Lower Austria is the largest federal state in Austria in terms of
area and the second largest in terms of population. First mentioned as
Ostarrîchi in 996 AD, it reached its greatest extent as the Archduchy of
Austria under the Enns and was constituted as a separate federal state
in 1920, now without the city of Vienna. In 1986 St. Pölten became the
state capital. Lower Austria is part of the Centrope European region.
Lower Austria is the largest federal state in Austria. Nevertheless,
it is certainly not the best known. Lower Austria has a lot to offer for
both winter and summer vacationers. In addition, Lower Austria encloses
the federal capital Vienna.
Lower Austria is divided into 4 districts. The division into quarters
is a bit vague at times and not binding from an administrative point of
view:
Industrial district (also: district under the Vienna Woods)
Mostviertel (also: district above the Vienna Woods)
Waldviertel
(also: quarter above the Manhartsberg)
Weinviertel (also: Quarter
under the Manhartsberg.
Waldviertel and Weinviertel are north of
the Danube, Mostviertel and Industrieviertel are to the south.
Sometimes the "Lower Austrian central area" (roughly the area around St.
Pölten and Tulln) is also referred to as the "fifth quarter".
The
most famous region is probably the Wachau, it stretches along the Danube
between Melk and Krems an der Donau, this landscape is also a UNESCO
World Heritage Site. To the west of the Wachau, the Nibelungengau
stretches between Ybbs and Melk, to the east of Krems the Wachau merges
into the Tullnerfeld. Also known is the Vienna Woods, the eastern
foothills of the Alps between the Mostviertel and Industrieviertel.
St. Pölten
Amstetten
Berndorf
Baden bei Wien
Klosterneuburg
Mödling
Perchtoldsdorf
Pressbaum
Waidhofen an der Ybbs
Wiener Neustadt
Semmering
Tulln an der Donau
German is spoken in Lower Austria. Although there are different dialects in the different districts, they are all very easy to understand. There used to be a lot of Croatian settlements in the eastern part of Lower Austria as a result of population movements during the Turkish wars. The Croatian language fell victim to the forced assimilation measures taken under the Habsburgs. Only Croatian surnames like Medwenitsch, Dwornikowitsch etc. have remained.
A journey through Lower Austria ideally begins in Vienna. Trains from all neighboring countries and other countries arrive here. In addition, Vienna Airport is located in Schwechat and Schwechat is in the federal state of Lower Austria. Of course you can also start a journey through Lower Austria in the provincial capital of St. Pölten.
The country has a very good road network. The easiest way to get there is by car. But even if you combine bus and train, Lower Austria is easy to explore. It is particularly cheap to get around in the area around Vienna. In Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland, almost all public transport operators are integrated into the Verkehrsbund Ost-Region. This means that routes with a change can also be covered within the region with a continuous ticket.
Seegrotte Hinterbrühl. Email: office@seegrotte.at. The Seegrotte
is one of the most impressive natural monuments in the world. After
an explosion in 1912, 20 million liters of water filled the tunnels
of what was then the gypsum mine. The largest underground.
churches and monasteries
Cistercian section of the Heiligenkreuz
Abbey, Heiligenkreuz 2. The buildings of the monastery, founded in
1133, harmoniously combine Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque elements.
Worth seeing are the collegiate church, cloister and Trinity Column.
Klosterneuburg Abbey, Stiftsplatz 1, etc. . The pen goes back to the
Babenbergs. The story of how it came about is still on everyone's
lips today: Margrave Leopold III. found the veil intact on a bush 9
years after its disappearance. In gratitude he had a church built on
this site. The monastery also offers a varied program of events. The
spectrum ranges from concerts and readings to wine seminars and the
popular "Barrel Slide" to Leopoldi.
Melk Abbey internet, A. B.
Dietmayr-Strasse 1, among others . The monastery is one of the most
beautiful monastery churches in Lower Austria. For more than 1000
years, the monastery has been the spiritual and cultural center of
the province of Lower Austria. The magnificent Benedictine monastery
is an impressive example of baroque architecture. The Marble Hall
and the library, masterpieces of baroque interior design with the
famous frescoes by Paul Troger, can be seen during a tour of the
monastery, as can the balconies with a magnificent view of the
Danube and the West facade of the collegiate church.
Aggsbach
Charterhouse. The Charterhouse was built in 1373-1377 and abolished
in 1782 by Emperor Josef II. This dissolution of the monastery also
affects the two charterhouses of Mauerbach and Gaming. A small part
of the former monastery complex is now open to the public (parish
church, Carthusian Museum), the former cell wing of the monastery
has been largely removed and is currently being restored as a
garden. The Aggsbach Charterhouse can be reached from the right bank
of the Danube through the town of Aggsbach Dorf at the end of the
town in the direction of Loosdorf.
Castles and Palaces
Rosenburg Renaissance Castle, Rosenburg 1 . In a dominant position
above the Kamp is one of the most beautiful and important castle
complexes in the country. In the 16th century, the castle that had
been built in the 12th century became a magnificent Renaissance
palace.
Castle ruins of Dürnstein. According to legend, Richard
the Lionheart was imprisoned in the castle ruins.
Castle ruins
Aggstein, Aggstein. Open: March 19 - October 31, 2022 09:00 - 18:00.
Mailberg Castle internet, Mailberg 1 . Mailberg was first mentioned
in a document in 1055. Mailberg Castle has been in the permanent
possession of the Sovereign Order of Malta since 1146, making it the
oldest property of the Order in the world. The castle was built in
the 16th century. partially baroque and has largely been preserved
in this form. A special gem is the baroque parish church of the
castle.
Archaeological museums and excavations
Regionally
important museums:
Carnuntum Archaeological Park, 1A Main Street,
2404 Petronell-Carnuntum. Phone: +43 (0)216333770 . Around 2000
years ago, the later Emperor Tiberius built a fortified winter camp
in the Carnuntum area, which was to become one of the most important
metropolises of the Roman Empire. Open: March 18 to November 19,
2023, daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Price: Adults €13, concessions €11,
children under 11 years free when accompanied by an adult, children
11 to 14 years €6, young people 15 - 18 years €11
Museum of
Prehistory and Early History, Hauptstrasse 23, 2262 Stillfried an
der March. Tel.: +43 (0)676 6113979. Can be reached from the Vienna
Nordbahn to Stillfried, by car: from Vienna on the B8 and B49 (car
park at the museum). Open: April to October Sat, Sun, public
holidays 1.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m.
Museum of Prehistory, Asparn an
der Zaya (MAMUZ), Franz-Hampl-Platz 1, 2151 Asparn an der Zaya.
