Wechsel

The Wechsel is a low mountain range in eastern Austria whose highest summit is the Hochwechsel (1,743 m above sea level (AA)). It also has two other summits over 1700 m. The massif forms the border between the states of Lower Austria and Styria for about 15 km, southeast of the Semmering and northeast of the Graz Basin, between the Feistritz Saddle and the eponymous pass of Wechsel.

Wechsel
(Wechsel region)
The Wechsel region from 10,000 metres
Highest point
PeakHochwechsel
Elevation1,743 m above sea level (AA)
Prominence445 m (1,460 ft) 
Isolation10.5 km (6.5 mi) 
Coordinates47°31′49″N 15°54′50″E 
Dimensions
Length15 km (9.3 mi)
Geography
Wechsel
StateLower Austria and Styria, Austria
Parent rangePrealps East of the Mur (AVE) / Cetic Alps and East Styrian-Burgenland Hills (Trimmel); Eastern Alps
Geology
Age of rockPermian/Triassic (300–200 MYA)
Mountain typefoothills
Type of rockTriassic carbonate, quartzite/quartz conglomerate, arkose slate-breccia-porphyroid-series (Wechsel slate, Alpine verrucano)

Geography
The Hochwechsel

The Wechsel is part of the Prealps East of the Mur. It is – apart from the Vienna Woods which are half the height – the easternmost range in the Alps. Its highest point, at 1,743 m above sea level (AA), is the Hochwechsel, formerly called the Hoher Umschuss, at the top of which is the Wetterkoglerhaus, an Alpine Club hut belonging to the Austrian Alpine Club. From there the crest of the mountains runs northwest to the Umschußriegel (1,720 m above sea level (AA),) continuing to the Schöberlriegel (1,704 m above sea level (AA)), and east to the Niederwechsel (1,669 m above sea level (AA)).

The Wechsel is the boundary between the Styrian Joglland and the Bucklige Welt, which stretches from the Vienna Basin to the extreme southeast of Lower Austria. To the east this region transitions into the Pinka valley, the Güns Mountains and the Pannonian Plain.

Important settlements at the foot of the Wechsel, which benefit from tourism associated with the mountain, are Aspang, Aspangberg-St. Peter, Dechantskirchen, Feistritz am Wechsel, Friedberg, Kirchberg am Wechsel, Mönichkirchen, Mönichwald, Pinggau, Trattenbach, Sankt Corona am Wechsel, Sankt Jakob im Walde, Sankt Lorenzen am Wechsel, Vorau, Waldbach and Wenigzell.

The "Hohe Umschuß" (below left) around 1873 (photograph by the Landesaufnahme)

References

    Further reading
    • K. Schuster; R. Berka; E. Draganits; W. Frank; R. Schuster (2002). "Lithologien, Metamorphosegeschichte und Tektonischer Bau der Kristallinen Einheiten am Alpenostrand" (PDF). Geologische Bundesanstalt Arbeitstagung 2001 - Neuberg an der Mürz. Beiträge (in German). pp. 29–56.
    • Peter Faupl (1970). "Zur Geologie und Petrographie des südlichen Wechselgebietes" (PDF). Mitteilungen der Geologischen Gesellschaft in Wien (in German). Wien. pp. 22–51.
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