Laško

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Občina Laško
Area:	197,5 km²
Population	13.730
- males	6.695
- females	7.035
Mayor:	Franc Zdolšek
Average age:	38,11 years
Residential areas:	28,40 m²/person
- households:	4.825
- families:	3.884
Working active:	6.245
- unemployed:	996
Average monthly salary (august 2003):
- gross:	239.006 SIT
- net:	152.814 SIT
College/university students:	405
Source: Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, census of 2002.

Laško (German: Tüffer) is a spa town and municipality on the Savinja River in Lower Styria, Slovenia. This once ancient settlement today is known as the town of beer and flowers and is famous for its annual Festival of Beer & Flowers (Pivo-Cvetje) and the local Laško Brewery, the largest brewery in the country.

The town is located below the hill of Hum and features a local castle, Tabor. The community Zidani Most is mostly within Laško.

The town's coat of arms depicts three white fleurs-de-lis on a blue field.

Town history

The town of Laško, graced by Roman legionnaires and missionaries of the Middle Ages, and once a cosmopolitan health Mecca of the Austrian-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria near the end of the 19th century, was sought after for its warm spring waters from the hills of the Lurd region. Crystal clear with no impurities, the water has often been revered for its health-giving properties. Utilizing the region's divine water is the town's spa and Laško Brewery.^{[1][unreliable source?]}

Spa history

The people in Laško knew about the warm springs for a long time, as snow melted there very quickly, and, in simple hollows fenced in by wicker, they occasionally bathed in the warm water. During construction work for the present health spa workers came across remains of solid walls that could come from the prosperous times of the ancient town of Celeia (now Celje).

In 1818 a report by a Dr. Riedl appeared in a Graz newspaper about the Laško springs. Riedl, who had measured the water temperature and discovered it was 35 °C, announced the setting up of a health spa. Some years later during the construction of a road the local engineer Bilof traced the springs, but did not have the finances to exploit them.

An engineer named Rödel began to work systematically on the springs during the construction of the railway line. Work progressed from September 1852, when he purchased the land, until May 1854, when he ceremoniously opened the spa. The three springs were each given a name: the Emperor's Spring, Franz's Spring, and Joseph's Spring. The spa was given the name Kaiser Franz Josef Bad, after Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria. Along with a building with a pool, Rödel also reorganised the nearby mill and built a luxurious villa.

In 1857 the spa was purchased by the Viennese professor and cosmopolitan Dr. Stein, who also invited the cream of Viennese society to the health spa. For this purpose he built onto the spa's building, built an extension with a dance hall and planted a park. He also took care of his guest social life. Stein was eventually forced to sell the spa, however.

The spa's reputation returned under the later owner Gunkel, who radically renovated it and in 1882 built his own hydroelectric power plant, the first on Slovene soil, which lit up most of the buildings and the whole park. In cooperation with the brewery they began to brew thermal beer. During World War I the spa played the role of a military hospital.

The property was ravaged after the war, but was partly renovated in 1923. Later the spa passed into the hands of the Pensions Institute (Pokojninskega zavoda) and the Central Office for Workers' Insurance (Osrednjega urada za zavarovanje delavcev).

In October 1953 the spa was registered as a medical rehabilitation centre. Further development mainly followed the needs of the health care service and to a large degree it was the fruit of cooperation with the orthopedic (later neurological, traumatology, and neurosurgical) clinics in Ljubljana, regional hospitals, and health centres across Slovenia.

The Laško Thermal Spa Resort is becoming one of the most important health spas and tourist centres in Slovenia.

Other Uses

Lasko Products is also a company that makes home comfort appliances (fans, heaters, etc.) which are sold worldwide.

References

1. ^ Jeannie Bastian. The Town of Beer & Flowers. Accessed November 15, 2006.

External links

• Municipal website (Slovene)
• Festival of Beer and Flowers
• Festival background

Coordinates: 46°09′N 15°14′E / 46.15°N 15.233°E / 46.15; 15.233