Due to its good geographical location at the confluence of the rivers Mur and Mürz, the town of Bruck has a long tradition as a trading and traffic town. Already in Roman times an important trade route crossed the Mur here, first findings of early settlements go back to the Bronze Age.
In the 9th century there were two small settlements in the area of today's town, separated from each other. One, first mentioned in a document in 860 as "ad pruccam", was probably located in the area of today's suburb of St. Ruprecht, the other in the area of today's city center. Especially during the 12th century, Bruck developed into an important trading center and around 1230 was granted the privilege of the right to boil salt. This eventually led to a further economic upswing. In 1263, Bruck was first referred to as an "oppidum" (town), making it one of the oldest towns in Styria. Due to the salt trade and the navigation on the river Mur, Bruck was the most important wholesale center of Styria next to Graz until the 16th century.
Art and culture flourished and important buildings were erected. The gothic Kornmesserhaus , landmark of Bruck and named after the tradesman Pankraz Kornmeß, is a still visible sign of the town's wealth at that time. The Iron Fountain on the main square is one of the most important wrought iron works of the Green Mark . On the Brucker Schloßberg once was the mighty castle Landskron, which, like most of the houses in the town, was completely destroyed in the devastating town fire of 1792.
The annual juggler festival " Murenschalk " is also an indirect reminder of a fire. Once upon a time there lived in Bruck a mischievous joker who roamed the streets day and night playing crude tricks on the people. However, since he called people's attention to a conflagration one night by shouting loudly, but jumped into the Mur himself out of fear, he was popular with the inhabitants.
With the Höhere Bundeslehranstalt für Forstwirtschaft , the only forestry school in Austria, Bruck offers a special educational program.
In turn, the nature conservation center in the Weitental with its wild animal sanctuary and a large adventure playground has long since established itself as a popular destination for excursions.
Old Town Tour through the historic city center of Bruck an der MurThis old town round is of course not a classic hike, but rather a cultural-historical-culinary walk through one of the most beautiful city centers of Styria.We start at the main square of Bruck (the 2nd - largest inner city square in Austria) in front of the gothic Kornmesserhaus. Vis a vis is the worth seeing Iron Fountain. Via the city parish church and the city park with the culture house / city museum our round now leads to the Schloßberg. After a short rest with a beautiful panoramic view over the entire city we descend to the Minoritenkirche and walk in the direction of the Mur. At the new Europabrücke bridge we turn right and walk along the Mur (Murterrassen) to the Hotel Landskron at the Schiffertor. Keeping to the right again, our path leads us back to the main square with the Mariensäule and the Anthauerhaus.