Tel.: +43 (0)2577 84180, fax: +43 (0)2577 84181, e-mail:
info@urgeschichte.com . Arriving from Vienna by train to Mistelbach,
continue by bus, taxi or a 7-kilometer hike, by car from Vienna B7
(Brünner Straße) in the direction of Poysdorf to Mistelbach,
continue along the brown signpost. Open: March 21 to November 30,
daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Lower Austrian State Museum
There is no special Lower Austrian cuisine. You can find traditional
Austrian cuisine everywhere here. You will find dishes like the Wiener
Schnitzel and the like everywhere on the menu in Lower Austria. Due to
the border with the Czech Republic, Bohemian cuisine naturally has an
influence on the dishes in Lower Austria, but this also applies to
Austrian cuisine as a whole.
Beer
In Lower Austria, the term
Seidel is common for 0.3 liters of beer. If you want 0.5 liters of beer,
you have to order a mug. In a mixed beer, light and dark beer are mixed.
With this mixture, the bitterness of the light and the sweetness of the
dark are combined in one beer. This combination is so popular that
breweries offer it ready-mixed.
There are many towns in Lower Austria that come alive at night. The cities of Wiener Neustadt, Krems an der Donau and St. Pölten deserve special mention. If you are traveling near Vienna, you can also spend the evening in the federal capital.
Ticks are particularly dangerous. A TBE vaccination is therefore
highly recommended. A special protection against crime is not necessary.
The usual precautionary measures are sufficient.
emergency
numbers
Fire Department: 122
Police: 133
Ambulance/emergency
doctor: 144
Accident/breakdown assistance: 120, 123
Climate data play a major role in tourism in Lower Austria and the
assessment of its potential. This applies above all to recreational,
bathing and winter sports tourism, but also to parts of health tourism.
Lower Austria has a share in all four climate provinces of Austria. Only
the Illyrian climate, which dominates the south-east of Austria, is only
rudimentarily represented.
Central European transitional climate
It influences the west of Lower Austria, especially the high plateau of
the Waldviertel and the western foothills of the Alps. It occupies an
intermediate position between the oceanic influenced climate in western
Austria and the continental climate in the east. Characteristics are
relatively high precipitation with cooler summer and winter
temperatures. The rainfall is 800-1100 mm per year. The climate allows
summer bathing tourism as well as alpine winter sports to a limited
extent. However, it represents a mild stimulating climate that favors
health tourism
Pannonian climate
This is the climate of the
plains and hills of eastern Lower Austria. It is particularly common in
the eastern foothills of the Alps, the Weinviertel, Marchfeld and Vienna
basins. There is a continental influence, so cold winters and hot, dry
summers predominate. Thus, there is a large temperature amplitude. This
climate type has the lowest precipitation in Austria. They reach about
500-600 mm per year. They fall primarily during the summer months. This
low level of precipitation hinders the formation of standing (lakes) and
flowing water. Winters with little snow impede alpine winter sports, as
does the low relief energy. In summer, muggy or hot days are common. In
winter, there is often a temperature reversal in the plains and basins.
The climate favors summer bathing tourism.
Alpine climate
In
the Lower Austrian Alps in the south of the country, the Wechsel and the
Bucklige Welt, there is an alpine climate. It is characterized by short
and rather cool summers and long, cold, often snowy winters. There is
high rainfall of 1000-2000 mm per year, which increases with increasing
altitude. In the northern outskirts there is higher precipitation due to
rising rain, towards the south there is a relative decrease, with less
precipitation in longitudinal valley furrows and basins. In these,
temperature reversals often occur in winter, i. H. low temperatures and
low hours of sunshine occur in valley areas, while the mountains have
higher temperatures and long hours of sunshine above around 1,000m.
Illyrian climate
In the southeast, the influence of the Illyrian
climate is already noticeable, which can have influences from the
subtropical Mediterranean climate. These include, especially in winter,
the heavy precipitation or snowfall that occurs again and again along
Zugstraße 5 b when an Adriatic low occurs. They sometimes bring heavy
snowfalls to the south-east of Lower Austria. In addition, relatively
warm and dry autumn months are common.
With an area of 19,179.56 km², Lower Austria is the largest federal
state in Austria. It encloses the federal capital Vienna (134.9 km
border) and borders
in the north on South Bohemia and South
Moravia (both Czech Republic, 333.6 km state border),
in the
north-east on the Tyrnauer and the Pressburger/Bratislavaer
Landschaftsverband (both Slovakia, 80.7 km) as well as within Austria
in the southeast to Burgenland (207.9 km),
in the south to Styria
(187.4 km) and
in the west to Upper Austria (215.3 km).
At
414.3 km, the state has the second longest external border of all
federal states.
Historically, the quarters correspond to the four districts of Lower
Austria, an administrative unit in the monarchy. Roughly based on
natural conditions, the quartering is today without any political
significance. A precise demarcation is only possible in the historical
context, because today the administrative units extend beyond the
district boundaries. Undeniably, the Danube acts as a border. In the
area to the west and east of the Manhartsberg, however, there is no
clear natural boundary. With the exception of the area around
Klosterneuburg, the administrative borders in the area of the Vienna
Woods still follow the watershed today. The naming of the forest, wine,
cider and industrial quarters is an illustration of use and acquisition
and dates back to the monarchy.
At the same time, there are the
main regions in spatial planning, with Central Lower Austria as the
“fifth quarter”.
Natural structure
In terms of natural space,
Lower Austria can be divided into several units. In the west there is a
geological-landscape tripartite division that continues in Upper
Austria, and in the east the Alps merge into the Little Carpathians.
bohemian crowd
Lower Austria has a share in the granite and
gneiss plateau of the Bohemian Massif (better "Bohemian granite and
gneiss highland"), which can be divided into the Zwettler Land, the
Ottenschlager Upland, the Kamp-Kremser Upland and the Gföhl Plateau. On
the northern border there is also the Gmünd depression reaching to the
Czech Republic, the Litschauer Ländchen, the Thaya highlands and the
Upper Thaya valley. On the western border lie the extensive Horner basin
and the Manhartsberg and south of the Danube the Neustadtler Platte and
the Dunkelsteiner forest.
The Alps begin in the east near Vienna (and the Bisamberg to the left
of the Danube). The first mountain ranges that can be attributed to the
Alps are the Lower Austrian Pre-Alps, which consist of flysch and
stretch as a narrow band as far as Steyr. To the south lies Lower
Austria's part of the Styrian-Lower Austrian Limestone Alps with
mountain heights of around 2000 m above sea level. A., particularly in
the Rax and Schneeberg limestone stocks. According to the Alpine Club
classification of the Eastern Alps, a distinction is made between the
Ybbstal Alps (with the Göstlinger Alps as a subunit), Türnitz Alps and
Gutenstein Alps to Lower Austria.
