The walled towns of Lower Austria.
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Austria is famous for "The Sound of Music", Mozart, skiing and mountains – but all that is in the west, over in the east of this long country is Vienna, and beyond that, are the flat lands that border Hungary and Slovakia. Here lie the eleven walled towns. These all have distinct and unique characters and features. There are walking trails around their walls, and guided tours of their ramparts.
Probably the town with the best preserved walls is Hainburg – or Hainburg am der Donnau to give it its full name (meaning Hainburg on the Danube). It has seen such enormous changes during its time. Being strategically situated at the bend of the Danube, it has suffered a tempestuous history as the wars and empires ebbed and flowed. Nearby Carnuntum was the biggest Roman city after Rome itself. In the 13th century Hainburg’s major fortifications were erected, to be battered by the Turkish invasion, and the 2 World Wars. During the "Cold War" this was the border with communism. Hainburg became a militarised zone, a "no-go" area, and the two hills here are still honey-combed with military tunnels and installations. Then the Berlin wall fell, and suddenly the poor Slovaks came across the river in polluting 2 stroke Trabant cars to see the "West".
Today the town has evolved again. The Slovaks are now wealthy, the town is connected to Bratislava by a very frequent Bratislava transport authority bus service (fare is only 1.50 euros) and six supermarkets have opened to serve this market. The town was dominated by the tobacco factory which has now gone, to become a shopping centre, hotel, culture centre. There is a new dawn rising, with property prices climbing, and constant through road traffic, in contrast to the silence of Cold War days.
Hainburg is the most easterly town in Austria, and it is where the Danube leaves Austria and where it is joined by the March river. The Schlossberg hill, 290 metres high with the ruins of the castle on the top, dominates the town. There are still the 2.5 kilometres of walls around the town, with 15 defence towers, of which 3 are still intact massive town gates.
On the west is the "Ungartor" – or Hungarian Gate as the road to Hungary passes through it. This dates back to the first part of the 13th century. Today it looks forlorn, as it is isolated by the road which diverts around it and a horrible modern shopping centre has been built beside it. This used to be one of the tobacco factory sites. Originally it was a Franciscan monastery, built between 1677 and 1682. Then in 1683 the Turks invaded, and massacred the inhabitants, only 100 people remaining out of the 8,000 population. (the current population as at 1.1.15 is 6,208) It was rebuilt in 1684, but the monks left in 1787 when it became the tobacco factory. The tobacco company was the employer in the town. Train loads of Turkish tobacco came in, train loads of cigarettes went out – now it is all gone.
Rising up towards the castle hill the wall continues to the pentagonal Heroes Tower, and on to the Guard’s Tower. This is square, four stories high and is the tallest of the towers.
At the east side of the town is the massive Wienertor, or Vienna gate. This was built in 2 stages in the 13th century and at 20 metres high is the biggest medieval gate in Europe. The outside is still pockmarked with huge stone Turkish cannon balls that are embedded there. It is always busy with road traffic, which is controlled by lights as it is only one lane wide.
From these two gates run Ungarstrasse and Wienerstrasse which meet at the Hauptplatz, where there is the church of Philip and Jacob, built in 1236. It too was knocked about by the Turks, and rebuilt in splendid Baroque style which still stands today. Next to it is the Holy Mary Column, dating from 1749 – this is held to be the most beautiful in all Austria. To one side, and easily overlooked, is the town hall with its detention cell, called the "Chicken friend". This is because it was used for petty criminals, usually stealing chickens from the market stalls! The market is still held outside the church in the square – but I didn’t see any chickens for sale!
Heading south, downhill, from the square, you soon come to the Fischertor, the fisher men’s gate, which was the only access to the Danube. As you pass through, there is a red mark. This is about 4 feet high, on the side wall – this is the depth of the blood that ran here when the Turks massacred nearly everyone – maybe a little exaggerated? Immediately outside the gate to one side is a chapel dating from 1780 that was built in remembrance of the murdered citizens.
