Famous from Styria

"Hasta la Vista, Baby" or "I'll be back" have become the sayings of Arnold Schwarzenegger. But what do Arnold Schwarzenegger (the most famous Styrian), fashion designer Lena Hoschek, celebrity chef Johann Lafer or Waltz composer Robert Stolz have in common? They are all Styrians and all have Graz roots except for Johann Lafer.

Didi Mateschitz, the man behind Red Bull and the Red Bull ring in the Mur Valley, comes from the Mürz Valley, Johann Lafer, culinary ambassador of Styria from Eastern Styria, the skiing and cross-country skiing as well as ski jumping legends Hans Knauß, Luis Stadlober and Hubert Neuper have experienced their professional peaks in Schladming, Ramsau am Dachstein as well as in Bad Mitterndorf. Actor Klaus Maria Brandauer, who even filmed as James Bond once, as well as the writers Barbara Frischmuth and Alfred Komarek have internalised Ausseerland as a source of inspiration. From the south, the composer Olga Neuwirth and tennis player Thomas Muster are internationally renowned.

Art and culture are emphasised in the state capital and city of design Graz: put on a timeless and classy outfit at the business of fashion designer Lena Hoschek.

For the perfect ear candy, visit the annual styriarte in June/July. In 1985, the conductor and musician Nikolaus Harnoncourt founded styriarte, the most famous classical music festival in Styria, to which he was connected at the hip up until his death in March 2016, like he was to his adopted home country of Styria.

The folk rock'n roller Andreas Gabalier is known for rock sounds and he fills entire halls throughout Europe.

Many famous and excellent planners work(ed) and design(ed) in the field of architecture: from Günther Domenig or Klaus Kada, to Karla & Michael Szyszkowitz-Kowalski and Florian Riegler and Roger Riewe to Markus Pernthaler.

As a native of the Mürz valley, Peter Rosegger nearly received the Nobel Prize in Literature and strongly identified with this region around the Alpl during his lifetime. Although a native of Mürzzuschlag, Elfriede Jelinek is no longer associated with the region, but also actually received the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Also quite famous is the oldest cultural horse breed in the world, the Lipizzaner, which grow up as "Styrians" on the stud farm in Piber before they show "advanced dressage" to perfection at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. The Lipizzaner stud farm in Piber aims to breed the oldest cultural horse breed in Europe, dating back to the year 1580 in the Imperial period. The mother mares are the heart of Piber Lipizzaner breeding: they ensure offspring and they are given very special attention. Today, around 40 foals are born in Western Styria annually - and not with their famous white coat, but rather with a black, grey or brown coat. It is only in the next four to ten years that they get the typical white for which the Lipizzaner horses are well known, popular and famous.

The Styrians are also famous/ notorious for their language
From the deepest east Styrian, which some - not only those away from the Styrian border - would call "barking", to the foreign word sounds around the Dachstein to the almost aristocratic sounding 'Grazerisch' [Graz dialect], the range of dialects is as colourful and varied as the Styrian landscape itself. And how would a Styrian say full of conviction: [is sou] or [Souwiesou].