Mur (river) - River Course

River Course

The river rises in a remote valley within the Lungau region of Salzburg and flows eastwards crossing the border with Styria. Southeast of Graz, it forms the border with Lower Styria in Slovenia. Once heavily polluted by several paper mills on the shore and by the ironworks around Leoben, the water quality has improved since the 1980s and today in Austria several hydroelectric dams have been constructed for the production of renewable energy.

In Slovenia it passes the towns of Gornja Radgona, Radenci, and Veržej. The river gives its name to the Slovenian region of Prekmurje (literally 'across the Mur') and the Croatian region of Međimurje (literally 'between the Mur'). Cable ferries and ship mills are still found in this area.

In the upper Međimurje area, in the western part of the region, the Mur floods and changes its course rather often, moving slowly toward the north on its left. Here, the biggest forest along the river, the Murščak, is located between Domašinec and Donji Hrašćan (derived from Croatian hrast 'oak').

Since the 4th century BC, there have been reports of floating mills powered by the streams of the river. The ancient technology was adopted later by arriving Slavs and then by Magyars. Several decades ago, in the 1920s and 1930s, many of these mills were still operating along the river. At least one of the old mills, the Babič Mill (Slovene: Babičev mlin) near Veržej, Slovenia, continues to operate to this day.

The river ends near Legrad in Koprivnica-Križevci county, Croatia, where it flows into the Drava River.

The hydrological parameters of Mura are regularly monitored in Croatia at Mursko Središće.

The Mur is known to carry small quantities of gold, not enough to be suitable for exploitation today, but this was a focus of activity for many people since ancient times. Organized research and exploitation of gold and other local resources was encouraged for the first time in 1772.