Alpine foothills (and
Carpathian foothills)
The Lower Austrian Alpine Foreland is the area
between the Bohemian granite and gneiss highlands and the narrow Lower
Austrian Prealps and the Lower Austrian Limestone Alps in the south. In
the north-east lies the hilly Weinviertel, which can also be seen in its
continuation beyond the national border as the foothills of the Little
Carpathians (which reach into neighboring Bratislava). The scenic term
Carpathian foothills is to be viewed critically for Lower Austria
insofar as both the corresponding mountains and other parts of the
foothills are situated just beyond the state border. Some authors, such
as Martin Seger from the Academy of Sciences, therefore use the term
"Weinviertel" for the Lower Austrian part of the Carpathian foothills.
Vienna basin
The Vienna Basin, a collapse zone, and the
transitions to the Pannonian Plain are the eastern end of the Alps,
which form the border to the Vienna Woods in the distinctive north-south
thermal line. The so-called Wiener Neustädter Bucht continues on the
other side of the Danube in the Marchfeld.
Schneeberg (monastery coat of arms; 2076 m)
Rax (Scheibwaldhöhe;
1943 m; highest elevation: Heukuppe; 2007 m - Styria)
Ötscher (1893
m)
Dürrenstein (1878 m)
Schneealpe (Ameisbühel; 1828 m; highest
elevation: Windberg; 1903 m - Styria)
Hochkar (1808 m)
Gamsstein
(1774 m)
Stump Wall (1770 m)
Goeller (1766 m)
Hochwechsel (1743
m)
Summit (1669 m)
Large Sonnleitstein (1639 m)
Großer
Zellerhut (1639 m)
Gemeindealpe (1626 m)
Tratenkogel (1565 m)
Solstice (1523 m)
Obersberg (1467 m)
Koenigsberg (1452 m)
Grosser Sulzberg (1400 m)
Reisalpe (1399 m)
Gahns (1380 m)
Tirolerkogel (1377 m)
Türnitzer Höger (1372 m)
Unterberg (1342 m)
Big Otter (1356 m)
Traisenberg (1230 m)
Drought Wall (1222 m)
Hohenstein (1195 m)
Eisenstein (1185 m)
Hohe Wand (1132 m)
Big
Peilstein (1061 m)
Weinsberg (1041 m)
Hocheck (1037 m)
Nebula
Stone (1017 m)
Eibl (1007 m)
High Mandling (967 m)
Jauerling
(961 m)
Goesing (898 m)
Hutwish (896 m)
Schöpfl (893 m)
Higher Lindkogel (834 m)
Anninger (675 m)
Manhartsberg (537 m)
Buschberg (491 m)
Temple Mount (403 m)
Eichkogel (367 m)
Heiligenstein (360 m)
There are several important Alpine crossings on the state border with
Styria. The most important are the Semmering (984 m above sea level) and
the Wechsel Pass (980 m above sea level), which are accessed by
high-level roads and railways.
The Zellerrain (1121 m above sea
level) and the Mendlingpass (680 m above sea level) can be crossed via
federal roads and the Feistritzsattel (1298 m above sea level), the
highest pass in Lower Austria, and the Preiner Gscheid (1070 m above sea
level) A.) over country roads.
The route over the
Mariazellerland, an inner-Alpine pass landscape with the Styrian Seeberg
(1246 m above sea level) as the highest mountain crossing, is
historically significant but not to be regarded as a pass. On the Lower
Austrian side are the Annaberg (976 m above sea level) and the Kernhofer
Gscheid (970 m above sea level). The Mariazell Railway ends in the
middle of the main town of Mariazell, which is well developed for
tourism.
Only the Saurüssel (552 m above sea level) leads to
Upper Austria. Several crossings on the Leitha and Rosaliengebirge lead
to Burgenland.
Also worth mentioning are the routes over the
Ochsattel (820 m above sea level), which is popular with motorcyclists,
the Riederberg (384 m above sea level) and the Strengberge (358 m above
sea level), via which the B1 federal road leads, as well as the court
mountain (581 m above sea level), over which the Leobersdorfer Bahn ran
until 2004 and further Hochstrass (557 m above sea level) with the outer
ring motorway.
All other passports only have regional or local
significance.
Lower Austria is drained almost entirely by the Danube. Only the
Lainsitz in the northern Waldviertel and its tributaries such as the
Braunaubach, the Reißbach or the Neumühlbach drain via the Moldau into
the river system of the Elbe, which flows into the North Sea. The Thaya,
which flows at or north of the northern border of Lower Austria, flows
into the Morava directly at the border between the Czech Republic and
Austria.
The Danube reaches Lower Austria via the Strudengau,
where it has its deepest point in Austria at Grein (20 m), then flows
through the Nibelungengau and finally the Wachau. These three narrow
valleys are followed by two basins, the Tulln Basin and the Vienna
Basin, with the Vienna Gate in between and then the Hainburg Gate,
through which the Danube leaves Lower Austria (after 218 kilometers) and
Austria.
In Lower Austria, the Danube changes from a mountain
river to a lowland river, which is when its upper reaches come to an
end. However, this can only be understood to a limited extent today due
to the many Danube power plants.
The main tributaries are:
north of the Danube / on the left bank of the Danube
Ysper
Kamp,
153 km
Krems
March, 80 km NE
south of the Danube / on the
right bank of the Danube
Enns, 26 km in NE
Ybbs, 126 km
Pielach
Traisen, 70 km
Schwechat, 64 km
Schwarza
Trieste
Pitten
Leitha
piesting
There are only a few natural lakes in Lower Austria, which is why
reservoirs or many artificially created ponds are also referred to as
lakes. The largest lake is the Ottenstein reservoir (4.3 km²), which
forms a chain of power plants with the Dobra reservoir (1.55 km²) and
the Thurnberg reservoir (0.55 km²) at Kamp.
