Economy of Lower Austria

The competitive agriculture is very important not only in the Alpine foothills (Mostviertel, Tullnerfeld, Weinviertel regions) and in the Viennese basin, but especially in the Marchfeld region which due to the Pannonian climate is called the “granary of Austria” (cultivation of sugar beet, fruits and vegetables). The viniculture is of utmost importance, too. Large areas of cultivable land are the Wachau region (around Krems), the zone in the South of Vienna and of course the Weinviertel region.

Because of the construction of various derricks for the extraction of mineral
oil and natural gas in the Marchfeld region and in the Eastern part of the Weinviertel region, the landscape has changed very much since 1930. But today the profitability has decreased. Austria meets its need of natural gas by imports that are then used in the refinery Schwechat. Due to the convenient position near the large market of Vienna, a varied industry could develop in the Southern part of the Viennese basin.

The largest industrial area in Austria starts at Mödling and runs along the Southern railway track via Baden-Traiskirchen, Wiener Neustadt and Ternitz to Gloggnitz. Many branchs of industry have entered a state of crisis in the last few years.

They had to be restructered and were forced to dismiss working force. Since the 19th century tourism has become more and more important. The Wachau region, the Wienerwald forest, the mountains Semmering, Schneeberg and Rax are popular holiday areas.

Geography of Lower Austria

The largest out of nine Austrian lands has 1,5 million inhabitants, covers a territory of 19,173 km² and surrounds the federal Austrian capital Vienna. skip It’s divided into cities with their own statute (Krems, St.Pölten, Waidhofen/Ybbs, Wiener Neustadt), 21 administration districts and 571 villages.

Province capital: St. Pölten.

It borders on the Czech Republic in the North, on Slovakia in the East, on the Burgenland in the Southeast, on Styria in the South and on Upper Austria in the West. The river Danube splits the land into two equal parts. In the North you find the hilly Waldviertel region and the Weinviertel region in the East. The Waldviertel is named after its richness in natural forests.

The Manhartsberg divides the country into Weinviertel and Waldviertel. Wine growing is popular in the wide valleys and on loess grounds. Also the Wachau region - located in the picturesque Danube valley between Melk and Krems - is well known for its excellent wines.

East of Vienna, between the rivers Danube and March, there is the Marchfeld region, the biggest plaine in Austria with grain and sugar beet growing (known as the “Austrian corn chamber”). South of the river Danube you find the Mostviertel region that reaches up to the Alpine foothills, towards the Erlauf/Pielach/Traisental valleys. In the East the Wienerwald forest is located, a typical greenbelt recreation area for the Viennese. The very South of Lower Austria is marked by the alps with the Ötscher, Rax and Schneealpe mountains.

Excursions of Lower Austria

The spa of Baden bei Wien has a casino, a sulphur bath cure, a summer theatre and a harness-racing (trotting) course, the spa has long been popular with the Austrian aristocracy.

Krems an der Donau has been a wine-growing town since the middle ages and the Piaristenkirche and the Winestadt Museum both feature important works of the 18th-century artist Johann Martin Schmidt. To the north of Landstrasse much of the original town layout remains, with numerous renaissance houses and small squares.

Melk an der Donau is famous for its enormous Benedictine Abbey on the bluff above the town (although it was less well known as a pilot for the next phase of Nazi concentration camps). Semmering is both a spa and an attractive ski resort.

Bad Deutsch-Altenburg boasts a museum and the Roman archaeological park Carnuntum. In Durnstein, the castle ruins where Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned, the medieval town centre and the monastery church with its Baroque excess of statues of saints are part of every tour. The sights of Retz include subterranean wine-cellars, well-restored medieval city walls, windmills and a Dominican church, and Rohrau is noted as Joseph Haydn’s birthplace.

The Austrian Military Academy (an old castle), the Cathedral, a Capuchin church and a former Jesuit church (now the city’s museum) can be visited in Wiener Neustadt. The abbey, library, state rooms and chapter house at Zwettl are of some interest. Burg Rosenau hosts a Museum of Freemasonry. The Thayatal National Park, on the Thaya River on the border with the Czech Republic is a transborder protected area of what is left of the European forest. The Donau-Auen National Park to the east of Vienna is the last protected area of European rainforest.

Sankt Polten: Lower Austria

Sankt Polten (also St. Pölten) is the capital city of the Austrian State of Lower Austria. With 49.121 inhabitants (circa 2001) it is Lower Austria’s largest city. Sankt Pölten is a city with its own statute (or Statutarstadt) and therefore it is both a municipality and a district in the Mostviertel.

