Wachau Cultural Landscape
Posted by: 
Tafari
N 48° 21.867 E 015° 26.050
33U E 532158 N 5356899
Quick Description: The Wachau is a danube-valley what begins in Melk and ends in Krems and Göttweig. It is a World Heritege Site by the UNESCO since 2000.
Location: Austria
Date Posted: 1/4/2006 12:29:32 PM
Waymark Code: WM5MV
Views: 76
Long Description:
The Wachau is a well known
Austrian valley with a landscape of high visual
quality formed by the Danube river. It is one of the most prominent
tourist destinations of
Lower Austria, located between the towns
of Melk and
Krems. It is 30
km in length and was allready settled in
prehistoric times. A well-known place and tourist magnet is
Dürnstein, where King
Richard the Lion-Hearted of
England was held captive by Duke
Leopold
V.
The Wachau is a something over 30 km
long tourism and wine landscape with the principal places Spitz
(with Spitzer Graben), Weissenkirchen and Dürnstein. The southern
(right) Danube bank is characterized by the Dunkelsteiner forest.
Here are appropriate Danube downward the municipalities Melk,
Schoenbuehel, Aggsbach, Rossatz, Arnsdorf, Bergern in the
Dunkelsteiner forest and Mautern. The landscape is on the one hand
by the Danube and the banknear, climatically favoured ranges and on
the other hand the adjacent hills of the Dunkelsteiner forest and
the Waldviertel with cold winters (heights to over 900 m). The mild
climate in the valley led also to intensive wine and fruit-growing,
which are operated at the slopes in stone terraces. For the wine
quality are the frequent sun days and the cool nights of
importance. As wine specialities the Riesling and the Grüner
Veltliner are considered. The wine bar in numerous "Heurigen", that
winegrowers, who offer wine and simple meals for some weeks in the
year, are effected. With the fruit above all the Wachauer Marille
(apricot) is to be noted.
History
In the Middle Ages the Wachau was
controlled by the Kuenringer, which possessed in Aggstein (southern
the Danube) and in Duernstein (northern the Danube) castles and
They were well known to live as robbery knights of "duty payments"
of the navigation on the danube. Under the Kuenringern however a
comparatively highly developed community was founded. The
Kuenringer were militarily beaten and their castles were destroyed.
As ruins they are still place for excursions, whereby Duernstein is
attractive as city also and the ruin Aggstein offers simple
restaurant with rudimentary overnight accomodations. With the time
of the Kuenringer also the legend of the inprisonment of the
English king Richard lion heart is in Duernstein connected, whose
truth content is however disputed. Richard lion heart might have
been kept imprisoned in truth in Vienna. A further object of
interest is the oldest church of the Wachau, the "military church
St. Michael". Military church, since the building was fastened as
precautionary measure against the penetrating Turk armies. End
19.Century began the upswing of the Wachau as trip area of the
Viennese. The tourism reached itself in the time after the Second
World War a further high point, also in Austrian film productions
(Mariandl, Hofrat Geiger..., Films in particular with the actor
Hans Moser) struck down. Many in this time of the used tourist
cafes disappeared.
More Information (in german
language) you can find
here.
This waymark can only be logged
as visited, when you visit this waymarks first:
Stift Melk
(WM4T6)
Stift Göttweig (WM4T5)
This waymarks are at the beginn
and the end of the Wachau-valley. So when you visited both, you can
also log your visit of your journey through this
valley!!
Happy waymarking
Ras Tafari