The largest natural
lakes are the Lunzer See (0.68 km²) and the Erlaufsee (0.52 km²), with
the latter being about half in Styria. Other large reservoirs are the
Erlaufstausee and the Wienerwaldsee (0.32 km²). The two Viehofner lakes
and the Ratzersdorfer lake are abandoned gravel pits and especially in
the Waldviertel there are many active and former fish ponds such as the
Herrensee and the Schönauer pond near Litschau.
ower Austria is rich in natural caves. A total of 4082 of these are
recorded in the cadastre. Most of the caves in Lower Austria were formed
in the limestone and dolomite rocks of the Limestone Alps and are
therefore so-called karst caves. Limestone marble in the Central Alps
and in the Bohemian Massif also enables the formation of caves. The
largest caves in Lower Austria include:
Ötscher cave system
(Ötscher): 27,003 meters long; Merger of Taubenloch and Geldloch
Pfannloch (Ötscher): 5,287 meters long
Lechnerweid Cave
(Dürrenstein): 5,252 meters long
Dry hole (Schwarzenbach an der
Pielach): 4,510 meters long
Hermannshöhle (Kirchberg am Wechsel):
4,430 meters long
Eisenstein Cave (Bad Fischau): 2,341 meters long
In addition to the latter two, the Allander stalactite cave, the Einhorn
cave, the Hochkarschacht, the Nix cave and the Ötscher stalactite cave
are also listed as show caves in Lower Austria.
A border runs through Lower Austria between two floral regions, both
of which belong to the Holarctic floral kingdom. The western part of the
country, like almost all of the rest of Austria, belongs to the Central
European floral region, while the Weinviertel, the eastern edge of the
Waldviertel, the southern slopes of the Wachau, the hills between St.
Pölten and the Tulln Basin, the Vienna Basin, the Hainburg Mountains and
the fringes of the Leithagebirge belong to the Pannonian floral
province, which in turn represents the westernmost part of the southern
Siberian-Pontic-Pannonian floral region.
Apart from Lower
Austria, only Burgenland and Vienna have a share in the South
Siberian-Pontic-Pannonian floral region in Austria, which stretches from
South Siberia through the Ukraine, Transylvania, Vojvodina and the
Hungarian Plain to the eastern edge of the Alps. For this reason, the
flora in the eastern part of the country differs greatly from that in
the western part, in the eastern part there are many species that are
unique in Austria and therefore worthy of protection. Several species
reach their western distribution limit in Lower Austria, such as the
Tátorján sea kale and the forest steppe mugwort.
Lower Austria is
the province with the most species, not least because of its share of
two floral regions: 2,369 full-status vascular plant species and 2,498
elementary vascular plant taxa are known. 96 full status species and 110
elementary taxa only occur in Lower Austria, but not in the rest of
Austria. Some species are endemic to Lower Austria, such as the
thick-root spoonwort, which is threatened with extinction.
Various levels of protection have been set up in Lower Austria in
order to preserve regions that are particularly worthy of protection in
terms of culture or nature in their original state or to restore them to
their natural state.
These protection levels are:
Landscape
protection areas: There are 29 landscape protection areas in the federal
state.
National parks: With the Thayatal and Donau-Auen national
parks, Lower Austria is the only federal state in which two national
parks are located. The Thayatal National Park finds its direct
continuation in the Czech Národní Park Podyjí.
Nature parks: 23
nature parks cover around 500 km² of the state.
Nature reserves: The
68 nature reserves cover an area of 133 km² and provide special
protection for rare plant or animal species.
Located on the former Amber Road, present-day Lower Austria was part
of the Celtic La Tène culture during earlier antiquity. So it was
settled in the north and in the eastern border area by the Celtic Boii.
To the south it was part of the larger area of the Celtic kingdom of
Regnum Noricum, which was conquered peacefully in the wake of the
Augustan campaigns in the Alps from 15 BC. i.e. increasingly under Roman
control until under Claudius (emperor from 41-54) it finally became part
of the Roman province of Noricum, and later its part Noricum ripense.
The south-eastern part of the territory went from 35 BC. i.e. Zr. as a
border area in the eastern Roman Illyricum Inferius. The Illyricum went
up again, also under Claudius, with the long-standing administrative
center Carnuntum as part of the newly founded province of Pannonia, or
later in its part Pannonia Superior and then in Pannonia Prima. Roman
control was thus limited to the southern half of present-day territory,
south of the Celtic-Germanic Marcomanni beyond the Danube and the Limes
running along it, and also disappeared in the south by the 5th century,
or formally in the 6th century with the sinking of the Germanic
Ostrogothic Empire.
After the migration of peoples, the area was
controlled by the Avar Empire until it was integrated into the Frankish
Empire as part of Upper Pannonia of the Avar Mark in the 9th century.
Then in 828, for protection against the Moravian Empire, the western
part of the Awarenmark became a Franconian Marcha orientalis, more
precisely the Bavarian Marcha orientalis, i.e. the Bavarian Ostland as a
mark or prefecture of the tribal duchy of Bavaria. The Magyars then
controlled the area of the Bavarian Ostland between 907 and 955 before
it was reconquered in the name of the Bavarian rulers. The Regensburg
Luitpoldinger, ruling dynasty of the Germanic Bavarians and the
Lombards, ruled over their descendants until the end of the Babenbergs
in the dominion. From 976 the area finally became a Bavarian
margraviate, which was increasingly referred to as Ostarrîchi in the
area around Neuhofen an der Ybbs from 996 at the latest.
Since
then, Austria has given the name of the originally Swiss Habsburg
dynasty or Habsburg-Lorraine as the "House of Austria" and the
respective overall state (Austrian Monarchy, Austrian Empire,
Austria-Hungary, Republic of Austria). Lower Austria and Upper Austria
are later differentiated components of the original Austria, with Lower
Austria being the heartland. As the heartland, today's federal state has
hardly any historical traditions that deviate from Austrian history,
with the seats of government in Austria almost always lying within Lower
Austria, from Pöchlarn (until 984) via Melk and Klosterneuburg to Vienna
(1155).
In 1156, Ostarrichi was declared a duchy of Austria,
which was later differentiated into the 17th century as Austria Inferior
(“Lower Austria”), Austria Superior (“Upper Austria”) and Austria
Interior (“Inner Austria”) within the Austrian hereditary lands of the
Austrian imperial circle and the Habsburg ancestral lands.
Ottokar Přemysl made the beginnings of an administrative division of the
Duchy of Austria along the Enns as early as the 13th century, but for
the land above the Enns it was only under the Habsburgs that separate
estates were established in Linz. After the death of Ladislaus Postumus
in 1458, Frederick III was granted a contract of inheritance. Austria
under the Enns (also: nied der Enns), today's Lower Austria, awarded,
while his brother Albrecht VI. Austria above the Enns (today's Upper
Austria) received. After Austria Superior became smaller and many of the
Austrian foothills were no longer part of the hereditary lands, the
colloquial terms "Lower Austria" and "Upper Austria" changed their
meaning from the 17th century, to today's meaning as a term for Austria
below the Enns and above the Enns. However, both territories remained
two parts of the same archduchy until the February patent in 1861, only
then did Austria ob der Enns become an independent archduchy.