Geography

The city lies on the Traisen river and is located north of the Alps and south of the Wachau. It is part of the Mostviertel, the south-west region of Lower Austria.

Traffic

The city is located directly on the Austrian Western Railway of the ÖBB and is also the terminus of the Leobersdorfer Railway, the Mariazeller Railway, the regional railway to Tulln and the the regional railway to Krems. It is at the intersection of the Western Motorway A1 and the Kremser Speedway S33, and is traversed by the Vienna Road B1. Sankt Pölten is a junction of the Wieselbus bus lines, which provides radial connections between the capital and the different regions of Lower Austria.

In the city

Between 1911 and 1976, a tram line operated in Sankt Pölten. Today, a network of eleven bus lines operates at regular intervals within the city. Every summer, a free tourist train in the city centre connects the ancient parts of the city with the government district.

City division

Sankt Pölten is divided into the following subsdistricts: Altmannsdorf, Dörfl at Ochsenburg, Eggendorf, Ganzendorf, Hafing, Harland, Hart, Kreisberg, Matzersdorf, Muhlgang, Nadelbach, Oberradlberg, Oberwagram, Oberzwischenbrunn, Ochsenburg, Pengersdorf, Pottenbrunn, Pummersdorf, Ragelsdorf, Ratzersdorf at the Traisen, Reitzersdorf, Schwadorf, Spratzern, Sankt Georgen on the Steinfelde, Sankt Pölten, Stattersdorf, Steinfeld, Teufelhof, Unterradlberg, Unterwagram, Unterzwischenbrunn, Viehofen, Völtendorf, Waitzendorf, Wasserburg, Weitern, Wetzersdorf, Windpassing, Witzendorf, Wolfenberg, Wörth and Zwerndorf.

History

The oldest part of the city is built on the site of the ancient Roman city Aelium Cetium that existed the between the 2nd and the 4th century. In the year 799, it was called Treisma. Sankt Pölten became a town in 1050 and officially became a city in 1159. Until 1494 Sankt Pölten was part of the diocese Passau, and then became property of the state. A Benedictine monastery was founded in 771. In 1081 it hosted the Augustinian Chorherren and in 1784 their Kollegiatsstift closed. Since 1785, this building hosts the cathedra of Sankt Pölten. The city became the capital of Lower Austria with a resolution by the Lower Austrian parliament on July 10th, 1986. The Lower Austrian government has been hosted in Sankt Pölten since 1997.

The name Sankt Pölten is derived from Hippolytus of Rome. The city was renamed to Sankt Hippolyt, then Sankt Polyt and finally Sankt Pölten.

Districts in Lower Austria

Amstetten
Baden
Bruck an der Leitha
Ganserndorf
Gmund
Hollabrunn
Horn
Korneuburg
Krems-Land
Lilienfeld
Melk
Mistelbach
Mödling
Neunkirchen
St. Pölten-Land
Scheibbs
Tulln
Waidhofen an der Thaya
Wiener Neustadt-Land
Wien-Umgebung
Zwettl

Introducation of Lower Austria

Lower Austria is one of the nine states or Lander in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria (since 1986) is Sankt Pölten - the most recent capital town in Austria. The state borders on Slovakia, Czech Republic, and on the other Austrian states of Upper Austria, Styria and Burgenland. The state surrounds Wien (Vienna).

With a land area of 19,174 km² and a population of almost 1.5 million people, it is the largest state in Austria, and in terms of population second only to Vienna (which also is a federal state). Lower Austria is the largest of the Austrian provinces, and it borders on the Czech Republic in the north and Slovakia in the east. It is a picturesque, hilly region, drained by the Danube River and containing peaks of the Eastern Alps and the Wienerwald (Vienna Woods).

The province includes roughly half of the country’s arable land and is noted for its grain production and its wines. The valleys and basins around Vienna and Wiener Neustadt contain more than half of all Austrian industry, including manufactures in metal, textiles, chemicals, paper, and cellulose. The region also supports industries in food processing, sugar refining, brewing, and sawmilling. Petroleum is produced N of the Danube, especially near Zistersdorf. Baden is a well-known spa, and the Semmering region in the south is a tourist and health center.

The province has several medieval castles and abbeys. In c.1450 a permanent split was made between Upper and Lower Austria. The region became a Bundesland in 1918; it lost Vienna in 1920. Lower Austria was forced to yield land to Vienna in 1938 but recovered much of it during district reorganization in 1954. The history of Lower Austria coincides with that of Austria.