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Graz [graːts] (Slovenian: Gradec), with a
population of 305,000 (council census 2000) is the second-largest city in Austria and
the capital of the province of Styria (Steiermark in
German). It has a long tradition as a student city, with four Universities and two Universities of Applied Sciences with over
50,000 students. During Graz's brief Lutheran phase, Eggenberg founded the Paradies or Lutheran school in 1540, in which
Johannes Kepler later taught.
The city is situated on the Mur river, in the southeast of Austria. Archduke Charles II
of Inner Austria had 20,000 Protestant books burned in the square of what is now a mental hospital, and succeeded in returning
Styria to the authority of Rome. Nikola Tesla studied electrical
engineering at the Polytechnic in Graz in 1875. Nobel Laureate Otto Loewi taught at the university from 1909 until 1938. Erwin Schrödinger was
briefly chancellor of the University of Graz in 1936. Soon thereafter, a small concentration camp was set up nearby (a sub-camp of Mauthausen) and Schrödinger fled.
The name Graz is derived from the Slovenian word for castle, grad; gradec, pronounced gradets, means
"small castle". Graz was built around the Schlossberg. The first mention of
it under its present name is in a document of A.D. 881, after which its stronghold became the residence of the rulers of the
surrounding district, known later as Styria. The privileges of its ancient charter were confirmed by the Habsburg Rudolph I in 1281. With a strategic location at the head of the
open and fertile Mur valley, Graz was often assaulted (unsuccessfully), e.g. by the Hungarians under Matthias Corvinus in 1481, and by the Ottoman Turks in 1529 and 1532.
From the earlier part of the 15th century Graz was the residence of the younger branch of the Habsburgs, which succeeded to the imperial throne in 1619 in the person of Emperor Ferdinand II. New fortifications were constructed at the end of the 16th century, but,
following the defeat of Austria by Napoleonic forces at the Battle of Wagram in 1809, the fortifications were demolished using
explosives, as stipulated in the peace terms of 1815. The belltower and the civic clock tower, often used as the symbol of Graz,
were allowed to survive this fate after the people of Graz paid a ransom for their preservation.
In the last few years new public buildings have been erected within the city. The most famous ones are the "Kunsthaus" (house
of modern art), a museum which is constructed right next to the river Mur, and the "Murinsel" (island in the Mur) which is an
island made out of steel, situated in the river. It was designed by the American architect Vito Acconci and contains a cafeteria,
an open-air theatre and a playground.
Olga Neuwirth, one of the most important contemporary Austrian
composers was born here. Conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt,
known throughout the world for his performances of classical works on period instruments, was raised in Graz, having been born in
Berlin. Current California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has sometimes regarded himself as a Grazer, although he was born and
raised in a small farming village, Thal, about 10 km from the city.
Since 1999 the old town centre of Graz has been listed as World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. During the year 2003 Graz
had the title of "Cultural capital of
Europe".
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