Wine and forest district tour
The term Weinviertel tour describes an approximately 260 kilometer long route for a round trip through the eastern Lower Austrian Waldviertel and the western Weinviertel with start and finish in Ysper, a cadastral community of Yspertal . This tour is also known as the historical Weinviertel tour . There is also a small Weinviertel tour that runs for around 180 km through the eastern Weinviertel.
A similar term wine tour Weinviertel describes the invitation of a group of winegrowers from the Weinviertel to all interested parties to taste their wines from the last vintage.
Route description
The journey begins in the cadastral municipality of Ysper, which belongs to the market town of Yspertal and is named after the river Ysper . Nearby there is the Ysperklamm, which is a protected natural monument . It has a length of 1200 m and overcomes a height of 400 m in cascades over this length .
On the B 36 you get to Pöggstall with its castle from the 13th century, in which several museums , such as a local museum with torture chamber , a museum for legal history or a beekeeping museum are housed.
At the beginning of Pöggstall, the route continues left up through the small Hölltal to Aschelberg (KG von Pöggstall) and through a large wooded area to Kirchschlag . After Kirchschlag, the route continues to the left on the B 217 towards Ottenschlag with Ottenschlag Castle, which is owned by the Province of Lower Austria . The path continues in the direction of Kottes and branches off to the left after about 2.5 km to Albrechtsberg. Via Lichtenau it goes through small villages to Marbach im Felde (KG von Rastenfeld) and further on the B 37 left to Rastenfeld and then right on the B 38 to Ottenstein. Here is the castle Ottenstein high above the reservoir of the same name .
The reservoir at the foot of the castle is the uppermost of the three Kamp reservoirs and is not only used to generate electricity, but also as a flood retention basin . Together with the next reservoir, the Dobra reservoir , it also stimulates tourism in the region . Sports activities are possible, rest homes , restaurants, hotels and campsites are located and the lakes are a popular fishing area due to the large and diverse fish population.
Now a section of the route follows a state road along the Dobrastausee to Krumau and further bends on the bend until you reach the B 32 and follow it, turn left towards the north to Brunn an der Wild . This area has been inhabited since the Neolithic Age. The parish church has elements from different eras. The baroque church with a Gothic choir and a Romanesque tower stands on partially Gothic foundation walls. North of the cadastral community of Atzelsdorf there is a stone tower from the Middle Ages.
Now it goes on small back roads through several small villages towards Retz. But these villages also offer interesting facts and sights. For example, Adolf Hitler's father , Alois Hitler, comes from near Döllersheim (today KG von Neupölla ). From 1938 the Allentsteig military training area was laid out there and is still in use today. The castle Wildberg overlooks the town Irnfritz , near there is the Burggrub and in the cadastral trot Reith you will find a brick museum. In the community of Weitersfeld and its cadastral communities there are 4 castles, 3 churches worth seeing, a fallow deer enclosure, an educational forest trail and other tourist attractions.
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Then you pass the border between Waldviertel and Weinviertel, the first vineyards appear and you reach the town of Retz .
In the center of the city is one of the largest main squares in Austria, which can also be crossed underground, because the Retz Adventure Cellar is the largest wine cellar in Austria. The total length of the cellar vaults is about 20 km and is therefore longer than the entire above-ground road network of the city. Once a year during the Retz Wine Week, red and white wine gushes out of the two fountains in the main square, which can also be tasted right away. The Retz windmill is particularly well-known, and the phylloxera express is a tourist attraction . Visiting all of the city's sights, some of which date back to the Middle Ages , takes a few days. For more information, we recommend using the links on the Retz website.
The Weinviertel tour continues on the B 35, a federal road with long curves, via Pulkau to Eggenburg .
The city is still surrounded by its medieval city wall, some of which can be walked on. Worth mentioning here is the parish church with the nearby Karner , the Krahuletz museum with geological, prehistoric and folklore collections and a motorcycle museum.
The tour continues on a side street to Gars am Kamp , where the Babenbergers built their residence in the 11th century. Then the B 34 along the Kamp via the wine town of Zöbing with its cellar lanes to Langenlois , the largest wine-growing community in Austria.
Now it's not far to Krems on an expressway . The discovery of a 32,000-year-old female statuette and a 27,000-year-old children's grave prove that the area at the eastern end of the Wachau and at the southern edge of the Waldviertel is an ancient settlement area . However, the area was only temporarily inhabited until the 7th century. The second largest prison and at the same time the largest penal institution in the country is located in the Stein an der Donau district . For more information about the city and its sights, please refer to the Krems website and the links available there.
