Page 152 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide 2016 - Austria

150  a ustria region b y region

p Neuhofen an Austria (Österreich) derives
der Ybbs from Ostarrichi. According
to the most widely
Road map E3. * 2,900. @ believed interpretation,
Tel (07475) 52700-40. it meant “eastern
∑ neuhofen-ybbs.at
territories”, but an
alternative view also
Neuhofen is a small town on exists: at the time
the Ybbs River, in the foothills when the name
of the Alps. Its centre is Ostarrichi first appeared,
occupied by a Gothic church the area in this part of
with a tall spire. The town was Facsimile of the 996 document, Ostarrichi Kulturhof, the Danube valley was
once a stopping place for Neuhofen an der Ybbs still populated by Slav
pilgrims travelling to nearby tribes, and the names of
Sonntagberg, whose basilica 996, Emperor Otto III, ruler of many surround ing towns and
is the central place of worship the German Roman Empire, villages reveal a Slav origin.
for followers of the cult of the presented the land around Ostarrichi, as it was then, could
Virgin Mary. Niuvanhof (present-day come from the Slav word
Today, the Ostarrichi Kulturhof, Neuhofen), known as Ostarrichi “ostrik”, meaning a hill.
a museum of Austrian history in the local language, to Whichever interpretation
on the outskirts of the village, Gottschalk, Bishop of Freising is accurate, the year 996 is
is the town’s top attrac tion. in Bavaria. It was the first time recognized here as the
The modern building was that this name was used to beginning of Austrian history,
erected in 1980 to designs describe the land that was and the Neuhofen Museum
by Ernst Beneder, who also controlled by the Babenbergs informa tively presents the
land scaped the surroundings and which eventually, in the story of the remarkable rise of
in an attempt to make new 11th–12th centuries, would a small German duchy to the
and old blend in a single become Austria. The Bishops heights of European power as
composition. The museum of Freising had owned estates the multi-ethnic Habsburg
was built in record time, at a in this district from as early as empire, and the tangled web
cost of 28.8 million shillings, the 9th century, and they of history that eventually, in
and in 1996 it became the regularly toured their territories. 1918, led to the creation of the
focus of Austria’s 1,000th The names “Osterriche” and Austrian Republic.
anniversary celebrations. “Osterland”, which appeared The permanent exhibition in
The most important exhibit, later, referred to the land east the Kulturhof consists of three
from which the centre has of the Enns River. It is fairly parts. The first shows a
taken its name, is the facsimile likely that originally the name facsimile of the Ostarrichi
of a document which first referred to the entire country document in the original Latin
mentions the term Ostarrichi of Eastern Franconia. With time, version and in its German
(the original document is kept Niuvanhof became Neuhofen, translation, together with
in archives in Munich). In this and if etymologists are to be photographs. The second
document, dated 1 November believed, the present name of exhibition is devoted to the
etymological changes that the
term has gone through,
including its geographical,
linguistic and political
transformations. The third part
of the exhibition is devoted to
present-day Austria and its
provinces. It illustrates how
the distinct areas grew
together into the Austrian
Republic of today, and how
each province has managed
to pre serve its own regional
identity, customs, traditions,
arts and culture.

E Ostarrichi Kulturhof
Millenniumsplatz 1. Tel (07475)
5270040. Open mid-Apr–Oct: 9am–
noon Mon, Tue, Thu & Fri; 10am–noon,
1–5pm Sat, Sun & hols. &
∑ ostarrichi-kulturhof.at
The Gothic church in the centre of Neuhofen an der Ybbs
For hotels and restaurants in this region see p295 and pp316–18

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