Murau

Murau city centre

Murau is the district capital of the district of Murau in Upper Styria in the federal state of Styria.

Understand

The political district of Murau is in the west of Styria. It is very sparsely populated. The district capital of Murau is the second smallest in Styria, and the town of Oberwölz in the district is the smallest Styrian town. The gentle and relatively low tourism benefits from the unspoiled nature. The district has the highest proportion of forest in Austria because there is little high alpine wasteland and hardly any agricultural land.

Get in

By plane

• Airport Klagenfurt (IATA: KLU), Flughafenstraße 60-64, 9020 Klagenfurt (85 km away), ☏ +43 463 41 50 00, +43 463 41 50 02 36, office@airport-klagenfurt.at. (updated Sep 2023)
• Airport Graz (IATA: GRZ) (130 km away), ☏ +43 316 290 20, +43 316 29 02 81, info@flughafen-graz.at. (updated Sep 2023)

By train

Murtalbahn at Murau station

Murau is the central point and 1 Main station of the Murtalbahn, a narrow-gauge railway line connecting Unzmark and the international railway services with Tamsweg in the Lungau region of Salzburg. Trains run weekdays every two hours. In summer also historic steam trains operate on weekends with historic carriages.

By car

Murau best accessible by car. The B96 Murtalstraße and the B97 Murauer Straße meet at Murau and connect the S36 Murtal Schnellstraße and the A10 Tauernautobahn. The road network is well maintained and can get you everywhere you want. In summer (May–October) the "Sölkpass" mountain road provides a direct connection between the Ennstal and the Murtal.

In winter, snow and ice on the roadways are very common and winter tires are mandatory (during these conditions). Traveling on the valley road is usually unproblematic, as the road is well maintained and service also during snowfall. Mountain roads like he road up to the hospital "Stolzalpe" or the road up to "Frauenalpe" in contrast may be snow covered and snow chains may be required. Especially the road to Frauenalpe is usually not well plowed and often required snow chains also weeks after snowfall.

By bike

Murau is a major town along the R2 Murradweg connecting St.Michael in Lungau and Bad Radkersburg on the Slovenian border. The cycle path is asphalted and suited or beginners as well as advanced cyclists. There are also good cycle paths in the surrounding valleys and multiple mountain bike trails around Murau. Especially the path to St.Georgen/St.Lorenzen at the foot of the Kreischberg is of good quality and an alternative to the car.

Get around

Within the city, you can basically walk or bike all ways. Further afield without a car traveling is difficult. A bus service is also operating in and around the town in limited extend.

See

• The early Gothic city parish 1 church St. Matthäus was consecrated in 1296 by Bishop von Lavant. Inside you can find Austria-wide unique partly well preserved frescoes, there is also a rare crossing tower with six bells.
• The 2 Obermurau Castle with knights' hall and extensive dungeon. The knights' hall is used for concert performances. Today it is owned by the House of Schwarzenberg
• 3 church Annakirche. The Annakirche at the cemetery was built around 1400 and has a ribbed vault, Gothic winged altar and Baroque high altar with three-figure group Anna-Maria-Jesus, as well as abundant frescoes and stained glass.
• 4 chruch Leonhardikirche, Grünfels 1a . The Leonhardikirche is part of the Grünfels castle complex and was first mentioned in 1439. It is built in late Gothic style and has artistic keystones. The castle hill Grünfels is an artistic Calvary with all stations of the cross.
• 5 Grünfels Castle was probably built at the same time as Murau under Ulrich I of Lichtenstein. Today, the keep, the residential building, remains of the fortification and the moat have been preserved. From the castle, the path continues past the Leonhardi pond and the Leonhardi church, down to the train station.
• 6 Holy grave chapel. West of the Leonhardikirche is the Heilligengrabkapelle with the crucifixion group.
• The 7 Brewery Murau celebrated its 500th anniversary in 1995. The brewery museum, Raffaltplatz 19–23, 8850 Murau, leads on the traces of this brewing tradition, May Jun Oct: Friday 15:00-17:00, Jul-Sep: Wednesday and Friday 15:00-17:00, Tel. +43 3532/3266-58,
• 8 City Museum. Tel.: +43 3532 2720–0. The City Museum is located in the former Capuchin monastery next to the Parents' Home at Grazerstraße 19. Guided tours from mid-June to mid-September every Thursday and Saturday at 16:00. Price: adult €4, child €2.
• 9 Friesacher Gate Crossing the bridge over the Mur and the Rindermarkt, you reach Friesacher- Straße. Here you will find the Friesacher Gate, one of the former seven city gates of Murau.
• 10 City Park With the music pavilion
• 11 Schillerplatz. Schillerplatz is the main square, it was laid out around 1270 by Ulrich I of Liechtenstein. House No. 5 used to be a post office. The 12 Plague Collum on Schillerplatz with the six plague saints commemorates the plague year 1715.
• 13 Schanzenkessel South east of the city centre the Nordic ski jumping centre of Murau is located. The concrete tower of the “Gumpold Schanze” (Hill Size 92 m) thrones on the western side of the centre and is visible from all over the town. In the south the remains of the “Hans-Walland-Großschanze” (Hill Size 125 m) can be seen in the woods. This natural ski-jump hill used to be the only jump in Murau that ever received a FIS certification and hosted a Ski Jump World Cup in 1994. Today nature has taken back most of the Jump, but the Judging Tower remains still visible. The three small Jumps between the both large jumps are still operational and are used by youth athletes.

