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bildungsroman | city form by thomas kohlwein
Bruck, an old trading town from the middle ages, became an industrial centre in the former Austro- Hungarian Empire, similar to Germany’s Rhine Valley or the Black Country.The fall of the Empire, the civil war, fascism,WW II and the Second Republic afterwards all left their mark on the town.
Bruck an der Mur
Bruck is a town of about 12,000 people in Upper Styria on the eastern edge of the Alps, far from either the capital region of Vienna or the wealthier tourism regions in the west of Austria. Founded as merchant settlement at the confluence of Mur and Mürz rivers, the city’s architecture tells the story of a transport hub – Bruck means bridge – and the changing fortunes of small European cities influenced by forces from outside, economic and political.
Arriving by train from Vienna the first thing you see is the large paper plant dominating the valley. In 1844 the Southern Railway from Vienna to Trieste connected the empire’s capital with its only sea port. Suddenly, after centuries of being a small market place serving the tradesmen and farmers of the local highlands, Bruck an der Mur was put on the map. Soon the area was one of the most industrialised in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a sudden change that left its mark along both valleys as small villages were transformed into large factory towns.
above: view from the south, below: town centre with central square, 2006
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