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. 9,400 . 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, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n state of

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

, at the foot of the Stubalpe mountain. The town has a federal stud in the village of

Piber The Piber Federal Stud (''Bundesgestüt Piber'') is a stud farm dedicated to the breeding of Lipizzan horses, located at the village of Piber, near the town of Köflach in western Styria, Austria. It was founded in 1798, began breeding Lipizza ...

that supplies the

Lipizzaner The Lipizzan or Lipizzaner (, , , , , , ) is a European breed of riding horse developed in the Habsburg Empire in the sixteenth century. It is of Baroque type, and is powerful, slow to mature and long-lived; the coat is usually gray. The n ...

horses to the famous

Spanish Riding School The Spanish Riding School () is an Austrian institution based in Vienna, dedicated to the preservation of classical dressage and the training of Lipizzaner horses, whose performances in the Hofburg are also a tourist attraction. The leading hor ...

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

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 small train station, it is the terminus of the railway line between Köflach and

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

. It is served by the suburban rail line S7. The operator is GKB. 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 (; ; ; ) 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 population is 61,887. Together wit ...

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 Giengen (; full name: Giengen an der Brenz; Swabian: ''Gẽänge'') is a former Free Imperial City in eastern Baden-Württemberg near the border with Bavaria in southern Germany. The town is located in the district of Heidenheim at the eastern ...

, Germany, since 1962

Sons and daughters

* Ferdinand Pamberger (1873-1956), painter and graphic artist *

Hannah Perschel Hannah Perschel (born 1940 in Köflach, Styria) is an Austrian born and raised artist of Swiss nationality. With her basic art education in painting and typography at the Zurich School of Art and Design Perschel continued her learning at the intern ...

(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 Hubert Eisner (born 7 August 1897 in Köflach, Austria; 16 August 1969) was an Austrian Nazi and became Kreisleiter of Voitsberg. Biography Eisner attended primary ( Volksschule) and secondary (Hauptschule) schools, and completed his education ...

(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

References

External links

* Cities and towns in Voitsberg District Lavanttal Alps {{Styria-geo-stub