Across from Krems, on a hill, is the Göttweig Benedictine monastery .
The route continues upstream on the left bank of the Danube through the Wachau , a World Heritage Site since December 2000 , with its terraced vineyards and famous wine villages . The first is Dürnstein with its eventful history and the well-known ruin on which the English King Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned and, according to legend , was found and subsequently freed by his faithful, the Troubadour Blondel. In fact, he was released for a large ransom.
The Wachau is not only known for its wines, but also for the fruit growing that is practiced here (especially bird cherry and apricot ). The predicate wines are produced in 3 quality levels, as " Steinfeder ", " Federspiel " and " Smaragd " and the predominant grape variety is Riesling .
This is followed by Weißenkirchen with its gothic fortified church from the 14th century, whose massive tower was built in 1531 to protect against the Turks and to which the place owes its name. Here is also the location of the Wachau Museum, which is housed in the Teisenhoferhof, a Renaissance building.
After 2 km upstream you will pass the Wehrkirche_St._Michael from around 1500. The history of the parish itself goes back to around the year 1000 and is considered the oldest parish in the Wachau. Next to the church is the Gothic charnel house with a skull pietà on the altar table and two so-called saving coffins that could be used again and again. The body was wrapped in cloths and placed in the coffin , and after it was positioned over the open grave, the floor was opened with a lever and the body fell into the grave. One of the two coffins is now a rare child's coffin. Two mummies from the 12th century are kept in showcases on the side wall .
Shortly afterwards you reach Spitz , which is dominated by the ruins of the rear building , a former Kuenringerburg . In the middle of the main square, as the locals say, is the Burgberg, better known as the Thousand Bucket Hill . This hill has never supported a castle, but on its terraces in favorable wine years 1000 buckets, that is 56,000 liters of wine. In the Maritime Museum, the visitor is brought closer to the history of shipping as well as the life of the sailors, the nobility and the imperial family . With the film " Der Hofrat Geiger ", shot here in 1947 , Spitz achieved a high level of awareness in the post-war period.
Immediately after leaving Spitz you will pass the Teufelsmauer , a rock formation that, according to legend, is the remains of an attempted construction of a wall across the Danube by Satan .
It follows Willendorf , the site of the " Venus von Willendorf ". From here, on the opposite bank of the Danube, you can already see the Aggstein castle ruins , which were built by the Kuenringers, can look back on almost 1000 years of history and are the scene of several legends.
The route leads via Weitenegg , from where you can see Melk Abbey on the other bank of the Danube , on to Klein-Pöchlarn with its Gothic church, which was built in 1391 and has remained almost unchanged since then.
After Klein-Pöchlarn you leave the busy B 3 right over a few hairpin bends and reach the pilgrimage site of Maria Taferl high above the Danube valley via Münichreith . From the square in front of the Maria Taferl pilgrimage church , you have another opportunity to take a look over the Danube valley. The route then leads back to the Yspertal via a mountain and valley section, where you return to the starting point after 260 km.
Web links
- Yspertal municipality
- Pöggstall municipality
- Lichtenau community
- Rastenfeld community
- Municipality of Krumau am Kamp
- Market town of Weitersfeld
- City of Retz
- Tourism Retz
- City of Pulkau
- City of Eggenburg
- Market town of Gars am Kamp
- Private website about Gars
- City of Langenlois
- Municipality of Krems
- City of Dürnstein
- Market town of Weißenkirchen
- Market town of Spitz
- Market town of Klein-Pöchlarn
- Market town of Maria Taferl
Picture gallery
Pöggstall Castle 2007
Ottenstein Castle
Main square of Retz
Windmill in Retz
Church in Pulkau
Church in Eggenburg with the city wall in the foreground
Gobelsburg Castle near Langenlois
Krems on the left bank of the Danube
Göttweig Abbey seen from Stein
The Dürnstein castle ruins
Weißenkirchen seen from the south
Vineyards east of St. Michael
Excursion boat in front of St. Michael
Spitz from the other bank of the Danube
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Individual evidence
- ↑ Weinviertel tour
- ↑ Ysperklamm
- ↑ Pöggstall Castle
- ↑ Trabenreith Brick Museum
- ↑ Retzer Erlebniskeller ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Teisenhoferhof ( Memento of the original from July 26, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Skull Pietà
- ↑ Wehrkirche St. Michael in the Wachau ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Maria Taferl Basilica
Coordinates: 48 ° 17 ' N , 15 ° 4' E