Graz

I have only ever been to Austria on a skiing trip with my parents over 10 years ago, so now that I live in Switzerland, it’s about time to explore the neighboring country more. An opportunity for that presented itself when I found cheap tickets to Graz, Austria’s second-largest city. Europe was gripped by a week-long freeze due to easterly winds bringing in cold air from Russia. With low temperatures in Graz forecast down to -15C/0F, I briefly considered whether I should go at all. However, temperatures were just as bad in Zurich, and since I am always in the mood for exploring, I was off to southern Austria for a few days.

Tuesday, FEB. 27

My travels started with a Lufthansa flight from Zurich to Frankfurt, followed by a connection with Austrian Airlines to Graz.

After landing at the airport in Graz, I walked over to the nearby train station. Although I needed to wait outside in the freezing cold for at least 15 minutes, there weren’t many alternatives for getting into the city. Well sure, taxis, but those are expensive. After arriving at the main train station, I got on a tram to the city center. I stopped by a large department store to leave my trolley in a locker, because I was staying in an airbnb in Graz, but the hosts were not yet home.

Having dropped off my hand luggage, I went to the Ferdinand II mausoleum, which was closing in less than 10 minutes. The nice museum attendant still let me in. Inside the baroque-decorated mausoleum is a tomb dedicated to Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand II, who died in 1637, along with his immediate family.

There’s a clock tower as well which you can climb. Let me tell you, it definitely still functions as a clock tower. I was at the very top, just below the bells, when it rung. Even though there were signs warning you to the fact, it still scared the crap out of me.

Next-door is the Graz Cathedral, where I also had a look inside. The Domkirche was built in the 15th century, and has a lot of incredibly detailed decorations inside, even though its outside is relatively uninteresting.

Just beside the Domkirche lies the Burg, a 15th-century building complex that today houses government offices. One of the highlights inside the Burg is an original double winding staircase, where the two staircases diverge and converge again at each floor.

Walked through the old town area and to the Stadtpfarrkirche, the town parish church. The insides of the church have been refurbished since WWII.

I continued north towards the Mur River, which goes right through the heart of Graz.

One of the main streets through Graz’s old town.

The Murinsel is an artificial island in the middle of the river that is linked to both riverbanks by bridges. There’s plenty of bridges in Graz already, so the purpose of this little metal island is more so its café and a kid’s playground.

I continued my exploration of Graz by going to the Schlossberg hill. To my surprise the funicular was only running every 15 minutes. Additionally, visibility from the top was not great. On the southern end of the Schlossberg lies the city’s iconic Uhrturm clock tower. It was built in 1560, and the locals love it so much, that the citizens paid Napoleon 2987 florins and 11 farthings to spare it from destruction in 1809. That’s the equivalent of 87,000 Euro, or 105,000 USD in today’s worth.

Got my pictures of the Uhrturm and went back down with the funicular. It was time to check-in with my airbnb hosts, a young couple renting out their guest bedroom.

I was given a very detailed description of how to get to the apartment building, and once I rang the bell, the woman of the couple answered with a description of how to get through the complex to their apartment. I got lost in the inner courtyard looking for the right set of stairs, but luckily her boyfriend came looking for me and found me.

After getting to meet my hosts, and their two sneaky cats, it was time to go for dinner somewhere. The couple both recommended Der Steierer, known for its great local dishes, and it was quite nice indeed. Next to offering main dishes with local inspiration, you can also try some of the regional flavor tapas-style.

Wednesday, Feb. 28

Got on the tram to Schloss Eggenberg on the western outskirts of Graz, built in 1625. It was commisioned by Johann Ulrich for the Eggenberg Dynasty, after he became governor of the province Inner Austria. At the time, that gave him power over much of southern Austria, and present-day northern Slovenia and north-eastern Italy. The castle interior was closed, which I knew, but you could still walk around the castle courtyards and the garden, although it was covered in snow.

Afterwards, I got on the tram back into the city center to visit the Landeszeughaus, the Styrian Armoury. However, they only offer visits via guided tours during winter, so I had to put that off for later. I elected instead to go to a nearby Gothic church, the Franziskaner Kirche. Much like other churches in the region, it has colorful stained-glass windows.

Additionally, I checked out the Grazmuseum for more detail about the city’s history. Their layout was a bit unorthodox, with some of the information displays being intentionally installed face-down to reflect off of mirrors on the floor.

It slowly became 1PM, so I headed back to the Styrian Armoury for one of their guided tours. The Styrian Armoury, or Landeszeughaus as it is named in German, is the world’s largest preserved historical armoury. It features over 32,000 objects, ranging from weapons like halberds, swords and rifles to artillery pieces, body armor and shields. All of the items are from the 15th-18th centuries. When Napoleon invaded Austria in 1809, he left the place mostly untouched, as nothing inside, except a few cannons, posed a threat in combat. By a stroke of luck, the building was also spared from WWII bombing raids.

After my visit to the Landeszeughaus, I went around the block to the Landeshauskeller for lunch. It is one of the more up-scale places in Graz, but the food was great. I had a green salad and a wienerschnitzel. Compared to dining out in my hometown of Zurich, prices were definitely reasonable.

The rest of my day was quite open, so I decided to stop by a photo gallery, Atelier Jungwirth, to kill some time. There wasn’t much time to kill, as the gallery was just one room. Next up, I went to the Kunsthaus Graz art museum, housed in an oddly shaped blue building next to the Mur river.

It was much below expectations, but then again, I don’t fancy art museums. There was one exhibition floor with chairs and tables, called the VIP Room, where prominent locals were asked to submit a piece of furniture. These 35-40 pieces are then placed upside down to symbolize that the chair, table or whatever had “lost its function”. I think it’s safe to say it had already lost its function, when locals were asked to place some of their home furniture inside the art museum, but hey, what do I know? A second exhibition detailed the design of the museum itself….and that was it for the exhibitions.

Museums in Graz generally close at 5PM, so at around 4:15, I decided to stop by the Naturkundemuseum. The Museum of National History, as the name translates to, is full of stuffed animals, butterflies, insects and an impressively catalogued collection of different types of stone, rocks and minerals.

I obviously didn’t have enough time to cover the entire museum, but I got free entrance on a generic Graz Museum ticket, so that wasn’t an issue.

For a much more beautiful piece of art than what’s on display at the city’s art museums, I decided to let nature work its magic to cap off my last day. I went up the Schlossberg once again, this time to watch the sun set over the snow-covered rooftops of downtown Graz. It did not disappoint.

After a quick stop by the apartment, I headed back downtown for dinner at Die Herzl Weinstube. It is one of the more traditional restaurants in town, but one that won’t blow your budget. Having settled for a salad and a cordon-bleu, my meal actually looked relatively similar to my lunch. Oh well, at least it was tasty.

Thursday, MAr. 1

Thursday morning it was time to check out, even though my hosts had already left for work by the time I woke up. At least the cats were there to see me off, although they probably had no clue I was leaving.

After leaving, I made my way to Graz’s Jakominiplatz to catch a bus to the airport. I didn’t know exactly where the bus stop for the airport bus was, so I walked all over the square before realizing that it was in a side street. I even walked past the particular bus stop. The signposting was sub par, and in a different format than the citybusses. It should be noted that the bus going to the airport is simply an intercity bus stopping at the airport among other stops, so it wasn’t highlighted as you might think.

Having finally made my way to the airport, I could enjoy a quick breakfast before it was time to board SWISS flight LX1513 to Zurich, arriving punctually just past noon.