Glan Creek in Salzburg

The Glan is a creek that runs through the city of Salzburg. It originates at Mount Untersberg and enters the Salzach at the so-called Glanspitz in the district of Liefering. There is no spring of the Glan in that sense, the name is used after the two smaller creeks Kühbach and Brunnbach merge in the Untersberg area.

The Glan runs through the area south of the Salzburg Airport, enters the district Maxglan, passes the Stiegl Brewery and along the border of Liefering and Lehen. West of Ignaz-Harrer-Straße, the Glan splits into the Glanbach and Glankanal; the canal enters the Salzach near the Traklsteg, the creek just south of the Saalachspitz. The Glan is not a very impressive creek at all; surprisingly, it is a very present feature in maps, cultural references and even district names (Maxglan, referring to a parish St. Maximilian at the Glan creek). This is presumably because the Glan played an important role in supplying Salzburg′s surrounding villages (now districts) with water.

The name Glan is of Celtic origin and means "clear water". Between 1934 and 1951, most of the creek′s course was trained; during the Nazi era, this construction work was done by Roma and Sinti from the Zigeunerlager Maxglan, a labour camp. In 1955, the training was finally completed, only to be gradually reversed some 50 years later. In 2008, a section of the Glan that is about 350 metres long was "re-naturalised" in the area of Leopoldskron Moos to increase the moisture of the drained swamp land there. Similar measures might be taken in the future in all sections of the Glan between Leopoldskron Moos and the Stiegl Brewery.

Further Reading

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glan_%28Salzburg%29
German Wikipedia on the Glan


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