Hiking route Etappe 08: BergZeitReise Rax - Karl Ludwig Haus - Mürzzuschlag - Touren-Impression #1 | © Lurgbauerhütte Hiking route Etappe 08: BergZeitReise Rax - Karl Ludwig Haus - Mürzzuschlag - Touren-Impression #1 | © Lurgbauerhütte

Etappe 08: BergZeitReise Rax - Karl Ludwig Haus - Mürzzuschlag

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Stage 8 - at a glance: Start: Karl Ludwig Haus on the Rax, Tel.: +43 2665 380, www.karlludwighaus.at GPS grid N 47° 41' 18,7" E 15° 42' 15,7"Destination / place to stay: Mürzzuschlag, tourist information, overnight accommodations: Tel.: +43 3852 3399, www.waldheimat-steirischersemmering.at Cab services: Mürz Taxi Schwarz Tel.: +43 3852 6070, Taxi Ellmeier / Naturparktaxi Tel.: +43 3852 30303 GPS grid N 47° 36' 24,4" E 15° 40' 18,7"   Stage length: 19.2 kilometers Total walking time (without breaks): 7 hours Meters of ascent: 615 meters of ascent Meters of descent: 1,735 meters of ascent Difficulties: quite long, but easy stage with many downhill passages
Today we leave the rocky regions of the Rax and turn to gentler mountains. We cross the Mürztal mountains to reach Mürzzuschlag, the cradle of alpine winter sports. A long trail, rich in forests and contrasts, awaits us.

First we descend from Karl Ludwigaus, always with the wide plains of the Wiener becken in front of us, to Preiner Gscheid. This was once the site of today's Semmering Railway, hardly imaginable today! From Preiner Gscheid we turn left, already on the Lower Austrian side of the pass. But immediately we leave the road to the right on a forest path and walk, always slightly uphill, to the ridge between Kampalpe and Scheibe.

Over this (Scheibenhütte is only open on weekends) the well-marked path leads us downhill directly to Mürzzuschlag.

Characteristics

Skill
Fitness

Best season

January
February
March
April
November
December

The tour in numbers

challenging
Level of difficulty
11,0 km
Route
5:00 h
Time
800 hm
Uphill
1205 hm
Downhill
2005 m
Highest point

Map & downloads

More information

This stage runs almost entirely through extensive forests. Occasionally, clearings offer a few beautiful close-up views of the Rax, Schneealm and the Fischbacher Alps.

But first we start at the Karl Ludwigaus and descend, at the beginning along rope protections, on a wide path in numerous hairpin bends (hence the name "snake path") to the so-called Siebenbrunnerwiese.

Crossing this meadow (at its eastern edge the cozy Waxriegelhaus) we continue downhill over an old ski slope to Preiner Gscheid.

Here we cross the state road and start, already on the Lower Austrian side, at a wayside cross the ascent to the Große Scheibe.

Always in a southerly direction and exactly along the border between Lower Austria and Styria, we reach a crossroads at Drahte(Traten)kogel. Here we follow the wide path leading to the right (west) and thus come over the Schmidlruhe to the Beeralpl.

We could go straight down to Mürzzuschlag, but we would miss the beautifully situated Scheibenhütte.

Therefore, we continue to the right to the Große Scheibe and to the hut just below the summit.

Shortly we go back on the already known path and soon we turn left (sign) at the Beeralplstall in the direction of Mürzzuschlag.

A marked hiking trail leads us downhill to the former district town at the foot of the Styrian Semmering.

In the Preiner Gscheid-Tattermannskreuz area, the BergZeitReise runs right along the border between Styria and the neighboring province of Lower Austria. A wayside shrine erected by the Cistercian monastery of Neuberg on the top of the pass and dated 1654 is a reminder of the former border between Austria and Styria.

This region is particularly interesting from a geological point of view, because several large tectonic units meet here in a very small area. The rugged walls of the Rax, one of the last bastions of the limestone high Alps, contrast with the green mountains of the slate Alps (graywacke zone). Beyond Drahtekogel (Tratenkogel) and Großer Scheibe, one finally dives into the eastern foothills of the Noric depression.

Mürzzuschlag, former district capital, lies at the confluence of the Mürz and Fröschnitz rivers. The water of the rivers shaped this place, as it powered the numerous iron hammers that crushed iron here for centuries.

Mürzzuschlag is considered the cradle of skiing in Central Europe.

Toni Schruf, hotelier, representative of Styrian customs and forward thinker in a wide variety of fields, made a name for himself above all as a pioneer in skiing. Together with his friend Max Kleinoscheg from Graz, he recognized as early as 1890 the extensive possibilities offered by the use of the wooden boards then called "snowshoes" and both became the "first apostles of the white sport" in Central Europe.

Among other things, they organized the first international ski race in Central Europe in Mürzzuschlag as early as 1893.

It is also interesting to mention that Mürzzuschlag was able to establish itself as an air and high altitude health resort for a few years during that time, although it was the location of large industrial enterprises.

A commemorative plaque and a turbine model commemorate Viktor Kaplan, a native of Mürzzuschlag, who worked on a special water turbine starting in 1910 and which is still used today in power generation worldwide. Around the same time, Max Mauermann developed the first stainless steel at the local Bleckmann steelworks.

With the BusBahnBim app from Verbundlinie, timetable information has never been easier:All bus, train and streetcar connections in Austria can be queried by entering places and/or addresses, stops or important points.The app is available as a free app for smartphones (Android, iOS) - on Google Play and in the App Store.
Only at the end of the stage in Mürzzuschlag, several parking possibilities available, pay attention to short term parking zones!
www.bergzeitreise.at

www.steiermark.com/wandern

The Styria Tours app, available for free on Google Play and in the App Store (Android, iOS), offers detailed first-hand information: short facts (length, duration, difficulty, ascent and descent in altitude meters, ratings), map, route descriptions, altimeter, compass, summit finder, navigation along the tour. In addition, you can create your personal favorites list of favorite tours and points, save tours and destinations offline, play on social media channels and more.With the BusBahnBim app from Verbundlinie, timetable information has never been easier: all bus, train and streetcar connections in Austria can be queried by entering locations and/or addresses, stops or important points. The app is available as a free app for smartphones (Android, iOS) - on Google Play and in the App Store.

Free Pocket Card hiking route "From glacier to wine" can be found at www.steiermark.com hiking map BergZeitReise durch die Hochsteiermark can be found at www.hochsteiermark.at , compass WK212 Hochschwab, Mariazell, Eisenwurzen www.steiermark.com/buecher Freytag &Berndt WK41 Hochschwab - Veitschalpe - Eisenerz - Bruck an der Mur www.steiermark.com/buecher Hiking guide "BergZeitReise", available in the webshop Hochsteiermark, in the office of the TV Hochsteiermark and in well-stocked bookstores. 

Gallery

What the weather will be like

Mürzzuschlag (674m)

Morning
slightly cloudy
13°C
30%
5 km/h
Noon
sunny
20°C
5%
5 km/h
Night
slightly cloudy
16°C
0%
5 km/h
Dry and partly sunny throughout the day, with cloudy periods from time to time.
Morning
slightly cloudy
14°C
10%
0 km/h
Noon
cloudy
18°C
55%
5 km/h
Night
foggy
15°C
65%
5 km/h
A fair early morning, later increasing cloudiness and frequent showers.
31.05.2024
cloudy
10°C 17°C
01.06.2024
cloudy
9°C 17°C
02.06.2024
sunny
9°C 19°C

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