A short history of STEYR

At the junction of the rivers Enns and Steyr the „Otakare“, the Margraves and later the Dukes of Styria built the „Styraburg“ (castle Styria) in the year 980 - the present castle Lamberg. The municipal settlement below the „Styraburg“ and the parish church were built later. To a large extent, the houses of the old town were built during the Gothic period and were modernized during the Renaissance as well as the Baroque and Rococo periods. The town has always gained its wealth from the iron trade and around 1287 the earlier charter of the city was confirmed. In 1727 a horrible fire destroyed large parts of the old town as well as the suburbs of Ennsdorf and Steyrdorf. After wars, epidemics and through the decline of the handicrafts, the economic situation turned to the worse. During this time, in 1831, Josef Werndl was born. He went down in the annals of the town’s history as the „rescuer of Steyr“. Werndl took over his fathers enterprise and modernised it. He also constructed the breech-loaded gun and by mass production of this gun he made Steyr the main weapon supplier for Europe. Josef Werndl, as pioneer, is also given credit for the first electric street lights of Europe here in Steyr in 1884. Josef Werndl died in 1889 and the current „Steyr Daimler Puch Werke“ (now parted in the SKF, MAN, Steyr Mannlicher ..) have their origin in his progressive foundation. During World War I and II, the Steyr Daimler Puch company specialised in the production of arms. Between these wars cars were also produced. The aerial attacks in 1944 destroyed large parts of the industrial plants. These were rebuilt in their entirety, modernised and extended after the end of the war. Employing in a labour force of 10 000 persons, tractors, trucks, ballbearings and, keeping up the tradition, hunting guns are also produced.Steyr was a frontier town between the American and the Soviet zones until 1955. The town has been enlarged structurally since that time by adding the suburbs Tabor, Ennsleite and Resthof. At the moment Steyr has a population of 43.000. Today, Steyr is the prototype of successful amalgamation of an historical town and a modern industrial centre, making Steyr one of the most interesting cities in Austria.