Eisenerz
Encyclopedia
Eisenerz is a market place and old mining
town in Styria, Austria
, 68 mi (109.4 km). N.W. of Graz
by rail. Pop. (2001) 6,400. It is situated in the deep Erzbach Valley, dominated on the east by the Pfaffenstein
(6140 ft), on the west by the Kaiserschild (6830 ft), and on the south by the Erzberg (5030 ft). It has an interesting example of a medieval fortified church, a Gothic
edifice founded by Rudolph of Habsburg in the 13th century and rebuilt in the 16th.
At the turn of the past century the Erzberg (Ore Mountain) furnished such rich ore that it was quarried in the open air like stone, in the summer months. There is documentary evidence of the mines having been worked as far back as the 12th century. They afforded employment to two or three thousand hands in summer and about half as many in winter, and yielded some 800,000 tons of iron per annum. During World War II
, a subcamp of Mauthausen concentration camp was located here. It provided slave labour for local industry. Eisenerz was connected with the mines by the Erzberg railway, a bold piece of engineering work, fourteen miles (21 km) long, constructed on the Abt's rack-and-pinion system. It passed through some beautiful scenery, and descends to Vordernberg
, an important center of the iron trade situated on the south side of the Erzberg. Eisenerz possesses, in addition, twenty-five furnaces, which produce iron, and particularly steel, of exceptional excellence. Today the Erzberg is home to motocross races.
A few miles to the N.W. of Eisenerz lies the castle of Leopoldstein, and near it the beautiful Leopoldsteiner Lake. This lake, with its dark-green water, situated at an altitude of 2028 ft., and surrounded on all sides by high peaks, is not big and has a depth of 100 ft (30.5 m).
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
town in Styria, 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...
, 68 mi (109.4 km). N.W. of Graz
Graz
The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...
by rail. Pop. (2001) 6,400. It is situated in the deep Erzbach Valley, dominated on the east by the Pfaffenstein
Pfaffenstein
The Pfaffenstein, formerly called the Jungfernstein, is a low table mountain, , in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains in Saxony. It lies west of the River Elbe near Königstein and is also referred to as "Saxon Switzerland in miniature" on account of its diverse structure.The wild, jagged mountain with...
(6140 ft), on the west by the Kaiserschild (6830 ft), and on the south by the Erzberg (5030 ft). It has an interesting example of a medieval fortified church, a Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
edifice founded by Rudolph of Habsburg in the 13th century and rebuilt in the 16th.
At the turn of the past century the Erzberg (Ore Mountain) furnished such rich ore that it was quarried in the open air like stone, in the summer months. There is documentary evidence of the mines having been worked as far back as the 12th century. They afforded employment to two or three thousand hands in summer and about half as many in winter, and yielded some 800,000 tons of iron per annum. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, a subcamp of Mauthausen concentration camp was located here. It provided slave labour for local industry. Eisenerz was connected with the mines by the Erzberg railway, a bold piece of engineering work, fourteen miles (21 km) long, constructed on the Abt's rack-and-pinion system. It passed through some beautiful scenery, and descends to Vordernberg
Vordernberg
Vordernberg is a municipality in the district of Leoben in Styria, Austria....
, an important center of the iron trade situated on the south side of the Erzberg. Eisenerz possesses, in addition, twenty-five furnaces, which produce iron, and particularly steel, of exceptional excellence. Today the Erzberg is home to motocross races.
A few miles to the N.W. of Eisenerz lies the castle of Leopoldstein, and near it the beautiful Leopoldsteiner Lake. This lake, with its dark-green water, situated at an altitude of 2028 ft., and surrounded on all sides by high peaks, is not big and has a depth of 100 ft (30.5 m).
Demographic evolution
- 1928 6.945
- 1939 12.395
- 1944 18.419
- 1948 11.103
- 1956 12.679
- 1992 7.965
- 2000 6.750
- 2005 5.839
- 2007 5.566