Rachau

Rachau
Former municipality
View of Rachau
Coat of arms
Rachau Location within Austria
Coordinates: 47°13′02″N14°54′54″E / 47.21722°N 14.91500°E / 47.21722; 14.91500
Country	Austria
State	Styria
District	Murtal
Area
• Total	104.93 km2 (40.51 sq mi)
Population  (1 January 2016) [1]
• Total	613
• Density	5.8/km2 (15/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	8720
Area code	03512
Vehicle registration	KF
Website	Gemeinde Rachau

Rachau is a former municipality in the district of Murtal in Styria, Austria with 626 inhabitants. Since the 2015 Styria municipal structural reform, it is part of the municipality Sankt Margarethen bei Knittelfeld. ^[2] It is divided into three districts: Mitterbach, Glein Rachau and the village of Rachau itself. Neighbouring settlements include Apfelberg, St. Margarethen, St. Lorenzen, Kleinlobming, St. Stefan ob Leoben, Salla, Übelbach, Kainach bei Voitsberg und Gallmannsegg.

The Mayor of Rachau was Karl Hirtler of the ÖVP; Bernadette Hartleb (ÖVP) was vice mayor. There is a primary school and two volunteer firefighters in the village.

Rachau hillclimb

From 1995 to 2004 Rachau hosted a hillclimbing event. Riders of motorbikes and also quadbikes and even the occasional car or converted jetski/snowmobile would attempt to ride as far up the hillside as possible without falling off. ^[3] Whoever attained the greatest distance won the event. This was televised across Europe on Eurosport and attracted a trackside audience of 10,000 to 30,000 people. It also had sponsorship from the drink Red Bull.

References

1. Statistik Austria - Bevölkerung zu Jahresbeginn 2002-2016 nach Gemeinden (Gebietsstand 1.1.2016) for Rachau.
2. Die neue Gemeindestruktur der Steiermark
3. "A man as fast as a train, dogs at the baseball … and dancing Dunphy". The Guardian.

External links

• Pictures of the 2003 and 2004 Rachau Hillclimb (in German)