Erlauf#

River Erlauf, Erlaf (Illyrian "Erlape", Celtic "Arlape"), Lower Austria, southern tributary of the River Danube, 67 km long, 13.9 m3/sec flow volume (at Niederndorf). E. has its source on Zellerhut mountain at the border between Lower Austria and Styria ("Grosse Erlauf") continues as the run-off of Lake Erlaufsee and breaks through the rock faces of Hintere Tormaeuer and Vordere Tormaeuer at the foot of the Oetscher mountain. The Tormaeuer gorges are similar to those of the Gesaeuse; the river flows through the eastern part of the Eisenwurzen region, where the valley is wider, passes Scheibbs (main town in the E. valley) and enters the Lower Austrian Alpine Foreland. Near Wieselburg it is joined by the "Kleine Erlauf" river and flows into the Danube near Poechlarn. Erlauf river drains a region of approximately 620 km2. The charterhouse of Gaming, the nature park of the Oetscher/Tormaeuer mountains, the towns of Scheibbs and Purgstall are some of the sights worth visiting in this area.

Literature#