Schweinberg

The Schweinberg is a 535-metre hill on the eastern edge of Graz in Styria. It stands where the city meets the municipality of Kainbach bei Graz. The hill belongs to the Ries district and rises about 400 metres south of the ridge called Auf der Ries, which the Gleisdorfer Straße crosses. To the south the land falls steeply into the densely built-up Ragnitztal. On the west and east sides small valleys run down to the Ragnitztal, the western one separating the Schweinberg from the Fuchsriegel. At the southern foot in Haidegg sits the Land and Forestry Department of the Styrian government. The hill is made of Miocene sands and clays that fill much of the Styrian basin. Its largely wooded western slope forms part of the Schweinbergbach catchment and shows signs of old landslides. The Schweinberg lies within the Graz Northern and Eastern Hillside Landscape Protection Area. A single marked trail crosses the hill from one side to the other. Walkers find beech and oak woods on the slopes and open meadows near the summit. Views stretch north across Graz to the Schöckl massif and south over the Ragnitztal suburbs. The path passes old boundary stones and small springs that feed the Schweinbergbach. On clear days the Koralpe range appears in the far west. The hill’s quiet paths offer a quick escape from the city without leaving its limits.