Page 142 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Austria

140  A USTRIA REGION B Y REGION

8 Wienerwald Tour

The Vienna Woods (Wienerwald), to the west of the capital,
are a favourite weekend destination for the Viennese.
Crossed by numerous walking and cycling tracks, the
wooded hills covering an area of 1,250 sq km (480 sq miles)
are a perfect place for recreation. The main town in the
area is Baden bei Wien, one of Europe’s most famous
spa towns, and to the north lie Klosterneuburg, former
capital of the Babenbergs, and Tulln (see p138). There are
also some interesting works of art and unique scenery.
One of the many attractive villas in Baden
bei Wien
7 Baden bei Wien
Road map G3. * 25,000. < £ @
n Brusattiplatz 3 (02252) 22 600–600.
_ Festival of Roses (Jun).
∑ baden.at
The spa town of Baden, on the
eastern slopes of the Vienna
Woods, was already known
in Roman times, when it was
called Aquae Pannoniae and
Emperor Marcus Aurelius
praised its sulphuric springs.
Today, its 15 hot springs make Alland
Baden a popular destination 2 Heiligenkreuz
with older patients, but taking The Cistercian Abbey (1133) at
a hot sulphur bath is a relaxing Heiligenkreuz, founded by Leopold III
experience for younger visitors of Babenberg, has retained its fine
too. In summer, you can swim Romanesque-Gothic character and
in the open-air Art Deco baths. some Baroque furnishings to this day.
The small town was
completely rebuilt after a
fire in 1812, and many of its 3 Mayerling
attractive Neo-Classical town After the suspected
houses and Biedermeier-style Key double suicide of Rudolf
villas hail from this period. Suggested route and Mary von Vetsera,
The main architect at the time, Franz Joseph I had the
Joseph Kornhäusel (1786– Scenic road famous hunting lodge
1860), largely shaped the Other road converted into a Carmelite
look of the town. River, lake chapel of atonement.
At one time, the list of
Baden visitors read like a Who’s
Who of the rich and famous,
and included such luminaries The Mayerling Mystery
as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
who composed his Ave Verum Rudolf, the only son of Franz Joseph I and
here; Franz Schubert; and, Elisabeth, was a restless man, unable to
adjust to the rigours of court. After a fierce
most importantly, Ludwig quarrel with his father, he went to Mayerling
van Beethoven. It was here with his mistress, Mary von Vetsera. On
that he composed his Ninth 30 January 1889, the two lovers’ bodies
Symphony. Baden was were found in the lodge. Both had been
frequented by the maestros shot. Had they been murdered, was it joint
of Viennese operetta as well: suicide, or did Rudolf kill Mary and then turn
Strauss (the Elder and the the gun on himself? The reason behind the The tombstone of Mary von
Younger), Lanner and Zeller. tragedy also remains a mystery to this day. Vetsera
Napoleon also holidayed here
with his wife Marie Louise.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see p295 and pp316–18

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Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
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Date 6th February 2013
Size 125mm x 217mm