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MAGYAR
POLSKI |
The people of Graz are proud of the fact that their castle on Schlossberg is in the Guinness Book of Records as the only fortress which was never conquered. They are also proud of the lift system, in which you can ride in style to the top of Schlossberg. Heavenly and at the same time somewhat unearthly.
Legend has it that the devil agreed to make Schöckl, the local mountain of Graz, even higher in exchange for the soul of the first person to climb it. When flying overhead with a huge rock in his hands, he saw a procession – it was Easter Sunday, the one day he had no power over humans, feeling cheated with regards to the agreement he had made with the citizens of Graz he hurled the enormous rock onto the city. The huge boulder broke into two parts: the smaller one formed the Austein with its Calvary, while the larger became Schlossberg. The respect for the devil can’t, however, have been too great as the citizens of Graz began to fearlessly bore holes into the abhorrent dolomite rock already during the middle of the 16th century – for example, the almost 100 meter deep Turkish well. Things really kicked off in this respect during World War II as from 1943 an extensive tunnel system was created inside the hill which was 6.3 kilometres long. It served as a bombproof command headquarters and as an air-raid shelter for around 40,000 souls.
This tunnel system lay forgotten for a long time after the war. It was, however, “rediscovered” when Graz was named as the “European Capital of Culture 2003” and was converted to serve all sorts of purposes. One of these being a spectacular lift system, which saves visitors and residents alike from the arduous climb via an external set of stairs or the slow trip with the Schlossberg funicular and catapults you to the top in barely 30 seconds. Fritz Lang’s cult film “Metropolis” springs to mind. As this lift system, located in the Schlossberg tunnel system, is worth seeing, in particular due its futuristic construction and equally futuristic lighting. The trip to the top in the glass lift is thus already an experience with tantalising views, for example, the breathtaking fire escape, whose railing winds dramatically around the lift. An object well worth seeing because the expanded metal allows for ever changing views due to its constantly changing transparency and at the same time provides the observer with a certain feeling of security, i.e. you will be safe on this staircase in the event of an emergency. Typical of expanded metal – robust and exciting at the same time.
