The best running trails around Garsten

The old town of Steyr is one of the most beautiful in Austria.

A magnificent view of St. Michael's Church

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This church is one of the most important Gothic churches in the country, and is also known as the smaller sister of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. As the residence of the Ottokars (also: Otakars), the city of Steyr, strategically located at the confluence of the Steyr and Enns, gained importance even before the year 1000. Vedute of the Schedel World ChronicleAfter the city had also become the capital of Styria, Steyr became the most powerful and important city above the Enns in the Middle Ages through iron trading and iron processing. The first written mention of a church building, "ecclesia sancti Egidii in Styria", also dates from this period. The first documented mention of a patronage of St. Giles for Steyr is dated April 22, 1275, but this patronage (as well as that of St. Koloman) may have existed earlier. The settlement in the shadow of the Styraburg had already grown into an "urbs" by this time, and the construction of a church must have taken place earlier. The church building, which had been damaged by a fire, soon proved to be too small for the rapidly growing population. In 1443, Hans Puchsbaum, master builder of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, began construction on a new building, which he managed until 1454. The plans are documented by the designs that have survived to this day. War events and religious turmoil interrupted the construction work several times for longer periods, which resulted in changes to Puchsbaum's plans. After 1454, Mert Kramschach (until 1482), Wolfgang Tenk (until 1513) and Hanns Schwettichauer (until around 1525) managed the construction work. After the fire of the tower spire in 1876, the current neo-Gothic top was built from stone blocks in 1889 according to plans by the Viennese cathedral master builder and the builder of the Vienna City Hall, Friedrich von Schmidt. The old cross has been erected on the church tower since 1961.

This mighty, richly decorated town house in the western row of houses on the lower town square is named after the golden star held by two griffins above the portal, which not only symbolizes the iron trade, but can also be seen in the coat of arms of the Schoiber family, to whom the magnificent building once belonged. Completely destroyed during the great town fire of 1727, the Sternhaus was rebuilt after the catastrophe with a late baroque façade. It was named after the golden star held by two birds of prey above the portal, which is the symbol of the iron trade. The angel figures above the windows embody the five human senses with their attributes.

The "Stollen der Gedenken" memorial site has been managed by the Arfbeitswelt Museum since 2013. The exhibition was implemented by the Mauthausen Committee Steyr in a former air raid shelter and sheds light on the history of the city of Steyr in the years 1938-1945. Starting with the economic crisis of the 1930s, the exhibition chronologically examines the rise of the National Socialists in the region, the annexation in 1938, the expansion of the Steyr works for the Nazi war economy and the deployment of several thousand concentration camp prisoners and civilian forced laborers from all over Europe for the armaments industry.