Fürstenfeld (; ) is a small historic city in

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. It is situated near the border with

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, which is why the city was originally founded. The town has become quite famous in Austria and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

because of the song by the same name by Styrian band S.T.S.. Fürstenfeld has a population of some 10,360 as of January 1st 2025. It was the centre of an eponymous district until the end of 2012, when it was merged with Hartberg to form the district of Hartberg-Fürstenfeld. Fürstenfeld was founded around 1170 as a defense against the Hungarians (the present Austrian state of

Burgenland Burgenland (; ; ; Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ''Burgnland''; Slovene language, Slovene: ''Gradiščanska''; ) is the easternmost and least populous Bundesland (Austria), state of Austria. It consists of two statutory city (Austria), statut ...

was part of Hungary until after World War I, so Fürstenfeld used to lie right on the border) and received its town charter in 1215. Today it is known for its schools, middle-sized industry, and vicinity to several spa towns ( Bad Blumau, Bad Loipersdorf and Bad Waltersdorf in Styria, and Stegersbach in Burgenland).

Geography

Fürstenfeld is located in the lower valley near the

border. Elevation of the urban area ranges from 255m to approximately 300 m ü. A. The city`s central part sits on a river terrace two dozen meters above the valley floor.

History

First human traces in the Fürstenfeld area are attributed to the

Neolithic age The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wid ...

. There are numerous

Urnfield culture The Urnfield culture () was a late Bronze Age Europe, Bronze Age culture of Central Europe, often divided into several local cultures within a broader Urnfield tradition. The name comes from the custom of cremation, cremating the dead and placin ...

archaeological finds and the Romans also found their way into the later Province of

Noricum Noricum () is the Latin name for the kingdom or federation of tribes that included most of modern Austria and part of Slovenia. In the first century AD, it became a province of the Roman Empire. Its borders were the Danube to the north, R ...

bordering their Pannonia province. From the 6th century on,

Slavs The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...

diffused into the Pannonic region and were followed by Bavarian settlers in the 8th century.

Twin towns — sister cities

Fürstenfeld is twinned with: * Aindling, Germany *

Körmend Körmend ( Prekmurje Slovene: ''Karmadén,'' ) is a town in Vas County, Western Hungary. Places of interest The town is especially well known for its castle which used to belong to the Batthyány family, one of the most important aristocrat famili ...

, Hungary * Vişeu de Sus, Romania *

Zug Zug (Standard German: , Alemannic German: ; ; ; ; )Named in the 16th century. is the largest List of cities in Switzerland, town and capital of the Swiss canton of Zug. Zug is renowned as a hub for some of the wealthiest individuals in the wor ...

, Switzerland

Notable people

* Anita * Herbert Depisch * Wilfried Elmenreich, researcher and university professor *

Hans Fronius Hans Fronius (12 September 1903 - 21 March 1988) was an Austrians, Austrian Painting, painter and illustration, illustrator. He was born in Sarajevo, which was then a territory of Austria-Hungary (now Bosnia and Hercegovina). His father was descen ...

* Sissy Handler * Richard L. Heschl, born in Welsdorf * Markus Hirtler (alias Ermi-Oma), cabaret artist * Max J. Hiti * Max Keimel * Karl Mader, painter, graphic artist * Bert Isatitsch * Katharina Paldauf (1625-1675), "flower witch" prosecuted during the Great Witch trial of Feldbach * (1913, Rudersdorf - 2003)Parlamentarische Materialien: Erklärung des Präsidenten Gottfried Jaud anlässlich des 50. Jahrestages der Gründung des Europarates. Stenografisches Protokoll der 654 Sitzung /Seite 42, http://www.parlament.gv.at/pd/steno/PG/DE/BR/BRSITZ/BRSITZ_00654/SEITE_0042.html?P_PM=SEITE_0042 * Helmut Röhrling (known as ""), member of S.T.S. * Emmerich Schreiner * Hanna Schulze-Bauer * Hannes Schulze-Bauer * (born 1948, Fürstenfeld), member of S.T.S. * Fritz Vogt * Gregor von Rezzori, studied in Fürstenfeld

References

External links

Official website of Fürstenfeld
Cities and towns in Hartberg-Fürstenfeld District {{Styria-geo-stub