The word Glan is of Celtic origin and means something like "clear water"; Glan was also the name of a Celtic water god. In the Salzburg area, the Celtic-Roman cultural tradition has been just as unbroken as the transmission into the Bavarian (cf. Welsche, on the Latin settlements in the Alpine region of late antiquity).
The Hydrographic Service calls the Salzburg Glan Glanbach, in contrast to the Carinthian Glan. On the other hand, the river is also referred to as the Glan on the Geographical Information System of the State of Salzburg (SAGIS). The run from the Glan Canal (which also continues to be called the Glan) down through the Salzburg district of Liefering is called the Altglan.
run
The Glan is formed at the Fürstenbrunner Kugelmühlen (Untersberg Museum) through the confluence of three spring streams: the Brunnbach, the Kühlbach and the Koppengraben stream. The highest of the sources of these streams is at the Sausenden Wand at about 1400 m (♁⊙), most of the water comes from the Brunnbach, which springs from the Fürstenbrunnen (♁⊙). Earlier prince-archbishops used this spring, with a water rider bringing fresh water to the court every day (hence the place name "Fürstenbrunn"). The quality of the water was praised. The attempt to build a drinking water pipeline from Fürstenbrunn to the city of Salzburg failed in 1661. The spring cave was then tapped again in 1874/75 to provide water for the city of Salzburg's mountain spring line. On October 31, 1875, after two years of construction, it was opened by Lord Mayor Ignaz Harrer and poured 4,000 m³ per day. Glanegg Castle, the guard castle of the marble quarry and the trade route to Bad Reichenhall, is also nearby and is now owned by the Mayr-Melnhofs.
As it continues through the Salzburg Basin, the Glan forms the wetland along the Moosstraße and the Leopoldskroner Moor with its ponds (Leopoldskron-Moos district, Viehausen village). It forms the border between the city of Salzburg and the municipality of Wals-Siezenheim. The Glan then flows through the districts of Riedenburg and Maxglan, forms the border between Lehen and Liefering, mostly as the Glan Canal, and flows into the Salzach between Traklsteg and the Autobahn bridge (♁⊙). The Altlauf, accompanied by the Lieferinger Mühlbach, runs as the Altglan through Liefering and Herrenau and flows out about 800 m above the mouth of the Saalach at the Saalachspitz.