Wildon is a small town located between

Leibnitz Leibnitz (Slovenian: ''Lipnica'') is a city in the Austrian state of Styria and on 1 Jan. 2017 had a population of 12,176. It is located to the south of the city of Graz, between the Mur and Sulm rivers. The town is the capital of the Leibni ...

and

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

in the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n state of

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...

History

The modern village of Wildon was first mentioned in 1219. It was mainly known due to a minstrel called

Herrand von Wildonie Herrand von Wildonie ( 1248–1278) was a Germans, German nobleman and poet. Life Herrand was born around 1230. He belonged to an important noble family that held the hereditary office of high steward in the Duchy of Styria. The family's castle, ...

, who lived during the 13th century and was also engaged in local politics. According to legends, Wildon received its name from a

wild man The wild man, wild man of the woods, or woodwose/wodewose is a mythical figure that appears in the art and literature of medieval Europe, comparable to the satyr or faun type in classical mythology and to '' Silvanus'', the Roman god of the woodl ...

who was living in a cave on the nearby Schlossberg hill. Legend has it that a woman living in the village went up to the cave, and killed the wild man with a pair of knitting needles so that the villagers could then go up and enjoy the cave. A medieval ruin is also situated on that hill. The nearby municipality

Allerheiligen bei Wildon Allerheiligen bei Wildon is a municipality in the district of Leibnitz in Styria, Austria. The name "Allerheiligen" translates to "All Saints" and derives from the local church. The addition "bei Wildon" means "near Wildon", thus differentiating t ...

received its name because of its proximity to Wildon.

Amenities

An equestrian center and a lake for swimming, the Wildoner Teich, is to be found in the vicinity. Wildon is situated on a

cycle track A cycle track, separated bike lane or protected bike lane (sometimes historically referred to as a sidepath) is an exclusive bikeway that has elements of a separated path and on-road bike lane. A cycle track is located within or next to the ro ...

which runs alongside the Mur river from

to Bad Radkersburg.

Transportation

The journey by train from Graz main station to Wildon takes approximately 27 minutes using trains travelling to Spielfeld-Straß.

References

Market towns Cities and towns in Leibnitz District {{Styria-geo-stub