Around Austria in 8 Days

For six centuries, from the 13th century to 1918, the Vienna Hofburg was the resi­dence of the Habsburgs. The Hofburg grew with the rise of the noble family from a small country nobility to Europe's leading dynasty. In the beginning there was a small castle. In the end, it had 2,500 rooms. In addi­tion there is the Winter Riding School, where the Lipizzaner horses train, the National Library with a magnif­i­cent domed hall, the Museum of Art History and the seat of the Federal Pres­i­dent. A large part of the Hofburg is open to the public.

In 1857, Emperor Franz ordered the old fortifica­tions to be razed. In its place, a magnif­i­cent boul­evard was built around historic Vienna, which leads to the Danube at both ends. The almost 5 km long road is lined by public and private build­ings, which try to surpass each other in splendor, pomp and pathos. The build­ings imitate earlier style epochs, from Greek antiq­uity to Gothic cathedrals and the Renais­sance. The ring road was inau­gu­rated in 1865. Today it is regarded as a complete work of art, which is unique in the world.

The museum is located at Berggasse 19, where Sigmund Freud lived and worked for 47 years. In his study he wrote the majority of his writ­ings, which are an integral part of the intel­lectual history of the 20th century. When the family moved in in 1891, the house was a new building. After the transfer of power to the Nazis in 1939, the seri­ously cancer-ill founder of psycho­anal­ysis had to emigrate to London. Orig­inal pieces from Freud's posses­sion can be seen in the museum as well as the waiting room of the practice and some pieces from Freud's exten­sive collec­tion of antique works of art, mainly small statues. Most of the earlier furni­ture with the famous couch, however, is in today's Freud Museum in London, where Anna Freud lived until her death in 1982.

The baroque princely resi­dence of the Ester­házy family is one of the most beau­tiful castles in Austria. Already in the 13th century a gothic castle stood here. The histor­ical ball­room of the castle is known as the Haydn Hall and is often used as a concert hall. In the 18th century Joseph Haydn served for thirty years as Kapellmeister for the Princely Court and in this capacity had to compose hundreds of pieces of music for imme­diate performance at the Prince's ceremo­nial occa­sions. The castle park is consid­ered one of the most inter­esting monu­ments in Austria in terms of garden archi­tec­ture.

At the summit of the Semmering Pass at an alti­tude of 985 metres there is a sophis­ticated climatic health resort. In the 19th century Semmering became a popular holiday destina­tion for the “fine society” of Vienna. In the Südbahnhotel from 1882 or the Kurhaus from 1909 the nobility met, among them Emperor Karl I and his son Otto. But artists such as Oskar Kokoschka and Karl Kraus also shook hands here. From 1854 the Semmer­ingbahn was a magnet for visitors. The first mountain railway in Europe leads through 15 tunnels and crosses 16 adventurous viaducts.

Chinese archi­tects found the picturesque town on Lake Hallstatt so enchanting that they built a replica of it in the People's Republic. The settle­ment here owes its origin to salt. Mighty Salt chambers were discov­ered here more than 4,000 years ago. Even today the “white gold” is still mined in the oldest salt mine in the world above Hallstatt. Traces of a rich past can be discov­ered everywhere: The Celtic grave sites, the salt mine, the prehistoric museum, the houses nested in confined space one above the other, the churches, the ceme­tery with the ossuary and the “oldest pipe­line in the world”.

At the end of an eventful polit­ical life in 976, when Saint Wolfgang built a monastery with his own hands and worked several miracles, he had no idea that his hermitage would become one of the most famous tourist resorts in Austria. St. Wolfgang owes this above all to the pilgrimage church, which is dedicated to him and enthroned in perfect grace over the Wolfgangsee. Inside, the late Gothic church impresses with a richly deco­rated altar, which Michael Pacher completed in 1481. He shows Our Lady kneeling in front of her child and framed by two monks, Saint Bene­dict and of course Saint Wolfgang.

The 1,783 meter high rock is only for those who are free from vertigo. It towers above the foothills of the Alps and offers a fantastic view across the Salzkammergut. However, the ascent to the summit can even be done by sheep. It belongs to the most beau­tiful hikes near and far. For those who find just under 1,200 metres of alti­tude too much, you can take the rack-railway, which was opened in 1893. The valley station is in St. Wolfgang, where the hiking trail begins. At the top you can stop at a hotel. (one way: 7.3 kilome­ters, 4 hours, up: 1170 meters)

The park is located in the mountai­nous area south of the town of Bercht­esgaden. The eastern, southern, and western bound­aries of the park coincide with the state border between Germany and Austria. The area of the park is econom­ically unde­vel­oped, and there are no settle­ments. In the center of the park is a large lake, the Königssee. West of the lake is the massif of Watzmann (2,713 metres (8,901 ft)), the third highest mountain in Germany.

