Österreichischer Skulpturenpark

The Österreichischer Skulpturenpark is a 7-hectare outdoor sculpture park in Premstätten, 7 kilometres south of Graz in Styria. It sits on land once used as a garden show site, designed by Swiss landscape architect Dieter Kienast for the 2000 International Garden Show. His ‘Berggarten’ project turned the area into a walkable earth sculpture with grass pyramids, a forest pond, spruce groves and varied plantings. The park grew from an earlier art initiative by former ORF director Emil Breisach, who placed sculptures around the Styrian regional studio in the 1980s. In 2003 a private foundation, supported by the Styria region and local businesses, expanded the collection with new commissions, purchases and loans. Today it holds over 70 works by artists such as Fritz Wotruba, Franz West, Erwin Wurm, Heimo Zobernig, Michael Kienzer, Nancy Rubins and Mario Terzic. The park also features pieces by Yoko Ono and Hartmut Skerbisch, added after 2008. Visitors walk through Kienast’s landscaped garden, where sculptures interact with grass pyramids, a forest pond and mixed planting. The artworks stand among the groves and clearings, while beneath part of the site lies a former landfill now marked for clean-up. Special tours and events take place on the grounds, which remain open beyond the usual museum context.