Do

• Summer
  • Guided tours of Murau, in the footsteps of the minnesinger Ulrich von Liechtenstein, Anna Neumann and the Schwarzenberg dynasty, every Monday from mid-June to mid-September at 09:30, €2, meeting point in front of the travel agency in Murau at the train station, duration about 2 hours.
  • 1 Public Outdoor pool Murau in the Schanzenkessel. Tel.: +43 3532 44777. with natural pond with diving board, bathing island and water slide, also restaurant, volleyball court and table tennis.
  • 2 Indoor swimming pool, Bundesstraße 13, 8850 Murau. Tel: +43 3532 2310–85. With 25 m tournament pool, water slide and children's area. Open: Tu-F 14:30 - 20:00, Sa Su 13:00 - 20:00, M closed
  • Between the skiing area and Murau lies the 3 Golf course Murau-Kreischberg. Tel.: +43 (0) 3537 22221. 18 hole / par 72 course. Golf taster lesson every Tuesday at 11:00 for €5.
• Winter
  • Skiing, in the surroundings of Murau you can find several skiing areas
    • 4 Kreischberg, the new house skiing area of Murau is about 15 minutes by car from the center of Murau in St.Lorenzen. With the Murtalbahn the stop "Talstation Kreischberg" is also quickly accessible. Two 10-person gondola lifts and 3 chairlifts offer a lot of variety.
    • 5 Lachtal, about 30 min away by car
    • 6 Turracher Höhe, about 45 min away by car
    • 7 Katschberg, about 45 min away by car to St.Margarethen
    • 8 Obertauern, about 1 hr away by car
    • 9 Fanningberg, about 45 min away by car
    • 10 Großeck-Speiereck, about 45min away by car
    • 11 Grebenzen
  • Go ski touring
    • 12 Frauenalpe: Since skiing was discontinued at the former local mountain of Murau, the area is only available to ski tourers. Ascent is possible from the valley or after ascent via the Frauenalpenstraße (approx. 20 min) from the 1 Murauer Hütte. The ascent route is regularly groomed.
  • Cross-country skiing
    • The Schanzenkessel (=“Jump Bowl”) is core of the Murau stadion cross-country track (“Stadionloipe”) that is prepared as soon as sufficient snow cover has fallen. Use is free and every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 5PM till 9PM the track is lighted.
    • Golfplatzloipe. Easy cross-country trail at the area of the golf course Murau-Kreischberg - is located in a sunny location - with a view of the Kreischberg and to the village of St. Georgen. There is also the possibility to take the train of the Murtalbahn to the cross-country trail. Stop Kaindorf.
    • 13 Murtalloipe. Along the Murradweg next to the Mur and the railroad line, the trail leads to Stadl an der Mur, in addition, there are always smaller circuits in the meadows next to the trail. Parking and refreshment facilities in Stadl an der Mur: snack station "Bräuhauser" and inn "Murtalerhof".

Buy

Although being a district capital Murau has due it rural character only a limited selection of shopping opportunities. Nevertheless, Murau provides shops in every segment and you can buy everything you need.

1 Hofer, Bahnhofviertel 31. M-F 07:30-7PM; Sa 07:30-6PM. Food, Clothing, Appliances and general goods Discounter. (updated Sep 2023)

2 Lidl, Römersiedlung 300, 8850 St. Egidi. M-F 07:15-19:30; Sa 07:15-19:15. Food, clothing, appliances and general goods Discounter. (updated Sep 2023)

3 Billa, Karl-Brunner-Siedlung 1. M-F 07:15-19:30; Sa 07:15-18:00. Food (updated Sep 2023)

4 Spar, St. Egidi 76a. M-F 06:50-19:00; Sa 06:50-18:00. Food (updated Sep 2023)

5 Spar, Keltensiedlung 108. M-F 06:50-19:00; Sa 06:50-18:00. Food (updated Sep 2023)

6 Intersport Pintar, Bundesstraße 7a. M-F 08:30-18:00; Sa 08:30-12:30. Sports equiptment (updated Sep 2023)

Eat

2 Brauhaus Murau, Raffaltplatz 17 (right next to the Murau Brewery), ☏ +43 3532 2437. Outdoor seating area inside the building €18 for a main course. (updated Sep 2023)

Connect

The city itself is well covered by 4G network. However, on the mountains there may be places without coverage. In Emergency turn off the phone and back on and select "Notruf" (or Emergency call), as the phone then dials via the strongest available network.

Go next

• Tamsweg
• Spielberg