In
1918/19 Lower Austria had to cede smaller areas near Gmünd and the town
of Feldsberg with its Liechtenstein Castle to the new state of
Czechoslovakia. On November 10, 1920, the day the federal constitution
came into force, Vienna gained the rights of a federal state that was
politically independent of Lower Austria. The separation of ownership
was decided by the end of 1921 with the so-called Separation Act, which
was passed in the same way in Lower Austria (excluding Vienna) and in
Vienna. At the same time, the remaining joint political bodies were
dissolved.
Called Gau Niederdonau during the Nazi era, northern
Burgenland and southern Moravia were added to the state in autumn 1938;
at the same time it had to cede numerous communities to the new Greater
Vienna. Almost all of these changes were reversed in 1945. In 1946, a
greatly reduced extension of Vienna was decided, but it could not come
into force until 1954 due to a Soviet objection.
The development
of Lower Austria after the Second World War was hampered by the fact
that the country belonged to the Soviet occupation zone of Austria and
was then surrounded by the Iron Curtain until 1989.
In July 1986,
Lower Austria was formally given a provincial capital separate from
Vienna, after cities such as Südstadt, Floridsdorf, Korneuburg,
Klosterneuburg and Melk, as well as Wr. Neustadt, Baden bei Wien, Tulln,
Krems and Sankt Pölten were considered as seats, with the latter in a
March 1986 referendum overwhelmingly voting with St. Pölten for a
separate provincial capital. The Lower Austrian provincial government
and administration relocated from Vienna to Sankt Pölten in 1996.
Some mostly conservative politicians from Lower Austria or with the
state were or are particularly connected, who held or hold prominent
positions in Austria:
House of Liechtenstein, family with ancestral
castle near Vienna
Family of the Counts of Harrach, with the Viceroy
from Rohrau
Family of the Counts of Kuefstein, regularly provided the
vicedom (governor) for centuries and held comparable high offices in the
country
Wilhelm Miklas, Federal President 1928-1938
Engelbert
Dollfuss, Chancellor who eliminated Parliament in 1933
Leopold Figl,
First Chancellor of the Second Republic
Julius Raab, "Chancellor of
the State Treaty"
Oskar Helmer, social democrat, longtime Minister of
the Interior
Rudolf Kirchschläger, independent, Federal President
1974-1986
Hermann Withalm, notary in Wolkersdorf, Vice-Chancellor
Alois Mock, Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister
Josef Proell, Vice
Chancellor and Finance Minister
From 1920 to 1934, Lower Austria was initially divided into four
constituencies, and the state parliament consisted of 60 members. The
last democratic elections before the Nazi era took place in 1932: Eight
constituencies were formed and the number of deputies was reduced to 56.
This was intended to politically strengthen the major parties to the
detriment of the smaller parties and thus weaken the NSDAP, which was
becoming stronger in Austria.
From 1934 to 1938 the country was
governed by a corporative state. In March 1938, the German Wehrmacht
invaded Austria (“Annexation of Austria”). The German Empire annexed
Austria. From 1938 to 1945, a Reichsstatthalter (Gauleiter) headed the
state administration and the NSDAP in the state.
Since 1945,
state politics has been dominated by the ÖVP, which has been the
governor since then and has always won a large proportion of all votes
in the federal territory for the federal ÖVP - in the 2019 national
elections in Austria it was 24.3%, i.e. almost a quarter of the votes
cast for the ÖVP in Austria. The mayors of the communities mostly belong
to the ÖVP. The SPÖ is the second strongest political force; Greens,
NEOS and FPÖ achieve weaker results in this federal state than the
national average.
According to the election result of January 29,
2023, the distribution of seats is:
ÖVP 23 (–6)
SPÖ 12 (-1)
FPÖ
14 (+6)
Green 4 (+1)
NEOS 3 (±0)
The state government
consists of the governor, his two deputies and six members of the
government, known as state councillors. According to the state
constitution, the parties send representatives to the state government
according to the ratio of the seats they have achieved in the state
parliament (“compulsory proportional representation”).
Current
members of the Mikl-Leitner III state government are:
Governor
Johanna Mikl-Leitner (ÖVP)
Deputy Governor Stephan Pernkopf (ÖVP)
Deputy Governor Udo Landbauer (FPÖ)
and the provincial councils
Sven Hergovich (SPÖ)
Ulrike Königsberger-Ludwig (SPÖ)
Christoph
Luisser (FPÖ)
Susanne Rosencrantz (FPÖ)
Ludwig Schleritzko (ÖVP)
Christiane Teschl-Hofmeister (ÖVP)
In the National Council, Lower
Austria is currently represented by 34 deputies on the respective
provincial election proposals:
15 ÖVP
7 SPÖ
6 FPÖ
4 greens
2 NEOS
plus a non-constant number of MPs from the federal
election proposals (proportional adjustment lists) (status after the
2019 NR election).
As the federal state with the largest number
of citizens (number of Austrian citizens who have their main residence
in the federal state), Lower Austria sends twelve members to the
Bundesrat:
5 ÖVP (-2)
3 SPÖ (±0)
3 FPÖ (+1)
1 Green (+1)
Description: In blue five (2:2:1) golden facing eagles. Above the shield a golden three-towered mural crown.
The economically strongest regions in Lower Austria are located along the Thermenlinie. The district with the highest tax revenue is the district of Mödling, directly on the southern edge of Vienna. The further away the areas are from Vienna, the weaker their economic power becomes. In comparison with the gross domestic product of the European Union, the region achieved an index of 105 in 2014 expressed in purchasing power standards (EU-28: 100; Austria: 129).[20] After the Second World War, Lower Austria was in the Soviet occupation zone. While elsewhere in Austria the economy could already begin to rebuild, here many large companies remained destroyed or were in the hands of the Soviet USIA. Reparations from Austria to the Soviet Union were made, among other things, in the form of oil that was mined in the Marchfeld. Only after the signing of the State Treaty in 1955 could economic reconstruction begin in Lower Austria. Up until 1989, the Iron Curtain still had an inhibiting effect on economic power. Even today, many people from the Waldviertel commute to their place of work in Vienna as day or weekend commuters. State policy is constantly striving to establish new companies in Lower Austria, mostly via the state-owned company Eco Plus and the start-up agency RIZ.
