The viewing platform on the Massenburg , whose first construction dates back to the 9th century, offers a magnificent view over Leoben. The second largest city in Styria has long since made a name for itself as a city of culture and commerce, as a center of mining and metallurgy , as a beer city and as a student city. As a business and research location, Leoben is home to several leading international companies and one of Austria's most renowned universities.
The first mention of Leoben as "Liupina" dates back to the year 904, but the first grave finds testify to a settlement in the Hallstatt period. In the middle of the 13th century, the original market settlement was moved to the Mur loop, where Leoben's old town still lies today. Leoben's location on the Iron Road as well as the iron trading privilege granted in 1314 established the rise of the city and its importance for the next centuries. In 1298, the ostrich, a bird that could eat and digest iron, became Leoben's heraldic animal.
Ring walls, city gates, four corner fortifications and several wall towers formed the fortification of the city in the Middle Ages. Today the Mauttorturm is the only preserved town gate of Leoben. In 1794, the medieval structure was given a mushroom-shaped cap, which gave it the popular name "Schwammerlturm" (mushroom tower).
In the 1830s, the Donawitz metallurgical plant was founded, which today, as an operating site of the voestalpine group, is known in steel production primarily for the production of the longest railroad rails in the world.
In 1849, the k.u.k. Montanlehranstalt, founded by Archduke Johann and opened in Vordernberg, moved to Leoben with its first director, Professor Peter Tunner. From 1904 already known as Montanistische Hochschule, today it is appreciated worldwide as Montanuniversität.
In the tradition of the student fraternities at the Montanuniversität is the " Ledersprung ", which takes place every year around the 4th of December, the name day of St. Barbara. This custom can be classified in the series of admission rites common in medieval guilds. The jump over the "ass or mountain leather", in former times a necessary part of the work clothes of miners for health reasons and today a component of the miner's costume, stands thereby as expression of the personal courage.
In the monastery of Göss , which was founded in 1020 and where General Napoleon Bonaparte signed the preliminary peace of Leoben in 1797, beer was already brewed in the Middle Ages. The first documented reference to the Göss brewery is found in 1459 about a brewer settled in the Nonnenstift. In 1860, a new brewery was built on this site and its reputation grew steadily. Today, Gösser beer is Austria's best beer, at least in terms of advertising!