Graz

Graz gräts [key], city, capital of Styria prov., SE Austria, on the Mur River. The second largest city in Austria, it is an industrial, rail, and cultural center. Manufactures include automobiles, precision and optical instruments, machinery, paper, textiles, and chemicals. Probably founded in the 12th cent., Graz is built around the Schlossberg, a mountain peak with the ruins of a 15th-century fortress and the famous Uhrturm [clock tower]. The city has a 15th-century Gothic cathedral; several medieval churches (13th–15th cent.); and a twin-naved Gothic parish church that contains Tintoretto's Assumption of the Virgin. The Landhaus [provincial parliament] dates from the 16th cent. The Johanneum museum (founded 1811) is one of the finest provincial museums in Austria; the Künstlerhaus, in a postwar modernist building, showcases exhibitions of contemporary art. The city is the site of six universities; most notable is the new university (built 1890–95), known for medical studies. The astronomer Johannes Kepler taught at the state university in Graz (founded in the 16th cent.). Emperor Ferdinand II is buried in Graz.

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