For operational reasons, Lower Austria's spatial planning has divided
the state area into five areas of activity for the regional development
associations or the associated regional management, which, with a few
deviations, are based on the four scenic quarters. A new addition to the
state's spatial planning concept is the "Central" region, because this
area did not correspond to the classic description of the Mostviertel or
the industrial district, but has now shown a great deal of independence,
especially since the capital was relocated to St. Pölten. It includes
the districts of Tulln, St. Pölten, Lilienfeld, the southern part of the
district of Krems and the statutory towns of St. Pölten and Krems an der
Donau. The Mostviertel and, to a lesser extent, the Waldviertel,
Weinviertel and Industrieviertel were thus curtailed somewhat, with the
south-western Waldviertel also becoming the Mostviertel, so that the
communities on the north bank of the Danube Valley are now oriented more
towards the south, and those west of Vienna towards the west.
Main Region Industrieviertel (the Industrieviertel without the eastern
part of the district of St. Pölten)
Central Lower Austria (statutory
towns of St. Pölten and Krems an der Donau and the districts of St.
Pölten, Lilienfeld, Tulln, parts of the districts of Krems (southeast)
and Melk)
Main region Mostviertel (the western part of the
Mostviertel: statutory town of Waidhofen an der Ybbs, districts of
Amstetten, Scheibbs and mostly Melk, also with the communities on the
left bank of the Danube, which belong to the Waldviertel in terms of
landscape)
Main region Waldviertel (the Waldviertel without the city
of Krems an der Donau and the districts of Melk on the left bank of the
Danube and parts of Krems)
Main region Weinviertel (the Weinviertel
excluding the Tulln district north of the Danube)
These main
regions group together areas that have common characteristics
(geographical relationships, similar economic structure, resource
endowment) or similar problems. The main task is to articulate the
concerns of these regions, to formulate strategically important key
issues and to initiate suitable lead projects.
In addition,
regions are defined in the nature conservation concept, which function
as subdivisions of the main regions. Insofar as their borders do not
coincide with those of the main regions, they are defined in terms of
landscape (as a summary of the landscape sub-areas).
The state capital has been St. Pölten since 1986; until the move there in 1996, the provincial government and administration were housed in Vienna. Although Vienna became an independent federal state in 1920, it was the seat of the Lower Austrian state government until 1996. In terms of regional politics, so-called district capitals are also of central importance in Lower Austria in the five main regions.
The last mile of energy supply with electricity and gas is always
provided by the state-owned EVN. The municipalities on the outskirts of
Vienna are still supplied by Wien Energie. Harmanschlag in the district
of Gmünd was the last place in Lower Austria to be connected to the
power grid in 1963.
Since 2015, the electricity consumed in Lower
Austria has been obtained entirely from renewable energies. The four
regional districts are involved differently in the individual types of
production. The proportion of photovoltaic generation is highest in the
Mostviertel. In the Waldviertel it is hydropower, in the Weinviertel it
is wind power. A mix of all forms can be found in the industrial
district. In 2019, Lower Austria's wind turbines generated around 30% of
the electrical energy generated there. At the end of 2022, the 762 wind
turbines in Lower Austria had a total capacity of 1861.0 MW; this meant
that more than half of Austria's wind power capacity was located in
Lower Austria. 57% of the electricity generated in Lower Austria in 2021
came from hydropower, mainly from four run-of-river power plants on the
Danube, but also from 560 smaller power plants. 7% of the electricity
was generated with biomass, 32% with wind power and 4% with
photovoltaics.
Lower Austria's largest media are the ORF Niederösterreich, an offshoot of the public radio and television station, and the weekly newspaper Niederösterreichische Nachrichten (NÖN) from the publishing house Niederösterreichisches Pressehaus. Media that appear in Vienna are mostly consumed in Lower Austria.
42% of the total land area is arable land. 40% are designated as
forest area. Livestock farming, agriculture and forestry are strong
economic sectors. However, the number of people employed there has
fallen to less than ten percent of all employed persons over the past 50
years.
Another important branch of the economy is viticulture,
which can be found primarily in the Weinviertel, in the Wachau and in
the Thermenregion. 25,943 hectares are cultivated in Lower Austrian
viticulture (as of November 30, 2022). Four of the six DAC wine-growing
regions throughout Austria, where high-quality wine is grown, are in
Lower Austria.
Day tourism from the Vienna agglomeration is of particular economic
importance for Lower Austria. The country presents itself as a natural
leisure area for all seasons. The "Lower Austria Card", which is valid
all year round, supports this line of business as well as the numerous
summer cultural festivals in all parts of the country.
The
country has gained a lot in overnight tourism thanks to guests from
Central and Eastern European countries. For example, the Waldviertel,
which borders the Czech Republic, has the strongest increase in
overnight stays. Above all, the southern suburbs of Vienna (Schwechat,
Vösendorf) benefit from city tourism thanks to the transport
connections. Since the end of the 20th century, the landscape around the
Wachau, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has also seen a greater number of
visitors.
The tourism industry primarily advertises the large
cultural centers in the country such as the many monasteries and
castles. Holidays on the farm are also heavily advertised and gladly
accepted. Lower Austria's considerable share of the Eastern Alps is
little known nationally; it is advertised under the term "Vienna Alps".
In winter, the ski areas mainly attract guests from the former Eastern
Bloc and day visitors from Vienna. The ski slopes are not very high and
are at risk from climate change.
Christiane Hörbiger promoted
tourism in Lower Austria. With his novel and TV character, the
Weinviertel gendarmerie inspector Simon Polt, the writer Alfred Komarek
is indirectly promoting sympathy for the country.
The Provincial Police Headquarters of Lower Austria is based in St.
Pölten.
1,646 volunteer fire brigades and 90 company fire
brigades are responsible for disaster and fire protection. The state
fire brigade command and the fire brigade training facility, the state
fire brigade school, are located in Tulln on the Danube. The alarm is
raised via the fire brigade's own alarm centers, which cover either one
or several districts. In addition, the provincial warning center for
Lower Austria is located at the location of the provincial fire brigade
association in Tulln with a redundant position at the provincial
government in Tulln.
In Lower Austria, the rescue service is
generally provided by the Red Cross, which is represented in all
districts and in numerous local offices, and in some areas by the
Samaritan Association. The Red Cross has its state headquarters in
Tulln, while the ASBÖ is based in Wilhelmsburg. The coordination of
almost all rescue equipment in the federal state is taken over by the
rescue control center 144 Notruf Niederösterreich, which is managed as a
company and in which the state is a 66% shareholder. Until 2020, the
maintenance of the rescue workers was the task of the municipalities
through the contribution formerly known colloquially as the rescue
shilling, later the rescue euro, before this also took place directly
from the year 2021 through a regulation by the state.
