The city has a long history as a manufacturing center and has given its name to several manufacturers headquartered there, such as the formerSteyr-Daimler-Puch conglomerate and its successorSteyr Motors.
Saint Michael's Church, at the confluence of the Enns and Steyr rivers
The city is situated in theTraunviertel region, with the two riversSteyr andEnns flowing through it and meeting near the town centre beneath Lamberg Castle and St Michael's Church. This prominent location has made it prone to severe flooding through the centuries until the present, one of the worst cases being recently inAugust 2002. To the south of the town rises a series of hills that climb in altitude and stretch out to theUpper Austrian Prealps. To the north, the hills roll downward towards the confluence of the Enns with theDanube River, where the town ofEnns is situated. In the east, the municipal area borders withLower Austria.
Steyr is an ancient town with modern amenities, marketing its rich cultural and architectural heritage intourism likeVienna and many other well preserved Austrian historic towns. It marked its 1,000th anniversary in 1980, after undergoing extensive restoration of its historic architecture which has made it one of the best preservedold towns in the country. The famous historic town centre built around theStadtplatz (town square) was largely restored followingWorld War II. Its best-known piece of architecture is called theBummerlhaus which is considered one of the finest examples ofGothic architecture for its size inCentral Europe.
The city comprises thecadastral communities of Christkindl, Föhrenschacherl, Gleink, Hinterberg, Jägerberg, Sarning, Stein and Steyr.
Quayside at Enns riverThe town's landmark:Bummerlhaus
Celts settled the area from about 600 BC, the name of theStiria River is ofCeltic origin. Their kingdom ofNoricum became part of theRoman Empire in 15 BC. A settlement namedGesodunum noted by the ancient geographerClaudius Ptolemy (c. 90 – c. 168) was possibly located in the Steyr region. Here the Roman "Iron Road" led from theErzberg mine along the Enns River to thecastra ofLauriacum (at present-day Enns) on the Danube.
In the 6th century, Slavic settlers moved into the area, but when they were defeated by DukeTassilo III of Bavaria, who granted the land to nearbyKremsmünster Abbey in 777, the area was resettled withBavarians. During theHungarian invasions of Europe, a fortress was erected above the Steyr River by the local Traungau counts, first mentioned asStyraburg in a 980 deed. From 1055 Steyr Castle in the Bavarian Traungau as well as the adjacent "March of Styria" were ruled by the mightyOtakar dynasty. The Otokars controlled theiron mining at Erzberg and made their residence at Steyr a centre of medieval courtly culture andMiddle High German poetry.
Steyr, already named atown (urbs) by then, lost its importance as a ducal residence but retained its status as a centre of ironworking. The Babenberg rulers promoted its economic development as a site of blacksmithing, mainlyknife making andarmament industry. After the extinction of the Babenbergs in 1246, Steyr together with the Duchy of Austria was occupied by thePřemyslid kingOttokar II of Bohemia and finally taken over by theHabsburg kingRudolf I of Germany upon his victory at the 1278Battle on the Marchfeld. The town privileges andmarket rights were confirmed by Rudolf's son KingAlbert I in 1287 and the citizens further on benefitted of Steyr's preferred position within the iron trade all over theHoly Roman Empire and especially with theRepublic of Venice.
In the 13th and 14th century, Steyr was a centre of the ChristianWaldensian movement and a location of the inquisitorial persecutions led by the Catholic clericPetrus Zwicker (d. 1403). Likewise, theProtestant Reformation quickly spread among the citizens about 1525, fiercely opposed by the Habsburg rulers in the course of theCounter-Reformation.
The economic situation changed for the worse, as the iron trade decayed during theThirty Years' War, when Upper Austria was pawned to DukeMaximilian I of Bavaria, and thePeasants' War in Upper Austria of 1626. In 1727 the medievalStyraburg was devastated by a blaze and replaced by theBaroque Lamberg Castle. The resurgence of Steyr began under the conditions of late 18th centuryJosephinism and continued in the course of the succeedingindustrialisation. During theNapoleonic Wars Steyr was occupied byFrench troops several times. On 25 December 1800, theArmistice of Steyr was signed there.
In 1830 the blacksmith Leopold Werndl founded an armory at Steyr, which his sons Josef and Franz Werndl re-established as a stock company in 1864, named theÖsterreichische Waffenfabriksgesellschaft (ÖWG) from 1869. Including theSteyr automobile branch from 1915 it was renamedSteyr-Werke AG in 1926 and formed a large industrial conglomerate by the merger withAustro-Daimler andPuch in 1934. However, the Steyr industry was hit hard by the 1929Great Depression.
The Nazi authorities incorporated the armament industry into the vastReichswerke Hermann Göring conglomerate, including the construction of theSteyr-Münichholz subcamp of forced labourers, part of theMauthausen network. A major producer of arms and military vehicles duringWorld War II, Steyr became a target ofAllied bombing raids to knock out its factories. In two major attacks by the USFifteenth Air Force during the "Big Week" on 23 and 24 February 1944, much of the town was badly damaged, but the factories continued to function until near the end of the war.
The city was a meeting point on 9 May 1945, when units of the5th Guards Airborne of theRed Army andblack troops of the US761st Tank Battalion along with the71st Infantry Division contacted each other on the bridge over the Enns River. Steyr was occupied by the U.S. Army—the Soviet Army moved east behind the demarcation line of the province of Lower Austria. The troops remained until 1955 when Austria officially declaredneutrality by theAustrian State Treaty.
The Pyhrn-Eisenwurzen Klinikum Steyr is thegeneral hospital of the city and the largest health care provider in the region with a capacity of 621 beds. It is also a teaching hospital affiliated with the medical universities ofVienna,Graz andInnsbruck.[5]
The Steyr School of General Health and Nursing offers a degree in nursing science and training to become a certified nurse. The oldest part is the 1916 castle-like old building. The hospital has been continually expanded since 1935.[citation needed]
Steyr has a district heating system which supplies the bulk of the buildings and industry with renewable energy. The thermal energy comes from the Steyr biomass heating plant.[6]
Steyr has had a number of well-known residents or visitors, includingFranz Schubert (1797–1828), who wrote hisTrout Quintet there while on holiday in 1819, and composerAnton Bruckner (1824–1896), organist at the local parish church. YoungAdolf Hitler spent a brief period there while he attended the Steyr secondary school in 1904, living in a room on Grünmarkt. The school is located in the same building as the famous Saint Michael's Church. Further notable natives of Steyr are:
