100-year anniversary

Pilgrimage column for fuel nostalgics on Jakominiplatz

Flank protection for the "commemorative petrol pump": ethnologist Helmut Eberhart, Barbara Eibinger-Miedl (ÖVP), Member of the Provincial Council for Economic Affairs, entrepreneur Jürgen Roth as well as Chairman Harald Pfleger and Managing Director Oliver Käfer from the WKO petrol station specialist group (from left).(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

Exactly 100 years ago, on September 16, 1924, Austria's first petrol station opened - in the middle of Jakominiplatz in Graz, in front of today's Sorger bakery. It remained open until 1964 and over the next few weeks, a nostalgic petrol pump will commemorate the pioneering days.

Following a major exhibition at the Folklore Museum, the book "Mythos Tankstelle" (The Petrol Station Myth) by Graz ethnologist Helmut Eberhart has now been published. It not only documents the fact that Graz was "at the forefront at the time, as in many other matters", as Jürgen Roth, Federal Chairman of the Energy Trade, emphasized at the presentation on Monday.

"Pit stop" on the way to Trieste
From a former "pit stop between Vienna and Trieste", Graz and Styria have become a "logistics hub in the heart of Europe" since joining the EU, says Barbara Eibinger-Miedl (ÖVP), State Councillor for Economic Affairs. The petrol stations, in turn, have been transformed from mere "petrol dispensing stations" into local suppliers and social meeting points.

Petrol station on the corner of Dietrichsteinplatz and Schörgelgasse in Graz, 1930(Bild: Styria Verlag)

Ethnologist Eberhart, who was responsible for the "Mythos Tankstelle" exhibition at the Folklore Museum with his students five years ago, has now collected historical images and events in a book of the same name and offers a cross-section of the eventful history of filling stations. He spans the arc "from fuel supplier to service provider" and sheds light on its development into a social institution.

Surviving 40 years as a temporary solution
Soon after the country's very first petrol station opened on Jakominiplatz (others soon followed on Lendplatz and Griesplatz), the first critical voices were heard. The nearby Konditorei Straff - located in today's Sorger premises - feared for its business due to fumes and explosive substances and mobilized an early "citizens' movement", as Eberhart explains. At least this prevented a planned expansion of capacity. The petrol station, run by former racing driver Heinrich Haas and cinema owner Karl Löffler, was originally only licensed for ten years but managed to survive until it was demolished in 1964.

Temporary floor marking in the bus stop area of the number 32 bus at Jakominiplatz(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

The "memorial petrol pump", which can now be viewed for around three weeks along with an information board and floor markings, no longer dates back to the pioneering days, but is also a good 50 years old and is likely to trigger nostalgic feelings in some people. The accompanying book "Mythos Tankstelle" is now available in stores.