Bad Blumau is a municipality with 1615 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2020) in the judicial district of Fürstenfeld or the political district of Hartberg-Fürstenfeld in Eastern Styria, around 25 kilometers south of the district capital Hartberg. The small town is best known for its hotel with thermal bath, the Rogner Bad Blumau, which was designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser.
Parish Church of St. Sebastian
The Parish Church of St.
Sebastian is one of the main attractions and religious center of the
Austrian community of Bad Blumau. Saint Sebastian was a Roman
soldier and is revered as a saint in the Catholic and Orthodox
Churches.
The construction of the church began in 1480. It
was then that a magnificent building in the Gothic style arose in
Bad Blumau. But it did not stand too long and collapsed due to the
displacement of the earth layers that occurred in 1701. Only the
chapel of St. Leonard has survived from the previous building.
The modern building of the Church of St. Sebastian was erected
in 1702-1703 according to the drawings and under the guidance of the
master from Graz, Bartholomeus Ebner. In 1987, the church was
overhauled, and in 2001 an organ arrived here from Anton Škrabl's
workshop in Slovenia.
The interior of the church is designed
in a typical Baroque style. On one of the outer walls there is a
sundial with an inscription in two languages - Latin and German:
"Where the sun is, there is life." Above the central altar is a
painting depicting St. Sebastian pierced with arrows. The
multicolored stained glass windows let in enough light to create a
cozy, unique atmosphere.
Millennial oak
Not far from
the Austrian community of Bad Blumau, there is the so-called
Millennium Oak - the oldest tree in Europe, which received the
status of a natural monument of national importance. You can find it
in the district of Fürstenfeld on the so-called "oak path" between
the villages of Loymet and Birbaum an der Saphen.
The giant
oak reaches 30 meters in height, the trunk diameter is 2.5 meters,
and the girth is 8.75 meters. It will take 7 adults to hug such a
giant. The crown of a thousand-year-old oak tree is no less
majestic, its diameter exceeds 50 meters.
Since ancient
times, the place near such a remarkable tree has been used for
various kinds of meetings, gatherings, and also as a dance floor. In
the seventies of the XX century, an extraordinary thunderstorm broke
out on the outskirts of Bad Blumau, which caused a real tragedy.
Lightning struck the immense trunk and nearly destroyed an ancient
tree. People came to the aid of the giant. The four-meter wound was
covered with concrete and the oak survived. Later it turned out that
this measure turned more to harm than good. The water flowing down
the concrete inside the oak, accumulating, led to the fact that the
trunk began to rot.
The wife of a successful German
entrepreneur Heidi Horten became interested in the fate of the
millennial oak. It was she who sponsored the renovation of the tree,
which took more than 1000 hours to complete. The "tree surgeon"
brought in for this purpose removed the rotten core with compressed
air and laid a water drainage system, thanks to which the oak
recovered and, as everyone in the area hopes, will live for a long
time.
The first settlement is likely to have occurred in the first
century AD. Some grave mounds (for example between Kleinsteinbach
and Speilbrunn) bear witness to this. Due to the migration of
peoples around 400 AD, Eastern Styria was also repopulated. There
was probably no permanent settlement between 400 and 600 AD. Only
the Slavs repopulated the area around Blumau again.
As part
of the fortification of the eastern border, a belt of castles was
built, which also included a castle in Blumau. In the 13th century
the castle is called "Plumenenau", which was deserted around 1400,
so that today no traces can be found. Around 1480 a Gothic church
was built, dedicated to Saint Leonhard, which was in danger of
collapsing after a landslide at the end of the 17th century. In
1702/03 the court architect Bartolomäus Ebner built today's parish
church of St. Sebastian in the Baroque style.
In 1997 the
thermal bath designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser was opened.
With this opening a reorientation of the until then mainly
agricultural community towards tourism took place. In 2001, Blumau
was named a health resort and thus received the right to use the
name “Bad”. Since 2001, 180 kW of electricity have been generated
from the 107 ° C hot thermal water, so that the hotel is also a
geothermal power plant.
The prosperity following tourism led
to the renovation of numerous old farms and buildings.
In
2009 the construction of the new elementary school began, about the
establishment of which there was a survey of the community citizens.
As part of the construction of the elementary school, USC Rogner Bad
Blumau will also get a new sports facility. This consists of two new
grass pitches and a grandstand and will be east of the old arena.
Geography
Geographical location
Bad Blumau is located
in the middle of the Eastern Styrian hill country on the small Safen
river, just before it flows into the Lafnitz. Due to its location on
the thermal line, which can be traced back to the earlier volcanic
activity in this area, Bad Blumau is primarily known as a health
resort.
Getting here
Bad Blumau can be reached via the
Thermenbahn, regional bus routes and by car via the A2 motorway,
exit Bad Waltersdorf.