Zirbitzkogel

The Zirbitzkogel, at 2,396 m, is the highest point of the Seetal Alps in Austria. It lies south of the Upper Mur valley in the Styria near its border with Carinthia. The Lavant, a left tributary of the Drau, has its source on the southern slopes of the mountain.

Its name is not derived, as popularly supposed, from the Swiss pine trees that dominate the woods in places, but from the Slovenian word zirbiza, that can be translated as "red mountain pasture", which is a reference to the red-petalled alpenrose that is common hereabouts. In the local region this rhododendron plant is also known as Almrausch, perhaps an indication of the toxicity of the plants.