Buchkogel

The Buchkogel, at 656 meters above sea level, is a hill in the Austrian state of Styria. It is located in the southern part of the Grazer Bergland in the west of the state capital Graz. The mixed forests within the Plabutsch ridge serve as a popular recreation area. Parts of the karstified hill were settled back in the Chalcolithic period and served for limonite mining during the Middle Ages and World War II. On the top there is the historical Kronprinz Rufolf observation tower built in 1879. The name Buchkogel is either derived from a lost castle or the extensive beech population.