Countryside in the Lungau



Gentle pastureland and steep mountainsides in the Lungau
In the south-easternmost corner of Land Salzburg lies the Lungau, rich in a great variety of landscape alternating between gentle pastures, steep mountainsides, large basins and narrow valleys. Lungau valley is in a closed basin, enclosed to the north and to the east by the Niedere Tauern, to the south by the Nockberge and to the west by the Hohe Tauern. This natural unity not only shows climatic and geographical particularities of vegetation, it also has very rich arable land, making this area agriculturally self-sufficient. The two main valleys of the central basin are Taurachtal and Murtal, Taurachtal being the most fertile and densely populated of the Lungau. Another characteristic of this part of the land is that mountain valleys open out from the central basin in the form of a fan. Among these secondary valleys, Zederhaustal is well known for being the longest valley and where the Tauern motorway was built. The Lungau is also well known for its many forests. The climate is quite cold as the Lungau lies on average over a thousand metres above sea level. Furthermore, the Lungau is famous for being the sunniest part of the Land. For a long period, this part of Land Salzburg used to be quite isolated due to its inaccessibility but all this changed in 1975, with the construction of the Tauern motorway.