CITY LIFE
the watchful eye of the Grillplatzmeister.
Locally sourced organic beef has already made a
name as the Weiderind Wienerwald. You can even
buy organic bison meat, along with organic pork,
directly from a farm in Brand-Laaben. Mushroom
hunting is also popular but the best grounds are
closely guarded secrets...
If weather permits, lazy sunbathing and swim-
ming in mineral water are also an option, thanks to
former imperial spa resorts along the forest’s
southeastern edge. The “thermal line” – a succes-
sion of hot and not-so-hot springs – stretches for
about 24 km from Rodaun, a suburb of Vienna, to
Baden and beyond. Indeed, Baden’s sulfurous wa-
ter, flowing out of 14 different springs at a pleas-
ant 36°C in all seasons, was enjoyed by battle wea-
ry Roman legionaries in the 2nd century A.D.
The open-air thermal bath at Bad Vöslau has re-
tained its old-world charm, complete with wooden
cabins. The water used for the outdoor health pool
may be bracing but it flows straight from the
spring, so it must be good for you!PROTECTING THE GOOD LIFE
If climate change continues, Vienna’s green lungs
will become even more important to ensure air
quality and a bearable temperature. Hannes
Lutterschmied, Head of MA 49 (Vienna’s Bureau of
Forest Management) stresses the “general welfare”
feature of the woods in relation to “climate, airquality and as a dust filter.” With around 20 percent
(and growing) of city land forested, Vienna is
already well-equipped – with a temperature differ-
ence already nearing 10°C during heat waves.
In Vienna “nature is a scarce good,” added Lut-
terschmied, which has led to the creation of seven
mountain biking trails to make (illegal) off-road
cycling in protected areas less attractive. There’s
also rock climbing at all levels and, in winter, sled-
ding down the managed woodland trails; at Hohe
Wand Wiese in the 14th district, there’s a ski lift
and a nice wide slope in the forest, which turns
into a dry toboggan run in summer. And for
children, there are Waldspielplätze (forest
playgrounds) in ten districts and the Lainzer
Tiergarten, the former imperial hunting grounds,
where wild boar, deer and curly-horned mouflons
roam at large, oblivious to the city beyond.
Yet if all this is too tame, you can always cross the
Triesting River and try the much higher Wiener
Hausberge – the Schneeberg and Rax both culmi-
nate at some 2,000 m. English poet W.H. Auden
loved the Vienna Woods. They were “humanely
modest in scale / and mild in contour / conscious of
grander neighbors / to bow to,” he once penned at
his home in Kirchstetten. They were the people’s
mountains, there to be enjoyed as the nearby plea-
sure of a Vienna afternoon.More details at wienerwald.infoThe forest serves an important ecological
purpose for the city, keeping air quality up
and temperatures down.Good to Know
POPULAR PLACES
THE LAINZER TIERGARTEN
game reserve has wild animals and
80 km of hiking trails (some very
steep). Refreshments are available
at two former hunting lodges,
Rasthaus Hirschgstemm and
Rasthaus Rohrhaus, with a grand
panoramic view at the 434- meter
Wienerblick. The Hermesvilla,
Empress Elisabeth’s old retreat, can
be visited between Palm Sunday
and November 1.
BADEN’S KURPARK, a steeply
sloping public garden, is bounded
by the Vienna Woods; one
gradually leaves civilization and
enters the sylvan world.
CLIMBING
KALTENLEUTGEBEN VALLEY
Höllenstein ridge, Lutterwand, and
Mizzi-Langer-Wand.
MÖDLING
Mödlinger-Klettersteig (via ferrata),
Efeugrat (Liechtensteinerstrasse).
PEILSTEIN & THALHOFERGRAT
(near Alland): One of the training
centers of the “Vienna School” of
climbing, where some big names
learned the ropes.Life in the Woods
is Good & Green
Since 2005, the Vienna
Woods have been a
UNESCO biosphere
reserve, the only one in
Europe bordering on a
metropolis of millions.30
different forest
habitats
23
different types
of grasslands
over 2,000
plants and
150
breeding bird species
16 Naturschutzgebiete
(nature preserves) including
Lainzer Tiergarten, and four
natural parks: Purkersdorf,
Eichenhain near Klosterneuburg,
Föhrenberge near Mödling, and
Austria’s oldest, Sparbach,
also near Mödling.
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK.