Mur#

Mur, River (Mura), Styria, north-western tributary of the Drau, River (Drava), principal river of Styria, 454 km long (350 km in Austria); good water quality (class 1-2) until Judenburg, quite badly polluted (class 3) south of Graz. Near Mureck (237 m) the average rate of flow is 139 m3/second. - Fed by several springs near Murtoerl pass (2,260 m) in the south of the Radstaedter Tauern mountains (province of Salzburg). The uppermost valley section is called Murwinkel Area. In its upper course the Mur traverses the Salzburg Lungau region (St. Michael im Lungau, 1,075 m; Mauterndorf, 1,123 m). Near Predlitz (971 m) it enters the Styrian Mur Valley. Unzmarkt (745 m) and Tamsweg (1,022 m) are connected by the Murtalbahn narrow-gauge railway. In Styria the mountain region on both sides of the upper section of the Mur, especially between the Mur and the "Norische Senke" depression (Krakau-Oberwoelz, north of it are the Niedere Tauern mountains) is referred to as Murtaler Mountains. East of Judenburg (737 m) the Mur flows through a wide plain (Aichfeld, Murwald and Murboden), passing the municipalities of Zeltweg (659 m) and Knittelfeld (643 m). From Knittelfeld onwards the Mur separates the Seckau Alps and Eisenerz Alps in the north from the Stubalpe Mountain and Gleinalpe Mountain in the south. The Mur section of the Mur-Muerz-Furche basin ( Muerz, River) reaches from Unzmarkt to Bruck an der Mur (491 m). In the "old industrial region" between Zeltweg and Bruck an der Mur the main industries are steel production (Leoben-Donawitz, Bruck an der Mur), mechanical engineering, metal, steel and light metal processing (Zeltweg) as well as paper and cardboard production (Zeltweg, Bruck an der Mur). South of Bruck an der Mur, where the Mur turns south, it flows through a defile between the Hochalpe Mountain in the west and Fischbach Alps in the east. South of the river, the municipalities of Frohnleiten (438 m), Deutschfeistritz (404 m) and Gratkorn (380 m) are located. The Mur then extends into the Grazer Becken basin and Grazer Feld plain, and after flowing through the defile at Wildon (296 m), into the Leibnitzer Feld plain. Regulation of the wide lower reaches south of Graz started in 1875. At Spielfeld (305 m) the river turns east, forming the border between Austria and Slovenia and leaving Austria southeast of Bad Radkersburg (208 m). The "Mur Agreement" between Austria and Yugoslavia in 1954 settled hydrological questions arising along the Mur border. In Graz and south of it the Mur is lined by mill races and mill channels in the west and east. In Styria several power stations are situated along the Mur and its side arms, namely Bodendorf, St. Georgen ob Murau, Dionysen, Pernegg, Weinzoedl, Peggau/Deutschfeistritz, Rabenstein, Laufnitzdorf, Mellach, Lebring, Gralla, Gabersdorf, Obervogau and Spielfeld.

Literature#