Judenburg

Judenburg
View from southwest
Coat of arms
Judenburg Location within Austria
Coordinates: 47°10′21″N 14°39′37″E / 47.17250°N 14.66028°E / 47.17250; 14.66028Coordinates: 47°10′21″N 14°39′37″E / 47.17250°N 14.66028°E / 47.17250; 14.66028
Country	Austria
State	Styria
District	Murtal
Government
• Mayor	Hannes Dolleschall (SPÖ)
Area
• Total	13.22 km2 (5.10 sq mi)
Elevation	737 m (2,418 ft)
Population (1 January 2016)
• Total	9,191
• Density	700/km2 (1,800/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	8750
Area code	03572
Vehicle registration	MT
Website	www.judenburg.at

Judenburg 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.

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.