The
military command of Lower Austria is located in the Hesser barracks in
St. Pölten.
Social services such as home nursing are offered by
the regional associations of the Austrian Aid Organization and Caritas,
among others. All public hospitals are state-owned and managed by
Niederösterreichische Landeskliniken-Holding. In addition to these
services, there are other voluntary aid organizations that are involved
in civil protection. These include:
Lower Austrian Mountain Rescue
Lower Austrian Cave Rescue
Lower Austrian civil protection
association
Austrian experimental transmitter association
Lower
Austrian mountain and nature rescue service
Team Austria
Streets are based on economic requirements and therefore usually run
in a star shape towards the cities. In Lower Austria, the federal
capital, Vienna, dominated in particular when it came to building roads.
Furthermore, streets also follow the natural conditions such as the
valleys.
In 2017, the degree of motorization (passenger cars per
1000 inhabitants) was 641.
The most important road traffic routes include the western autobahn A
1 and the southern autobahn A 2, which connect Vienna with large parts
of Austria. Both are connected via the Vienna outer ring Autobahn A 21,
part of the planned Autobahn ring road around Vienna. After the east was
opened up, the east autobahn A 4 and later the north autobahn A 5 were
built, which are integrated into the autobahn ring around Vienna via the
outer ring expressway S 1.
From the southern autobahn, the A3
southeast autobahn branches off to northern Burgenland and the S6
Semmering expressway to the Styrian Mürztal. The Donauuferautobahn A 22,
with the subsequent Stockerauer Schnellstraße S 5, the connection from
Vienna to Krems (Wachau), is important in regional traffic.
Ever
since the removal of the Iron Curtain in 1989, there has been a constant
increase in transit traffic, especially in the east-west direction, on
the high-level road network. The Westautobahn will therefore be expanded
to three lanes in each direction. Commuter traffic (between home and
place of work) also takes place to a large extent on the street.
The streets marked "B" are former federal roads and have been administered by the federal states since 2002, which means that they are only colloquially referred to as federal roads. In Lower Austria there are Wiener Straße B 1 up to Bernstein Straße B 49 and then some streets with higher numbers.
In Lower Austria, state roads are marked with an “L” in front, but these abbreviations are rarely used on traffic signs. State roads with one to three-digit designations indicate a higher importance in the road network, four-digit designations have state roads if they represent small local connections without regional importance. Because it is a Lower Austrian peculiarity that every street that crosses a municipal boundary is under the administration of the state. The Lower Austrian state road directory is the official directory of all state roads.
Important railway lines, so-called main railways, are the northern railway, the first steam railway in the monarchy, the southern railway, the eastern railway and the western railway, in order of their opening. These represent the basic network and handle international long-distance traffic, which is why they are also double-tracked. The Franz-Josefs-Bahn was also operated as the main railway until the 1990s; Currently, however, long-distance traffic to Prague is routed via the Northern Railway. The Western Railway was supplemented in 2012 with a new high-speed line through the Wienerwald Tunnel; since 2015, the end of the line in Vienna has been the newly built main station, rather than the historic Vienna Westbahnhof.
The Austrian Federal Railways also operate an extensive pre-1918
network of branch lines in the country. The environs of Vienna are
served by dense regional and rapid transit services; For easier
usability, the Verkehrsverbund Ostregion (VOR) was created, which
extends to the northern and eastern borders of (Lower) Austria.
In order to be able to integrate Vienna Airport directly into the
West-East axis of the railway, it is to be connected to the Eastern
Railway with the Götzendorfer Spange. This could e.g. direct trains from
Bratislava to Vienna Airport.
Numerous routes were discontinued
due to unprofitability or subsequently taken over by the NÖVOG, which
runs some routes, such as the narrow-gauge Mariazeller Bahn, in regular
operation and others as a museum railway. These are, for example, the
Wachaubahn and the Reblaus-Express.
The Postbus company and other transport companies operate a dense network of bus lines on behalf of the state, often parallel to existing railway lines. The Wieselbusse use express buses on a network that ends in St. Pölten.
Freight shipping on the international Danube waterway is of great importance for traffic with the largest Danube port in Lower Austria, Krems. In passenger shipping, in addition to local traffic in the Wachau, cruise ships from all over Europe that sail on the Danube or the Rhine-Main-Danube route are particularly noteworthy. Numerous Danube ferries, some carrying vehicles, cross the river. Leisure traffic comes from smaller harbors and launch sites and is reflected in the Tulln Boat Fair. The Vienna-Bratislava express boats only pass through Lower Austria.
Schwechat in Lower Austria is the location of Austria's largest
airport, Vienna Airport, which has developed into an important hub in
international air traffic thanks to the eastward expansion of the EU.
The state of Lower Austria is a 20% shareholder of the airport operating
company.
In Langenlebarn is the air base Brumowski of the army.
Regional airfields are Altlichtenwarth Airfield, Dobersberg Airfield,
Krems-Langenlois Airfield, Ottenschlag Airfield, Seitenstetten Airfield,
Spitzerberg Airfield, Stockerau Airfield, St. Georgen am Ybbsfeld
Airfield, Völtendorf Airfield and Vöslau Airfield. Wiener Neustadt has a
small aircraft factory and the Aviaticum flight museum at the private
airfield east as well as the largest unpaved and also oldest airfield in
Europe, the airfield Wiener Neustadt/West operated by the military.
The kindergarten system is primarily organized by the public sector.
The Lower Austrian Kindergarten Act gives the political communities
clear guidelines when setting up a kindergarten. In these institutions,
known as Lower Austria state kindergartens, the municipalities are
responsible for the planning, construction and maintenance, while the
state provides the pedagogical kindergarten staff. At the same time, the
state is also the supervisory authority for around 1,000 state
kindergartens in Lower Austria.
There are also about 40 private
kindergartens. In most cases, the operators are church organizations.
In Lower Austria, in addition to the compulsory school system, there
are numerous higher education schools that graduate with the Matura.
