwanberg before being informed about the natural phenomenon.

Economy and Infrastructure

traffic

Wies-Eibiswald is the terminus of the Wieserbahn with connections to Graz.

The Radlpass Straße B 76 leads through the community to the west past Wies.

Workplaces

In the secondary economic sector , 48 companies provide jobs for 505 people, mainly in the manufacture of goods and in construction. The tertiary economic sector offers 701 jobs, mostly in social and public services as well as in trade (as of 2011).

tourism

The main attractions for tourism are the culinary specialties of the region, pumpkin seed oil and Schilcher , as well as the sights (see section Culture and sights). In 2017, Wies counted 9,220 overnight stays, 6,551 of them by residents.

schools

Wies is a regional school center.

Primary school (VS) Wies
Primary school (VS) Steyeregg
Elementary school (VS) Wernersdorf
New Middle School (NMS) Wies
Technical college for agriculture and food industry Burgstall - St. Martin
Archduke Johann Music School Wies (EJMS)

The Polytechnic School (PTS) Wies was closed in summer 2011.

Health and care

In the market town there are three general practitioners and a dentist as well as a pharmacy. The Caritas of the Diocese of Graz-Seckau operates a senior and nursing home.

Culture and sights

Burgstall Castle around 1820, S. Kölbl,
Lith. Institution JF Kaiser, Graz

See also: List of listed objects in Wies

Limberg Castle
Mining museum
Emmaus Chapel in Wernersdorf
St. Vitus Chapel

Parish Church of Wies
Parish Church of Wiel
Burgstall Castle : Even if the beginnings of Burgstall Castle (original name Lackenberg ) are unclear, one can safely say that it was built in its current form as a Renaissance castle at the end of the 16th century. It is assumed, however, that it already had the appearance of a striking fortification in its earlier form. The owners of Burgstall Castle include the Lords of Walsee , the Knights of Eibiswald, the Counts of Schrottenbach, the Counts of Herberstein and the Princes of Liechtenstein.

Kulturinitiative KÜRBIS : The Kulturinitiative in Wies organizes its own theater productions, concerts, CD publications and readings.

Sports

Welschlauf

The Welschlauf has developed into a real highlight of the marathon scene in recent years. It connects the Welsch and Schilcher regions and leads through idyllic wine towns and along vine-covered slopes of the South Styrian Wine Route . Wies and Ehrenhausen alternate each year with the alignment of the start and finish.

politics

Municipal council

In the politics of the municipality of Wies there was a change at the top in the 2005 municipal council election. In the 2000 election, the ÖVP was still clear with 8 seats and 49.15% of the votes, ahead of the SPÖ with 25.92% and the List of Active Wieser with 12.70%, but its lead in the last municipal council election shrank to just 2 , 65% ahead of the Active Wieser list, which took second place with its top candidate Josef Waltl. Third came the SPÖ with 21.52% of the votes (-4.40%), followed by the list of names, Together for Wies, with 7.47% of the votes. The FPÖ was unable to win a mandate with 5.44% of the vote.

In the municipal council elections in 2010 there was a landslide victory for the Active Wieser list with Mayor Mag. Josef Waltl. With a share of the votes of 66.26% (+ 34.80%), eleven mandates were achieved and thus all three municipal board seats. The Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) only achieved 17.58% (−16.54%) of the votes and two mandates, as did the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) with 12.49% (−9.03%). The list of names "Together for Wies" was no longer a candidate. The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) achieved 2.02% (−3.42%) of the vote, the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) 1.65%. Both parties have not made it into the municipal council.

Result of the municipal council and mayoral elections in 2015

The municipal council has had 21 members since 2015 and has had the following distribution since the 2015 municipal council elections:

15 List of ALL Wieser - Josef Waltl
3 ÖVP
2 SPÖ
1 FPÖ (independent from July 23, 2018)

mayor

Josef Waltl has been mayor since the direct election in 2015 (List of ALLER Wieser).

badges and flags

Coats of arms of the previous municipalities
Limberg near Wies
Wernersdorf
Wielfresen
Wies

All four previous municipalities had a municipality coat of arms. Due to the amalgamation of municipalities, these lost their official validity on January 1st, 2015. The new award of the municipal coat of arms for the merged community took place with effect from November 5, 2016.
The new blazon (coat of arms description) reads:

“In the squared shield at the top right in green a silver panther with red flames beating out of its throat and ear, at the top left in red on a green mountain, growing out of an eight-fold tinned wall, a six-fold church with black openwork doors and windows with a centrally positioned tower including a pointed roof and attached cross, below right in red silver crossed mallets and iron, covered with a silver gear, below left in silver a black, inwardly directed sickle. "

The municipality flag is solid white with the coat of arms.

Information on the coats of arms of the previous municipalities

In 1977 the municipality of Limberg near Wies received its coat of arms, which is reminiscent of both the name (linden leaves) and the mining industry (Barbarakapelle).
The municipal coat of arms of Wernersdorf was awarded in 1990, it shows four gang saws, including a leafy grape; These two areas are divided by a silver wave bar, which represents the White Sulm.
1979 Wielfresen received the right to use a municipal coat of arms. It shows a straightening wheel (attribute of St. Catherine) broken into three parts (three cadastral communities), surrounded by three birch branches ("breza").
The coat of arms of the market town of Wies until 2014 was a four-part shield. At the top left is a silver-colored panther on a green background, from whose ears and throat flames come out (similar to the Styrian coat of arms). The upper right field is in red and shows a castle wall with battlements on a green hill. A church protrudes from within the castle wall. In the lower left, also red field, one can see a symbol typical of the region, which was strongly connected to mining : a miner's mallet with the associated iron. The handles of these tools are made of wood, the cross point of which is adorned with an iron gear. The lower right field shows a sickle facing towards the center on a silver background. The whole shield is surrounded by a bronze-colored border (this is no longer present in the new coat of arms from 2016).

