Shapeshifting finitude
The tale of the Erzberg goes as following: When some men in the southern Austrian region Styria found an Aquarius and caught him, he made them three offers for his freedom: gold for a year, silver for a hundred or iron forever. The wise men didn’t take long and chose Silver forever, after which the Erzberg was born and the Aquarius was set free.
The name “Erzberg” (iron-ore, or also refered to as the "breadloaf" of Styria) already indicates the importance of metal extraction in this case study. Until this day the Erzberg holds the richest Siderite deposit in the world and mining work dates back to the roman times. The geopolitical hot spot created what was once one of the most important industry cities in Austria which represented a successful reconstruction after World War 2. The tradition of metal extraction became deeply embedded into the culture of the region, alongside with myths and legends such as the one about the Aquaries, shaping the geographical identity of the place.
Due to globalisation and the mechanisation of human labour Eisenerz lost significance just shortly after the mineral euphoria post war. In 1982 the underground construction in the tunnels stopped, and the mountain top removal began which lead to faster and more efficient extraction, with modern machines. By the 60’s the population started to shrink and in 2022 it counted only 3,6113 inhabitants with the average age at 55 years old. The Iron extraction still has a major significance to Austrias exports, mechanical engineering and steel productions, but the "breadloaf" can only supply the "Voestalpine"4 industry with a total of 25 percent raw iron ore, of the total amount that is needed.
It is easy to say that the once crucial “single factory town” that is Eisenerz has lost a lot of its economical strength due to the shift of energies from human labour to full mechanisation and the lack of jobs and infrastructure has lead to massive rural depopulation. An attempt to “redesign Eisenerz” is the so-called movement, that aims to bring tourism back into the town with the help of external organisations through cultural events. But even though the initiative is a good start into a new direction, the lack of structure and fundamental change leaves the town with shrinking rather then rising numbers.
A concept that is related to this case study is the one of Imagined geographies. It refers to the perception of a space created through certain imagery, texts, and/or discourses. For Said, imagined does not mean to be false or made-up, but rather is used synonymous with perceived. As a designer I place myself within this imagined world of tradition and folklore connected to the mountain, and it's resources. I ask myself how our relationship to "forever" recourses creates problems not just in a macro but a micor scale, looking at the town of Eisenerz as an example of how folklore impacted reality and created a landscape of geomythology.
