Hubertushöhe

The Hubertushöhe is a small hill rising just west of Graz in the Steiermark. It forms part of the Plabutsch range, a longer ridge whose highest point is the Fürstenstand. The hill sits between the districts of Gösting to the north and Eggenberg to the south, with the suburb of Algersdorf at its foot. The slopes on the south and east are built up, while the north-east slope was cut away long ago for stone quarries. Traces of old vineyards still mark the eastern side of the hill. The hill’s name comes from the former vineyards, and a few small vineyards remain today. The stone quarries near the former Blaue Flasche inn once supplied Plabutsch dolomite sandstone for building work and are still visited by mineral collectors. At the turn of the 20th century a row of villas was built along the Weingartenweg, including the Villa Stefferl, also known as Grabenschlössl. A road climbs from Algersdorf past the Hubertushöhe inn to the summit area, though thick scrub now limits the view from the Kernstockwarte. The Kernstockwarte is a low circular stone tower with a hollow interior reached by an external spiral staircase. It was named after the poet Ottokar Kernstock, who wrote the Hakenkreuzlied, and is now set to be renamed the Hubertushöhe Warte. The tower was designed by city master-builder Franz Spath and paid for by public donations collected by Josef Valentinitsch of the Eggenberg Beautification Society. During the Second World War the hollow core served as a listening post, and today the structure is protected as a monument. A long-distance path, the Kernstockweg, crosses the Plabutsch ridge and links Gösting with Straßgang, though it does not pass directly by the warte.