Tourism association

Together with Pölfing-Brunn and Eibiswald, the community forms the “Südliche Weststeiermark” tourism association. Its seat is in Eibiswald.

Personalities

Honorary citizen

1975: Friedrich Niederl (1920–2012), Governor of Styria 1971–1980
1981: Josef Krainer (1930–2016), Governor of Styria 1980–1996
1987: Franz Kraus (1927–2016), Mayor of Frontsdorf (1955–1968), Mayor of Wies (1975–1987)

Sons and daughters of Wies

Anton Halm (born June 5, 1789 in Wies; † April 6, 1872 in Vienna ), composer
Carl Hermann (born October 28, 1918 in Wolfgruben / Wies; † November 11, 1986 in Gmünd Fuchsstein ), sculptor
Marie Knittelfelder (pseudonym: Aline Aliberti; born December 9, 1885 in Wies; † May 14, 1959 in Graz ), teacher, poet and writer
Franz Lampl (born November 18, 1883 in Gaißeregg; † April 17, 1943 in Gaißeregg), CS politician , member of the National Council 1923–1927
Josef Lukas (born February 6, 1835 in Wies; † January 26, 1917 in Graz), educator
Mathias Schmid (1870–1944), pastor of Waltersdorf , politician of the CS , member of the Constituent National Assembly in 1919

Personalities associated with Wies

Wolfgang Pollanz (born May 31, 1954 in Graz ), writer, Hanns Koren Prize winner 2013
Wolfgang Temmel (born April 15, 1953), artist
Gregor F. Waltl (born April 29, 1969), TV presenter a. a. at ORF and Servus-TV

literature

Werner Tscherne : “On the Wies. A history of the Wies area from the beginning to the present. “Wies 1983.
Werner Tscherne: “What two church windows report. Princess Marie von und zu Liechtenstein and her grave chapel in Wies. ”In: Gernot Peter Obersteiner (Red.):“ Festschrift Gerhard Pferschy for the 70th birthday. ”Ed. By the Historical Commission for Styria, Research on the historical regional studies of Styria, volume 42nd Journal of the Historisches Verein für Steiermark: special volume 25, publications of the Steiermärkisches Landesarchives volume 26, Graz 2000, ISBN 3-901251-15-4 .

Web links

Commons : Wies - collection of images, videos and audio files

60351 - Wies. Community data, Statistics Austria .
Entry on Wies in the Austria Forum (in the AEIOU Austria Lexicon )
Market town of Wies
Archduke Johann Music School Wies
Technical college for agriculture and food industry Burgstall - St. Martin
Hauptschule Wies

Individual evidence

↑ This is how the 15 communities in Deutschlandsberg voted. meinviertel.at , June 29, 2020, accessed on August 18, 2020 .

↑ Local council election 2020 - Results Wies. orf.at , accessed on August 18, 2020 .

↑ Statistics Austria: Population on January 1st, 2020 by locality (area status on January 1st, 2020) , ( CSV )

↑ Regionalinformation , bev.gv.at (1,094 KB); accessed on January 10, 2020.

^ Announcement of May 16, 1951 , State Law Gazette for Styria of December 28, 1959, Issue 13, No. 37, p. 114.

^ Ordinance of December 18, 1959 , State Law Gazette for Styria of December 28, 1959, 33rd issue , No. 108, p. 152.

↑ Announcement of June 10, 1968 , State Law Gazette for Styria of June 28, 1968, Issue 8, No. 4, p. 70.

^ Styrian municipal structural reform .

↑ Section 3, Paragraph 2, Item 6 of the Act of December 17, 2013 on the Reorganization of the Municipalities of the State of Styria ( Styrian Municipal Reform Act - StGsrG), State Law Gazette for Styria of April 2, 2014, No. 31, year 2014, ZDB -ID 705127-x , p. 2.

^ Statistics Austria, A look at the community of Wies, population development. Retrieved January 28, 2020 .

^ Fritz Lochner von Hüttenbach: "The clearing names of Styria." In: Michaela Ofitsch, Christian Zinko: "125 years of Indo-European Studies in Graz. Festband on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the research facility 'Indo-European Studies' at the Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz. “Verlag Leykam, Graz 2000, ISBN 3-7011-0026-8 , p. 248.

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^{d The} power of fire ^is charitable…. In: Weststeirische Rundschau . No. 29, Volume 2020 (July 17, 2020), 93rd Volume. P. 2.

↑ Robert Preis : “The curse of Wies. The black Manderl - a restless spirit. "In:" 111 gruesome places in Styria that one must have seen. "Verlag emons :, Graz 2018, ISBN 978-3-7408-0445-9 , p. 224.

↑ Gerald M. Wolf: "Now we are the gentlemen ..." The NSDAP in the Deutschlandsberg district and the July putsch in 1934, in "Grazer Zeitgeschichtliche Studien. Volume 3 “StudienVerlag, Innsbruck-Wien-Bozen 2008, ISBN 978-3-7065-4006-3 , pp. 168–171.