!!!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 m%%sup 3/%/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
R. Supan, Unsere Mur, 1984; E. Wurzer, 35 Jahre 
Mur-Abkommen - 1956-1991, without date.


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