Fürstenfeld's head of town
“I am convinced there will be more mergers”
The eastern Styrian municipality of Söchau will become a district of the town of Fürstenfeld at the turn of the year. The merger was completed in record time. Will there soon be more mergers in Styria? The mayor of Fürstenfeld is convinced that they will.
Since the major reform in 2015, there has only been one other municipal merger in Styria: in 2020, Murfeld split into St. Veit in der Südsteiermark and Straß. However, a planned merger between the towns of Voitsberg and Bärnbach failed because the people of Bärnbach voted against it.
On New Year's Eve, however, the map of Styria changed again: Söchau became a district of Fürstenfeld. The topic first came up in early summer due to the budget situation in Söchau, and the merger was completed in record time. "Everything is prepared," says Fürstenfeld's mayor Franz Jost (ÖVP), confident that the citizens will not notice any upheaval. The biggest challenge was merging the different IT systems.
Municipal councils dissolve
All Söchau municipal employees will be taken on, and the citizens' service will remain in the new district, which will always be staffed by two people. The municipal councillors dissolve and Jost takes over as government commissioner until the new elections in March. His assessors are the Deputy Mayor of Fürstenfeld, Roland Gogg, and the previous head of Söchau, Josef Kapper, who was and is no friend of the merger but ultimately bowed to it.
The "community marriage" is celebrated on New Year's Day with a rally. In the afternoon, residents from all parts of the village come together to toast the New Year. A citizens' information event is planned for the end of January or beginning of February in Söchau.
District capital Hartberg comes under pressure
The fact that Fürstenfeld will have more than 10,000 inhabitants in future means that the town will have well over one million euros a year at its disposal from federal funds. And the lead in terms of population over the actual district capital Hartberg will increase, which will put additional pressure on Hartberg.
Other mayors have already asked Jost about what is happening, he says. "But for many, the time is not yet ripe." Jost is nevertheless convinced that further municipal mergers will follow in the coming years.
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