Fürstenfeld#

Fuerstenfeld, Styria, town in the district of Fuerstenfeld, alt. 276 m, pop. 6,024, area 15.16 km2, principal town in eastern Styria, situated on the River Feistritz near the Burgenland border. - District Commission, district court, Employment Services, Vocational Training Institute, Chamber of Labour, Economic Chamber, district Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry, River Regulation Board, Office of Weights, Measures and Surveying, health and social insurance office, hospital, youth centre, psychosocial advisory centre, social health office, residential home, multi-purpose complex, largest (outdoor) swimming facility in Europe (lap pool, 25 x 50 m; recreational pool 320 x 80 m), club aerodrome, golf course, school types include Bundesgymnasium and Bundesrealgymnasium, vocational school for trade and commerce, trade school. 4,167 gainfully employed persons (1991), 53 % of whom in the service sector (especially private, social and public services as well as trade, transportation firms); production sector: tobacco factory (oldest in Austria, since 1776), manufacturing of cigarette paper, electronics industry, plastics processing, production of furniture, lamps and compressors, steel construction, brick industry, beer depots, slaughterhouse.

Fuerstenfeld was established around 1170 as an eastern border defence town, significant in the Middle Ages for trade; fortification (renovated in 1533) partially preserved (city moat, portion of city wall, Hungarian Bastion, Castle Bastion and Moehl Bastion, Graz gate); Baroque parish church (1772-1774); former commandery (after 1200) of the Hospitallers (oldest in Austria); former church of Augustinian Hermits (1365-1368), monastery (demolished in 1956), now a hall; Protestant church (1908-1910); former Prince's castle, converted into tobacco factory in 1776; Pfeilberg Freihaus (14th and 16th centuries); Wilfersdorf Freihaus (Old City Hall, 1570); Baroque column dedicated to the Virgin Mary (1664) on the main square; city museum.

Literature#