The wall here was a flood defence as well, until the railway came. This was the "Pressburgerbahn" that linked Vienna with Pressburg – as Bratislava was then called, the German name marking one of the twists and turns of this convoluted history. The railway built a low viaduct between the town walls and the river. Today these arches are filled with steel walls that can be closed when the water rises too far. After WW2 the railway was cut short, the Danube bridge was damaged, and the communists were on the other side, so it ends at Wolfsburg, just a little further on. Today the train shuttles hourly up and down to Vienna. The Danube is a busy river. There are always goods barges ponderously cruising along in both directions, interspersed with fast passenger boats zooming between Vienna and Hungary. The railway line curves sharply to cut across a corner of the town walls, isolating the Wasserturm, the water tower, an octagonal tower with a wooden roof.
Turning back to go north, it is peaceful to stroll through the randomly wandering streets of the town, other of course than the constantly busy main road through the centre. There are interesting things to discover everywhere. You suddenly come across a pillory, complete with dangling handcuffs. This was built in 1724 and last used in 1756. Nearby is a strange conical building, the Karner, or bone tower. People’s bones were stored in the lower part, and requiem masses said in the upper room. There is the 14th century synagogue, the huge museum, (which was also part of the tobacco factory and also a monastery before that) and the Hundesheimerhof. This dates from the 13th century and in 1544 was converted into a brewery.
As you walk up through the town, the skyline is dominated by the ruins of the castle. The walls cross in front of the hill, with another impressive gateway. This was the entrance to the barracks. The Schlossberg castle dates from the 11th century. The Turks did so much damage to it in 1683 that it was left to slowly crumble into ruin. From up here you can see for miles – it is so flat around here.
With all this walking and exploring it is time for a drink – and here is nothing better than the local wine and a Heurigen. The vineyards here are all small scale producers, red and white wine, and the quality varies from simply superb to excellent. In one Heurigen they were selling litre bottles of white wine for 1 euro – I asked to sample it, but they were reluctant, saying that it was just cooking wine. Eventually they gave me a glass- it is at least as good as anything I have bought from our local supermarket! But, they refused to sell me any of this "rubbish". This gives an idea of the high standard.
I mentioned "Heurigen" – this is a marvellous system. It works something like this. There are, in each town, some local wine growers who are licensed to sell their wine. However, it then becomes complicated. The growers get together and haggle over which days each one will be open for business. This can be serious, as Easter or Christmas has to be spread evenly between them, winter Mondays also – you can imagine the debates. Then a calendar is produced. You look this up, and see who is open. You go to their establishment, which will have a red light lit over the doorway – do not be alarmed! Inside the décor is always immaculate, charming, rustic, and welcoming. There is always a discussion about which wine you would like, many samples given, and complimentary food which is usually sausages, dried meat, bread, gherkins, onions, and so on – which makes you thirsty of course!
In Hainburg there are four producers, so it works out that each one is open for a week a month. It is a great system; they do not compete by all of them being open all the time, diluting the custom, but compete on quality in the weeks when each one is open. The wines really are good, and I risk causing offence by picking one out – but I did have the "Imperator Rex, Carnuntum 2003" by Perger – this is pure nectar. It is believed that when the Romans had such a presence here, they introduced wine making, at nearby Carnuntum, as mentioned on the label of the Perger wine. Of course, if you are not a fan of wine, there is always the hearty Austrian beer to fall back on (literally if you take too much of it!) The Austrians know how to live. Their food is always copious and excellent, so allow plenty of time for a meal and enjoy it.
As Hainburg is developing, so are hotels. I stayed at the "Altes Kloster" which means old monastery. This is one of the huge buildings that was a monastery and then part of the tobacco empire. It is very good quality, and for us very reasonably priced as well. The food is excellent. The rooms are thoroughly modernised, but still retain the massive thick stone walls. This means that, unusual for a modern hotel, there is no noise from neighbouring rooms or the corridor. This part of Austria can become very hot in summer, even to 40 degrees C, so the thick walls keep it cool, and also conserve the warmth in winter. For more information see www.alteskloster.at
The currency in Austria is the Euro, and prices are comparable to the UK. To travel there, I took the Lufthansa flight from Aberdeen to Frankfurt, where their well organised hub system means that the onward flight to Vienna connects well. The on-board service from Lufthansa is among the best, and they even serve alcohol free beer – which is good when coming home and needing to drive from Aberdeen airport. From Vienna airport there is a train connection to Hainburg, and also a bus – and it is not so far for a taxi ride.
For more information on this unexplored area of Austria and its special walled towns click here.
