Köflach is a small city in the district of

Voitsberg Voitsberg () is a small city in the district of Voitsberg in Styria, Austria, with a population of c. 9,700 . It grew upon the St. Margaret church at the Tregistbach river and was first mentioned in 1220 as Civitas. Remains of the Greisenegg pa ...

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 ...

, at the foot of the Stubalpe mountain. The town has a federal stud in the village of Piber that supplies the Lipizzaner horses to the famous

Spanish Riding School The Spanish Riding School (german: Spanische Hofreitschule) is an Austrian institution dedicated to the preservation of classical dressage and the training of Lipizzaner horses, based in Vienna, Austria, whose performances in the Hofburg are a ...

in Vienna. Traditionally known for its coal mining, Köflach is slowly changing from an industrial town to a center of the service sector. It is connected by rail to

Population

Sights

The main attractions are " Bundesgestüt Piber" (Piber Federal Stud) with its famous white Lipizzaner horses and the thermal bath "Therme Nova" which is supplied from mineral spring in Piber. Also a point of interest is the House of Art and Culture which holds exhibitions, mostly of local artists.

Infrastructure

Köflach has a railway terminal, it is the first station of the railroad between Köflach 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 popula ...

. The nearest Autobahn (

Freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

) is the " A2 Südautobahn", the nearest connections are "Modriach" and "Mooskirchen". The most important Roads are the "B70 Packerbundesstraße" connecting Köflach with

and

Villach Villach (; sl, Beljak; it, Villaco; fur, Vilac) is the seventh-largest city in Austria and the second-largest in the federal state of Carinthia. It is an important traffic junction for southern Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the p ...

and the "B77 Gaberl Straße".

Economy

The important industrial sites are Stölzle Oberglas, producer of glass, and LEAR, producer of car seats (especially for Magna Steyr).

Twin towns

* Giengen an der Brenz, Germany, since 1962

Sons and daughters

* Ferdinand Pamberger (1873-1956), painter and graphic artist * Hannah Perschel (born 1940), artist * Stefanie Werger (born 1951), musician, author and actress * Leo Lukas (born 1959), cabaret artist and writer * Hannah Scheucher (born 1993), graphic designer * Edmund Dittmer (born 1956), wine friend * Hubert Eisner (born 1897-?), Austrian Nazi

Other members of the community history

* Viktor Elser (1893-1979), national politician, national councilor of the council (mayor of 1924-1934) * Anton Lukesch (1912-2003) and Karl Lukesch (1917-1991), missionaries and South American researchers