Murau

Murau sits in the upper Mur valley under a castle built by the Liechtenstein family in the thirteenth century and rebuilt as a Renaissance residence by the Schwarzenbergs, who still own it. The town below has a Gothic parish church with wall paintings, arcaded houses and remains of walls. Two things keep it on itineraries. The brewery has been working here since the sixteenth century, drawing on local spring water, and runs a visitor centre and tours. And the Murtalbahn, a metre-gauge railway opened in 1894 running about seventy-six kilometres from Unzmarkt to Tamsweg, still operates with regular diesel services and steam-hauled trains on set dates in summer, which is one of the better preserved narrow-gauge operations in Austria. Cycling and rafting on the Mur run in the valley.

History

The area was settled from the Bronze Age through Roman times, and Murowe, centre of the Liechtenstein family's estates in the Mur valley, is first named in a deed of 1250; the minnesinger Ulrich von Liechtenstein built a castle here, pulled down when King Ottokar II of Bohemia took Styria after 1260. The family regained its lands after Ottokar's defeat on the Marchfeld in 1278, Ulrich's son Otto built the Gothic church of St. Matthew from 1284, consecrated in 1296, and the town received its privileges in 1298 and was walled and enlarged; Hungarian forces of Matthias Corvinus held it from 1480 to 1490, and from 1623 the Schwarzenbergs owned Murau and rebuilt the castle in Renaissance style (Wikipedia, Murau).

What you'll find

• A Schwarzenberg castle - thirteenth-century core rebuilt as a Renaissance residence.
• A sixteenth-century brewery - still working, with tours and a visitor centre.
• The Murtalbahn - metre-gauge railway of 1894 with summer steam workings.
• A Gothic parish church - with surviving medieval wall painting.

When to go

May to October; check steam train dates. A day.

What to expect

Steam runs only on published dates - ordinary services are diesel. The castle has limited opening and guided access. The upper Mur valley is remote; connections are slow.

Nearby

Oberwölz is north; Tamsweg and the Lungau are west along the line.

Key facts