Editing Murau City (dj: Wonkane Region)

'''Murau''' or (dj: Wonka) is a [[town]] in the western part of the [[Austria]]n federal state of [[Styria]]. It is the administrative seat of [[Murau District]].

==Geography==
The historic town is located in mountainous [[Upper Styria]] in the valley of the [[Mur (river)|Mur]] river between the [[Lower Tauern]] range and the [[Gurktal Alps]]. The municipal area comprises the [[cadastral community|cadastral communities]] of Laßnitz-Lambrecht, Murau proper and Sankt Egidi, as well as the former independent municipalities of [[Laßnitz bei Murau]], [[Stolzalpe]] and [[Triebendorf]] which were incorporated in the course of a 2015 administrative reform. Murau currently has a population of 3,688.

The town's economy largely depends on tourism, especially in the nearby [[Kreischberg]] ski resort. It is also known for its [[brewing]] tradition (''[[Murau Brewery|Murauer Bier]]'') documented since the 15th century. Murau station is a stop on the narrow-gauge [[Mur Valley Railway]] (''Murtalbahn''), running along the Mur river from [[Unzmarkt-Frauenburg|Unzmarkt]] up to [[Mauterndorf]] in [[Salzburg (state)|Salzburg]].

==History==
The area was already settled in the Bronze Age through the Roman Era. Based on an entry in the ''[[Tabula Peutingeriana]]'' the ancient city of [[Noreia]], capital of the Celtic kingdom [[Noricum]], was thought to be near Murau in the late 18th and the 19th century. However, no archaeological evidence has been found so far.
[[File:Murau Styria.jpg|thumb|left|Murau Castle and St Matthew's parish church]]
''Murowe'' itself, centre of the [[Duchy of Styria|Styrian]] estates in the Mur valley held by the noble Liechtenstein family, was first mentioned in a 1250 deed. The famous minnesinger [[Ulrich von Liechtenstein]] (d. 1275) from nearby [[Unzmarkt-Frauenburg|Frauenburg]] had a castle erected at Murau which was again demolished when the [[Kingdom of Bohemia|Bohemian]] king [[Ottokar II of Bohemia|Ottokar II]] occupied the Styrian lands upon his victory at [[Battle of Kressenbrunn|Kressenbrunn]] in 1260. Ulrich had to cede his estates to the king and was temporarily arrested in [[Margraviate of Moravia|Moravia]].

The Liechtenstein estates were restored, when Ottokar was defeated in the 1278 [[Battle on the Marchfeld]]. Ulrich's son Otto had the [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] parish church of St Matthew's with its characteristic [[Crossing (architecture)|crossing tower]] built from 1284, it was consecrated by the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lavant|Lavant]] bishop in 1296. The Murau citizens were vested with [[German town law|town privileges]] in 1298, whereafter the town was fortified and significantly enlarged.

From 1480 to 1490, the town was occupied by the [[Kingdom of Hungary (1301–1526)|Hungarian]] forces of King [[Matthias Corvinus]]. The Liechtensteins held Murau until the late 16th century. From 1623 onwards, it was a possession of the [[House of Schwarzenberg]] who had Murau Castle rebuilt in its present [[Renaissance architecture|Renaissance]] style. The present owner is [[Karel Schwarzenberg]].

During [[World War II]] a camp of the [[Wehrmacht]] armed forces was located here, in which captured [[United Kingdom|British]] prisoners of war were held enthralled. At the end of the war in May 1945, local groups of [[German resistance to Nazism|resistance]] fighters freed eight remaining POWs and successfully led the approaching [[Red Army]] forces to believe that the town was already occupied by the British.

==Population==
{{Historical populations
|align=left
|1869|1293
|1880|1409
|1890|1377
|1900|1679
|1910|1807
|1923|1990
|1934|2117
|1939|2279
|1951|2838
|1961|2794
|1971|2711
|1981|2622
|1991|2443
|2001|2331
|2011|2096
}}
{{clear left}}

== Events ==
[[file:Shakespeare in Styria 0005 Peralta.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|''[[Julius Caesar (play)|Julius Caesar]]'' by William Shakespeare performed in Murau, 2014]]
The ''Murtalbahn'' steam train is a historic part of the town, as well as one of its tourist attractions. Murau is also known for its annual [[Cultural references to Samson|Samson]] parades on August 15.

Since 2002, the annual festival [[Shakespeare in Styria]] presents productions of Shakespeare plays in the town's Festival Hall, in the Courtyard of the Murau Castle as well as at the Domenig Pavillon in the park of the town. The festival was founded in 2002 by British born theatre manager [[Nicholas Allen (theatre director)|Nicholas Allen]] and Austrian writer [[Rudolph J. Wojta]]. Each year it presents another play performed by young actors and actresses from all over Europe directed by experienced British directors. In the early years of the festivals performances were in English. Since 2013 productions are performed in German and directed by Nicholas Allen and US-American sword-master [[Roberta Brown (swordmaster)|Roberta Brown]]. Since the summer of 2016, the festival has been based at [[St. Lambrecht's Abbey|St. Lambrecht Abbey]], some 14 kilometres from Murau and no performance have taken place in Murau.

==Politics==
[[File:Rathaus entzerrt.jpg|thumb|Town hall]]
Seats in the town's assembly (''Stadtrat'') as of 2015 local elections:
*[[Austrian People's Party]] (ÖVP): 15
*[[Social Democratic Party of Austria]] (SPÖ): 3
*''Forum für Murau'' ([[Independent politician|Independent]]): 1
*[[The Greens – The Green Alternative]]: 1

===Twin towns — sister cities===
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Austria}}
Murau is [[Twin towns and sister cities|twinned]] with:
*{{flagicon| Italy}} [[Fagagna]], Italy

==Notable people==
* [[Willi Egger]] (1932–2008), [[Nordic combined]] skier and [[Ski jumping|ski jumper]]
* [[Brunner & Brunner]], brothers Charly Brunner (born 1955) and Jogl Brunner (born 1958) made up an Austrian pop duo
* [[Klaus Ofner]] (born 1968), [[Nordic combined]] skier, team bronze medalist at the [[1992 Winter Olympics]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://murau.steiermark.at murau.steiermark.at (German)]

{{Murau}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Cities and towns in Murau District]]