Bad Radkersburg
Encyclopedia
Bad Radkersburg is a city in the southeast of the Austria
n state
of Styria
and capital of the district
of Radkersburg
. It is located at an elevation of 208 m and covers an area of 2.17 km². Its population amounts to about 1,940 people. On the other side of the river Mur in Slovenia
lies its twin city Gornja Radgona
.
Bad Radkersburg is a spa
sporting a thermal spring with a temperature of 80 °C. This and the longest sunshine duration in Austria
make the town an attractive site of tourism
with 100,000 stays per year.
(1232-1278), but by Albert I of Habsburg (1255-1308). The appearance of the city today is apparently based on a precise plan. Radkersburg was surrounded by a wall with towers in the end of the 13th century. It was elevated to an imperial fortress in 1582 by the Reichstag
of Augsburg
. Oberradkersburg (Gornja Radgona
), on the other side of the Mur River, has been a part of Slovenia
since 1919. The bridge across the Mur was reopened on October 12, 1969 which led to rapprochement
between Austria and Yugoslavia
. A thermal spring was made accessible in 1978, soon followed by an extension to the bathing site.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n state
States of Austria
Austria is a federal republic made up of nine states, known in German as Länder . Since Land is also the German word for a country, the term Bundesländer is often used instead to avoid ambiguity. The Constitution of Austria uses both terms...
of Styria
Styria (state)
Styria is a state or Bundesland, located in the southeast of Austria. In area it is the second largest of the nine Austrian federated states, covering 16,401 km². It borders Slovenia as well as the other Austrian states of Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Salzburg, Burgenland, and Carinthia. ...
and capital of the district
Districts of Austria
Austria is divided into 84 political districts , and 15 Statutarstädte which form their own districts.-Function:The Austrian Bezirk is roughly equivalent to the Landkreis in Germany and County in the United States. The administrative office of a district, the Bezirkshauptmannschaft is headed by the...
of Radkersburg
Radkersburg (district)
Bezirk Radkersburg is a district of the state of Styria in Austria.-Municipalities:Suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality are indicated in small characters.* Bad Radkersburg* Bierbaum am Auersbach* Deutsch Goritz...
. It is located at an elevation of 208 m and covers an area of 2.17 km². Its population amounts to about 1,940 people. On the other side of the river Mur in Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
lies its twin city Gornja Radgona
Gornja Radgona
Gornja Radgona is one of the municipalities and a town in Slovenia. Once it was a defensive stronghold for today's regional centre and its twin city, Bad Radkersburg, on the other side of the river Mura in Austria. The towns were split in 1919 when the state of Styria was divided between Austria...
.
Bad Radkersburg is a spa
Spa town
A spa town is a town situated around a mineral spa . Patrons resorted to spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. The word comes from the Belgian town Spa. In continental Europe a spa was known as a ville d'eau...
sporting a thermal spring with a temperature of 80 °C. This and the longest sunshine duration in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
make the town an attractive site of tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
with 100,000 stays per year.
History
It is not known when Radkersburg was first settled or where the first settlement was located. It is also not known when Radkersburg fell under princely territorial rule. Most likely, Radkersburg originally did not belong to the Duke of Styria, but to an aristocrat to whom it had been given by the king. Contemporary research suggests that Radkersburg was not founded by Ottokar II of BohemiaOttokar II of Bohemia
Ottokar II , called The Iron and Golden King, was the King of Bohemia from 1253 until 1278. He was the Duke of Austria , Styria , Carinthia and Carniola also....
(1232-1278), but by Albert I of Habsburg (1255-1308). The appearance of the city today is apparently based on a precise plan. Radkersburg was surrounded by a wall with towers in the end of the 13th century. It was elevated to an imperial fortress in 1582 by the Reichstag
Reichstag (Holy Roman Empire)
The Imperial Diet was the Diet, or general assembly, of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire.During the period of the Empire, which lasted formally until 1806, the Diet was not a parliament in today's sense; instead, it was an assembly of the various estates of the realm...
of Augsburg
Augsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
. Oberradkersburg (Gornja Radgona
Gornja Radgona
Gornja Radgona is one of the municipalities and a town in Slovenia. Once it was a defensive stronghold for today's regional centre and its twin city, Bad Radkersburg, on the other side of the river Mura in Austria. The towns were split in 1919 when the state of Styria was divided between Austria...
), on the other side of the Mur River, has been a part of Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
since 1919. The bridge across the Mur was reopened on October 12, 1969 which led to rapprochement
Rapprochement
In international relations, a rapprochement, which comes from the French word rapprocher , is a re-establishment of cordial relations, as between two countries...
between Austria and Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
. A thermal spring was made accessible in 1978, soon followed by an extension to the bathing site.
Notable residents
- Andreas WalspergerAndreas WalspergerAndreas Walsperger was a German cartographer of the 15th century. The son of a carpenter, he became a Benedictine monk at St. Peter's in Salzburg in 1434. He left the monastery in 1442...
(born ca. 1415 in Radkersburg; time of death unknown), cartographer - Carl I. Ferdinand Count of Montenari (*1632), Austrian general
- Franz Leopold von Nádasdy auf FogarasFranz Leopold von Nádasdy auf FogarasFranz Leopold von Nádasdy auf Fogaras was an Austrian General of Cavalry.-Early life:Franz Leopold von Nádasdy auf Fogaras was born on September 30 1708 in Radkersburg, Austria into a Hungarian family of old nobility...
(1708-1783), military leader - Leopold VietorisLeopold VietorisLeopold Vietoris was an Austrian mathematician and a World War I veteran who gained additional fame by becoming a supercentenarian...
(1891-2002), mathematician - Wolfgang Fasching (born 1967), extreme sportsman
- Aribert HeimAribert HeimAribert Ferdinand Heim was an Austrian doctor, also known as Dr. Death. As an SS doctor in a Nazi concentration camp in Mauthausen, he is accused of killing and torturing many inmates by various methods, such as direct injections of toxic compounds into the hearts of his victims...
(1914-1992), NaziNazismNazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
war criminal - Peter LuttenbergerPeter LuttenbergerPeter Luttenberger is an Austrian professional road bicycle racer. He finished fifth in the General Classification of the 1996 Tour de France, but he never again managed to live up to the promise of that result, with a position as 13 in 1997 and 2003 as the best later results...
(born 1972), cyclist