Austria Styria

In the last few years some strikingly modern new public buildings have been erected in the city. The most famous include the Kunsthaus a museum constructed right next to the river Mur, and the "Murinsel", an island made of steel, situated in the river. The old town was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1999 due to the harmonious co-existence of typical buildings from different epochs and in different architectural styles. Today the old town consists of over 1000 buildings, their age ranging from Gothic to Contemporary. Other areas include several other important structures, impressive architecture, and museums throughout the Greater Graz area.

Today, the town’s primary focus is on culture and tourism, with a fine regional museum and a spa in the city centre. The spa offers medicinal brine baths and the Kneipp Cure therapy, which combines cold-water treatment, diets, and outdoor exercise. The town also sponsors an annual music festival called the Ausseer Jazzfrühling. There are two ski regions accessible from Bad Aussee as well as five lakes nearby. The town hosts several annual festivals, the Fasching, Narzissenfest, and Glockler und Berigeln. Bad Aussee is unique within Austria as its inhabitants wear Tracht, or traditional dress, on a daily basis.

Bad Gleichenberg has been an official health spa since 1926. However, the healing spring water was already discovered during Roman times. In the Biedermeier era the spa was in full bloom and became a popular travel destination. The park and many buildings are impressive monuments to the prosperity of this period. In 1837 Countess Emma von Wickenburg laid the foundations of the large park, planting exotic trees and bushes. This magnificent parkland with statues, sculptures and fountains of the Biedermeier period is still the heart of the spa. In the recent past Bad Gleichenberg has become a major centre for tourism due to the Tourism Schools and the FH Joanneum University of Applied Sciences.