These are mostly located in the district capitals and primarily in
school towns such as Baden, Hollabrunn, Krems an der Donau, St. Pölten
or Wiener Neustadt.
tertiary education sector
University
education is offered by the following institutions:
PH Baden
ITM
Bad Vöslau
University for Continuing Education Krems (Danube
University)
Danube Private University in Krems an der Donau
Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST) in
Klosterneuburg-Maria Gugging
University and Research Center Tulln
(UFT) in Tulln on the Danube
University Center Hollabrunn
PH Krems
IMC University of Applied Sciences Krems
Technology and Research
Center Wiener Neustadt (TFZ) in Wiener Neustadt
Bio Science Park
Krems in Krems an der Donau
Karl Landsteiner Private University for
Health Sciences in Krems an der Donau
Technology Center
Wieselburg-Land (TZWL) in Wieselburg-Land
University of Applied
Sciences Wiener Neustadt
St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences
In addition, there is professionally oriented academic training in:
Priest Seminary St. Pölten
Philosophical-Theological University
Benedict XVI. in Heiligenkreuz Abbey
MilAK in Wiener Neustadt
community academy
There are also vocational schools:
LBS
Amstetten,
LBS Eggenburg,
LBS Geras,
LBS Langenlois,
LBS
Neunkirchen,
LBS Pöchlarn,
LBS Waldegg,
LBS Laa an der Thaya
LBS Zistersdorf and the
Gutshof Edelhof as well as the
Fire
Brigade School Tulln
and the Michelbach Observatory, the official
Lower Austrian public observatory.
The office of the Lower Austrian state government is the highest
administrative body in the state, but not an authority itself, but an
administrative auxiliary apparatus of the Lower Austrian state
government. The office of the Lower Austrian provincial government is
active in its own sphere of activity, i.e. in the implementation of
provincial laws and also in the transferred sphere of activity, i.e. in
the implementation of federal laws, with which the federal states are
empowered either by the constitution or in some other way.
In
order to be close to the citizens, a certain part of the administration
is carried out by the district authorities, which act as branch offices
of the Lower Austrian provincial government. For this purpose, Lower
Austria is divided into 20 administrative districts (number since 2017).
The four statutory towns, which are responsible for the district
administration themselves, occupy a special position.
Since the
last municipal reform in 1970 and a few minor changes, there have been
573 municipalities in Lower Austria.
A referendum on the
so-called capital question in 1986 brought the decision to make St.
Pölten the new provincial capital and to move the central institutions
of Lower Austria from Vienna there. From 1986 to 1996 the construction
of the government district and the gradual relocation of organs,
authorities and offices of the country took place. In terms of
decentralization, various administrative offices were not relocated to
St. Pölten, but to the state districts or district authorities.
In Lower Austria there are numerous monasteries and monasteries that
have always functioned as cultural centres:
Melk Abbey (since 1089)
Klosterneuburg Abbey (since 1114; ducal residence before it became
Vienna)
Heiligenkreuz Abbey (since 1133)
Altenburg Abbey
Dürnstein Abbey
Geras pen
Gottweig Abbey
Herzogenburg Abbey
Lilienfeld Abbey
Seitenstetten Abbey
Zwettl Abbey
Most of
the palaces and castles once reserved for the aristocracy are now
tourist attractions, exhibition venues and concert halls, for example
the Schallaburg and Schloss Hof as well as the castles of Grafenegg,
Thürntal, Wilfersdorf, Artstetten, Rosenau, Greillenstein, Eckartsau,
Niederweiden, Laxenburg, Rohrau and Rosenburg am Kamp.
Important institutions are the Lower Austrian State Museum, newly built in the St. Pölten cultural district, the art mile in Krems with the art gallery and the newly built caricature museum, the Roman excavations in the Carnuntum Archeology Park and the Carnuntinum Museum, the Egon Schiele Museum in Tulln, the Kokoschka House in Pöchlarn, the Museum of Prehistory and the Heldenberg. Every second year, the state government organizes a large state exhibition.
The Festspielhaus St. Pölten, which opened in 1997, is used all year
round. Theaters are also offered by the municipal theaters in St. Pölten
and Baden. In addition, summer stages in Berndorf, Stockerau,
Langenlois, Felsenbühne Staatz (musicals), Weißenkirchen in der Wachau
and at Liechtenstein Castle are used. The extensive offer is summarized
in advertising in the “Lower Austria Theater Festival”. The annual
Danube Festival is added.
Many facilities are operated by the
state-owned Niederösterreich Kultur GmbH. A source of inspiration for
regional art and culture initiatives is the cultural network of Lower
Austria with the quarter festival. A service partner and organizer in
the field of folk culture is the project Volkskultur Niederösterreich
[36] with the business areas music school management, choir scene,
museum management, folk culture Europe and the Lower Austrian folk music
festival. In the field of adult education, the educational and homeland
work of Lower Austria should be mentioned in particular.
The
cinemas Cinema Paradiso in St. Pölten and Österreichische Filmgalerie in
Krems contribute to the preservation of cinema culture and film art.
The "land around Vienna" was and is the place of work of many authors
and the scene of numerous works of fiction (examples):
Joseph von
Eichendorff: From the life of a good-for-nothing. The main character as
a gardener in a palace near Vienna. 1823
Franz Grillparzer: King
Ottokar's luck and end. How the battle on the Marchfeld came about in
1278. 1825
Ferdinand Raimund: Classics of the Austrian folk play with
love for Gutenstein. Until 1836.
Between 1885 and 1903, Bertha von
Suttner lived between her travels at Harmannsdorf Castle and wrote
socially critical novels here
Arthur Schnitzler: The wide country.
Tragedy in a villa at Semmering. 1911
Josef Weinheber: Viennese Nazi
poet dies in his home in Kirchstetten. 1945
Martin Costa: The
Councilor Geiger. Mariandl from Wachau finds her love and her father.
1942 (filmed in 1947 and 1961).
Alfred Komarek: Polt has to cry. A
novel about a village gendarme in the Weinviertel. 1998; (several
sequels and film adaptation).
In the scientific literature, a social science study conducted by
experts in Lower Austria has achieved the status of a classic:
Marie
Jahoda, Paul Felix Lazarsfeld, Hans Zeisel: The unemployed of
Marienthal. A sociographic attempt on the effects of long-term
unemployment. Published by the Austrian Business Psychology Research
Center. Verlag Hirzel, Leipzig 1933 – Marienthal is part of
Gramatneusiedl.
Several scientific institutions are located in Lower Austria. The
following should be mentioned here, among others:
Laboratory of the
International Atomic Energy Agency in Seibersdorf
University for
Continuing Education Krems (Danube University)
Institute of Science
and Technology Austria (IST) in Klosterneuburg-Maria Gugging
A
number of locations have developed as research centers in Lower Austria
in the first decade of the 21st century:
University and Research
Center Tulln (UFT) in Tulln on the Danube
Technology and Research
Center Wiener Neustadt (TFZ) in Wiener Neustadt
Bio Science Park
Krems in Krems an der Donau
Technology Center Wieselburg-Land (TZWL)
in Wieselburg-Land
WasserCluster Lunz (WCL) in Lunz am See