Stainz is a market town with 8,749 inhabitants (as of January 1,
2020) in the district and judicial district of Deutschlandsberg in
Styria (Austria).
As part of the Styrian community structural
reform, it has been merged with the communities of Stallhof,
Stainztal, Rassach, Marhof and Georgsberg since 2015, the new
community continues to bear the name Stainz. The basis for this is
the Styrian Municipal Structural Reform Act - StGsrG.
Stainz
is located on the foothills of the Koralpe in western Styria. The
most important river in the municipality is the Stainzbach.
The former municipality of Rassach is traversed by the Saubach, an
important elevation is the Frauenkogel at 404 meters.
The most
important brooks in the former municipality of Marhof are the
Theussenbach, the Sierlingbach and the Rainbach, which all flow into
the largest brook in the area, the Stainzbach. Important elevations
are the Rosenkogel (1362 m), Mothiltor (1240 m) and the
Reinischkogel (1463 m) in the border area to the monastery and
Edelschrott. The rocks on which Marhof lies belong to the Koralm
crystalline and have been scientifically examined in detail.
Names
The place name is z. B. in bus timetables, also called
Stainz in West Styria. This serves to distinguish it from the place
Stainz bei Straden in the district of Southeast Styria. Before 1919,
the addition was also used to differentiate between places on the
Stainz River (Ščavnica), e.g. B. Stanz, Stainzthal or St. Georgen an
der Stainz (Sveti Jurij ob Ščavnici) in the then judicial district
of Oberradkersburg in Lower Styria.
The place Stainz is
located on the river of the same name, the Stainzbach, it is
mentioned in 1160 as circa rivum stauwencz. The name is derived from
a striking (sour or salty) tasting spring water (Sauerbrunn) and
traced back to the Slovenian word ščava. Evidence for this is given
that Stainz and other places with this name in Styria are located
near places and bodies of water whose names (such as Sulz ...)
indicate such bodies of water or which later became known as mineral
waters (e.g. . Bad Sauerbrunn near Marhof west of Stainz).
The names Stainz and Sauerbrunn are regarded as a Slavic-German
double name in this context.
Names of districts on ...
neurath are regarded as clearing names that indicate a newly cleared
area. The name Pösneurath near Pichling was mentioned in 1494 as
Poesnewrat, which is interpreted as "clearing, which has only low
value" (mhd. Bad "bad, low, worthless").
The place name
Tomberg in the south of Stainz was written as Tanperg in 1432 and is
thus derived from fir (a mountain overgrown with fir trees). Other
spellings that prove this interpretation are 1373 Tamperch, 1465 am
Tan bei Stainz, 1475 Tonberg, 1753 Tamberger hart.