The Möll (; presumably from sl, Mel, "rubble") is a river in northwestern Carinthia in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, a left

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

of the Drava. Its

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

is .

Course

The river rises in the

High Tauern The High Tauern ( pl.; german: Hohe Tauern, it, Alti Tauri) are a mountain range on the main chain of the Central Eastern Alps, comprising the highest peaks east of the Brenner Pass. The crest forms the southern border of the Austrian states of ...

range of the

Central Eastern Alps The Central Eastern Alps (german: Zentralalpen or Zentrale Ostalpen), also referred to as Austrian Central Alps (german: Österreichische Zentralalpen) or just Central Alps, comprise the main chain of the Eastern Alps in Austria and the adjacen ...

on the

Pasterze Glacier The Pasterze, at approximately 8.4 kilometres (5.2 mi) in length, is the longest glacier in Austria and in the Eastern Alps. It lies within the Glockner Group of the High Tauern mountain range in Carinthia, directly beneath Austria's hig ...

at the foot of the

Grossglockner The Grossglockner (german: Großglockner ; or just ''Glockner'') is, at 3,798 metres above the Adriatic (12,461 ft), the highest mountain in Austria and the highest mountain in the Alps east of the Brenner Pass. It is part of the larger Glo ...

, the highest mountain in Austria. It discharges after near

Möllbrücke Lurnfeld is a market town in the district of Spittal an der Drau in the Austrian state of Carinthia. The municipality consists of the two Katastralgemeinden: Möllbrücke and Pusarnitz, comprising several small villages. It is located within t ...

into the Drava. At the beginning of its course, at the southeastern end of the

, it is impounded to form the Margaritze Reservoir, from where part of the water is diverted via pressure tunnels across the Alpine crest and Mt. Wiesbachhorn to the reservoirs of the

Verbund Verbund AG, formerly known as Verbundgesellschaft or Österreichische Elektrizitätswirtschafts-AG, is Austria's largest electricity provider. Verbund covers around 40 percent of electricity demands in Austria and generates 90 percent thereof fro ...

hydroelectric power plant in

Kaprun Kaprun () is a municipality in the Zell am See District in the state of Salzburg, Austria. The town is a tourist destination known as "Zell am See-Kaprun" with the neighbouring Zell am See and known for the glacier Kitzsteinhorn. Geography It is ...

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

Himmelbauer Obervellach Mölltal 2013 08j

The Möll then runs down to Heiligenblut, parallel to the

Grossglockner High Alpine Road The Grossglockner High Alpine Road (in German ''Großglockner Hochalpenstraße'') is the highest surfaced mountain pass road in Austria. It connects Bruck an der Großglocknerstraße, Bruck in the state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg with Heilige ...

, and further southwards separating the mountains of the Schober Group in the west from the

Goldberg Group The Goldberg Group is a sub-group of the Hohe Tauern mountain range within the Central Eastern Alps. It is located in Austria, in the states of Salzburg and Carinthia. Its highest peak is the Hocharn, . Other well known summits are the Hoher Son ...

in the east. In the municipality of

Winklern Winklern is a town in the district of Spittal an der Drau in the Austrian state of Carinthia. Geography The municipality lies at the foot of the Großglockner massif between the Schober, Goldberg, and Kreuzeck groups in the upper Möll valley ...

, near the border with

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

(

East Tyrol East Tyrol, occasionally East Tirol (german: Osttirol), is an exclave of the Austrian state of Tyrol, separated from the main North Tyrol part by the short common border of Salzburg and Italian South Tyrol (''Südtirol'', it, Alto Adige). It i ...

) at

Iselsberg Pass The Iselsberg Pass, at , is a high mountain pass in the Austrian Alps between the states of Tyrol and Carinthia. It separates the mountains of the Kreuzeck group in the south from the Schober group in the north, both parts of the Hohe Tauern ...

, it turns eastwards running through the broad lower part of the Möll Valley (german: Mölltal) along the northern rim of the

Kreuzeck Group The Kreuzeck Group is a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps. It may be considered either a separate range or part of the larger High Tauern chain. Administratively, the range belongs to the Austrian states of Carinthia and, in the westernm ...

. Downstream near Stall the Möll waters are again impounded into the Gößnitz Reservoir. At

Obervellach Obervellach ( sl, Zgornja Bela) is a market town in the district of Spittal an der Drau, in the Austrian state of Carinthia. Geography The town is situated in the valley of the Möll river, on the southern slope of the High Tauern mountain ran ...

the river course is joined by the parallel

Tauern Railway The Tauern Railway (german: Tauernbahn) is an Austrian railway line between Schwarzach- Sankt Veit in the state of Salzburg and Spittal an der Drau in Carinthia. It is part of one of the most important north-south trunk routes (''Magistrale'') in ...

line descending from

Mallnitz Mallnitz is a municipality in the Spittal an der Drau District in Carinthia, Austria. Geography It is situated in a high valley of the Hohe Tauern mountain range stretching southwards down to Obervellach on the Möll river and separating the ...

and the southern Tauern Tunnel portal. Near Kolbnitz and its confluence with the Drava the Möll is once again dammed up to create the Rottau

equalizing basin An equalizing basin (german: Ausgleichsbecken) or equalizing reservoir regulates the flow of water below an intermittently operated hydropower station or peaking power plant. This could be a part-load power station (''Teillast-Durchfluss-Kraftwer ...

. From here some of the water is diverted to the lower stage of the Malta-Reisseck Power Plant in Möllbrücke. The Möll is a popular kayak white water river and one of the preferred

rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

rivers in Carinthia.

Gallery

File:Goessnitzer stausee.jpg, Gößnitz Reservoir File:Moell Penk seen from Zwenberg.jpg, Möll near Penk, seen from the Zwenberg File: Rafting Moell.jpg, Rafting near Napplach File:Reservoir rottau.jpg, Rottau equalizing basin. Right: the Oberwasser channel, that leads to Möll Valley Power Station. Left: the natural river bed though which only a fraction of the water flows. File:Malta Unterstufe and Drau.jpg, Möll Valley Power Station. The water now empties into the Drau before the actual mouth of the Möll (left).

References

External links

Hydrographic service in Carinthia - online survey data
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moll Rivers of Carinthia (state) Rivers of Austria