Alpine Industrial Landscapes Transformation - Project Handbook

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figure 1: Overview of Eisenerz, with the Münichtal site in the foreground and the
Erzberg open cast mine in the background
Location and regional profile
The Styrian Iron Route comprises the western part of the
region “Upper Styria East / Obersteiermark Ost” in Austria.
The impressive “Erzberg” (“iron ore mountain”) next to the
town of Eisenerz with its spectacular open-cast mine is the
region´s landmark and the cradle of Austria´s industrialisation.
The region has a high proportion of forest areas (over 75%),
with grassland use predominating in agricultural areas. The
permanent settlement area is very low by comparison at 15
% (Styria: 30 %). Mountains rise up to 2.300 metres. The main
settlement area is the Mur-Mürz valley with Leoben as the
region´s capital. Here, there is a lack of building plots already,
though dedicated land resources for industry and enterprises
are still available. Beyond that, settlement is very sparse and
dispersed and the loss of population, for example in the city of
Eisenerz, the location of the pilot site, is immense.
The climate is cold and temperate, with a good deal of
snow especially around Eisenerz. Natural hazards such as
avalanches, floods and landslides occur regularly, and more
and more sites are being declared danger zones, where
building or industrial activities are prohibited. For the same
reasons, the B115 state road leading across the Präbichl
mountain pass to Eisenerz is frequently closed for several days
in winter. The motorways A9 and S6/S36 and several railway
lines connect Leoben directly in all directions with Austria´s
major cities of Vienna, Graz, Salzburg, Linz & Klagenfurt. The
closest airports are Graz and Vienna, which are approximately
45 to 90 minutes by car from Leoben.
Economically, the region is characterised by its mining
history, which stretches back 1300 years and led to a highly
specialized steel processing industry. The leading steel
company voestalpine, which has 10.000 employees in Upper
Styria, is located in the Mur-Mürz-Valley, 30 kilometres
south of Eisenerz and the Erzberg mine. Outdoor and cultural
tourism is relatively low key, but a growing economic niche.
The Unique Selling Point (USP) of the region is “Industry in
the middle of nature” (“Industrie im Grünen”) – with easy
access from the industrial centres to mountains, ski slopes,
lakes, bicycle trails, rivers and so on. There is a full range of
education on offer, with a focus on technical orientation
(Mining University of Leoben, several technical colleges). In
terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita the district
of Leoben is No. 2 in the Styrian ranking, preceded by Graz.
The population is stable in the central Mur-Mürz-Valley.
Beyond that it has been decreasing rapidly. Eisenerz, a typical
peripheral "shrinking city", is nowadays the “oldest” city in
Austria with regard to age structure. In these peripheral
parts, vacant properties are a major problem. This causes
heavy financial problems for the municipality, as costs for
maintaining the necessary technological infrastructure are
extremely high. For this reason Eisenerz has developed a plan
for downsizing the city and for finding new uses for vacant
premises.
Pilot site: old blast furnace compound, Münichtal (Eisenerz)
The pilot site is located 5 kilometres north of the city centre
of Eisenerz in the district of Münichtal. It is situated at
an altitude of 730 metres in a narrow valley between the
Eisenerzer Alps and Hochschwab. The surrounding mountains
reach altitudes of approximately 2.200 meters and are densely
forested. The site used to be the location of the old iron blast
furnaces, processing the iron ore from the Erzberg mine. The
first blast furnace was built in 1899/1900, to which a second
one was added in 1911. To produce energy from hot furnace
gas, a power station was added on the site in 1920-1923. The
whole facility was shut down in 1945 and since then partially
used as central workshops (“Hauptwerkstätte”) for the Erbzerg
mine. After the demolition of the old furnaces, Pilkington
Automotive Austria constructed a new plant on the site in