|
Graz
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graz
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Graz [graːts] (Slovenian: Gradec),
with a population of 305,000 (council census 2000) is the second-largest city
in
Austria and
the capital of the
province
of
Styria
(Steiermark in
German). It has a long tradition as a student city, with four Universities and
two Universities of Applied Sciences with over 50,000 students. During Graz's brief Lutheran
phase, Eggenberg founded the Paradies
or Lutheran school in 1540, in which
Johannes Kepler later taught.
The city is situated on the
Mur river, in the southeast of Austria. Archduke Charles II of
Inner Austria had 20,000 Protestant books burned in the square of what is now a
mental hospital, and succeeded in returning Styria to
the authority of Rome.
Nikola Tesla studied electrical engineering at the Polytechnic in Graz in
1875. Nobel Laureate
Otto Loewi taught at the university from
1909 until
1938.
Erwin Schrödinger was briefly chancellor of the
University of Graz in
1936. Soon thereafter, a small concentration camp was set up nearby (a
sub-camp of
Mauthausen) and Schrödinger fled.
|
I
|
In the last few years new public buildings have
been erected within the city. The most famous ones are the "Kunsthaus" (house of modern art), a museum which is
constructed right next to the river Mur,
and the "Murinsel" (island in the Mur) which is an island made out of steel, situated in the
river. It was designed by the American architect Vito
Acconci
and contains a cafeteria, an open-air theatre and a
playground.
 |
|
