Judenburg

Judenburg (juːdn̩.buɐ̯k, juːdn̩.buʁk; Judnbuag) is a historic town in Styria, Austria. It is the administrative centre of the Murtal district, which was created on 1 January 2012 from the former Judenburg District and former Knittelfeld District. Until 31 December 2011, it was the capital of the Judenburg District. On 1 January 2015, the adjoining municipalities of Oberweg and Reifling were merged into Judenburg. It is located in the Upper Styrian region, on the western end of the Aichfeld basin, stretching along the Mur River from Judenburg down to Knittelfeld in the east. The broad valley is bound by the Niedere Tauern range in the north and the Noric Alps (Lavanttal Alps) in the south. The municipal area also comprises the cadastral communities of Tiefenbach and Waltersdorf, a former municipality incorporated in 1963. The municipal area includes the following ten villages (populations as of January 1, 2020): Auerling (129) Feeberg (176) Gasselsdorf (28) Judenburg (8,386) Oberweg (517) Ossach (45) Reifling (57) Ritzersdorf (15) Strettweg (367) Waltersdorf (133) Archaeological findings indicate that the area was settled at least since the days of the Celtic kingdom of Noricum. Judenburg itself was first mentioned in a 1074 staple right deed as mercatum Judinburch, a market town within the estates of Eppenstein Castle, the ancestral seat of the Bavarian Eppensteiner noble family, who ruled as Styrian margraves in the 11th century. The name literally means "Jews' Borough", referring to the town's origin as a trading outpost on the route from the Mur Valley across the Obdach Saddle mountain pass to Carinthia, in which Jews played an important role, being represented in the city's coat of arms. Upon the extinction of the Eppensteiner dynasty in 1122, the estates passed to the Styrian Otakars and in 1192 to the House of Babenberg, Dukes of Austria since 1156. Judenburg received town privileges in 1224 and the right to collect tolls in 1277.