Kernstockwarte

The Kernstockwarte stands on the Hubertushöhe, a 562-metre-high spur of the Plabutsch massif west of Graz. The Plabutsch ridge rises above the city and the Grazer Becken, with the Hubertushöhe lying between the districts of Gösting to the north and Eggenberg to the south. The slopes are partly built up, and the hill still shows traces of its former vineyards. Stone quarries on the north-east slope once supplied Plabutsch dolomite sandstone for local building work. A string of villas, including the Villa Stefferl, was laid out at the turn of the 20th century along the Weingartenweg. The Kernstockwarte is a low circular viewing platform built of rubble stone in 1928–29. It was financed by public donations raised by the Eggenberger Verschönerungsverein under Josef Valentinitsch. The name commemorates the poet Ottokar Kernstock, author of the Hakenkreuzlied, though plans exist to rename the structure after the hill itself. During the Second World War the hollow interior served as a listening post, reached by a ladder from the platform above. Visitors reach the platform by an external spiral staircase with iron railings. The view from the top is partly screened by dense scrub, yet the hill remains a quiet green space above the city. The Plabutsch ridge carries the 16-kilometre Kernstockweg, a long-distance trail running from Gösting to Straßgang. The stone-built warte itself is protected as a monument.