The fjord-like lake at the foot of the Watzmann stretches between steeply rising mountain slopes. It is 200 metres deep and is consid­ered one of the cleanest lakes in Germany. On its eastern shore, a footpath leads to the Malerwinkel, which has attracted count­less painters for centuries. There you have a magnif­i­cent view on the lake, the peninsula St. Bartholomä and the Schönfeldspitze. From the boat dock on the shore, boats go to the south end of the lake. From there you can cont­inue on foot to Obersee. The chapel on St. Bartholomä is the landmark of the lake. It dates back to the 12th century.

Adolf Hitler began using the vaca­tion retreat of Ober­salzberg in 1923. In 1933, it was made into a secu­rity zone where nearly every important Nazi figure had a resi­dence. Most of the build­ings have since been demol­ished. A museum near the former Berghof will inform you about the role Ober­salzberg played during the Nazi period. From here, you can follow the Kehlsteins­traße uphill to the Eagle's Nest, which was built and designed by Hitler. At the end of the road you will find a pede­s­trian tunnel leading to a gloomy hall deep in the mountain. Once there, take the elevators to the summit, where you can see the Eagle's Nest and enjoy the breathtaking view. This is a prime example of archi­tec­ture designed to intim­i­date.

The small Eibensee is one of the lesser known waters in the western Salzkammergut. The ascent leads along the Eibenseebach through the Wildmoos nature reserve. From nearby Marienköpfl you have wonderful views of Lake Fuschlsee and its surround­ings. The Eibensee is idyllically situ­ated between steep slopes that keep the wind away, so that the lake often lies as smooth as a mirror. On hot days you can swim in the lake. (round trip: 9.8 kilome­ters, 3 hours, up and down: 375 meters)

The varied hike leads along the Schatt­seitweg from the Gasthof Oberwirt in Ramsau to Hintersee. After a few minutes you reach the glacier springs, which are fed by the melt­water of the Blaueis glacier at Hochkalter, 1,500 metres above sea level. After you have crossed the Marxen­klamm gorge, through which a torren­tial white water rushes, you go on a nature trail through the magical forest. Over bridges and footbridges you reach the Hintersee and go back halfway up. (round trip: 15.7 kilome­ters, 5:15 hours, up and down: 734 meters)

The great hike begins at the large parking lot at Königssee. The first high­light is the Grünstein (1304 m) with a beau­tiful view over the Bercht­esgaden basin. From there it is possible to cross over to the Kphrointhütte. After a snack you can descend to the church of St. Bartholomä and return by boat to the starting point. The world-famous pilgrimage church, the first parts of which date back to the 12th century, is picturesquely situ­ated on a peninsula. Adja­cent to it is the former hunting lodge, which now serves as an inn. (Hin: 5:30 hours, 11 kilome­ters, up and down: 680 meters, only for expe­r­i­enced and sure-footed hikers, contains secured passages)

The capital of Upper Austria strad­dles the Danube. The heart of the 2,000-year-old city is the central square (Hauptplatz) lined with stately Baroque build­ings and Renais­sance court­yards. In recent years Linz has managed to change its image as a grimy indus­trial center thanks to new envi­ron­mental regu­la­tions governing steel produc­tion and the increased promo­tion of cultural activ­i­ties. Indeed, Linz was named the Cultural Capital of Europe in 2009.

The largest concen­tra­tion camp in Austria is located south of Linz in the town of Mauthausen. It began oper­ating just ten days after the German occupa­tion of Austria. It was a category III camp where people died performing slave labor. Starting in 1942, there was a camp brothel in which women who were consid­ered “asocial” were forced into pros­titu­tion. In February 1945, 500 Soviet offi­cers attempted to flee from death-block 20. Nearly all of them were killed during the following three-week manhunt. Only eleven survived, because the local popu­la­tion hid them. Before being liber­ated by the US Army in 1945, over 120,000 people perished in the quarries and in the surrounding area. There is a monu­ment located at the site of the former concen­tra­tion camp.

Krems, the oldest city in Lower Austria, is surrounded by vine­yards and is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Cultural Landscape of Wachau. The town is famous for its medieval gate called the “Steiner Tor.” A Capuchin monastery called “Kloster Und” is located in front of the gates. Today, the monastery houses wine cellars, confer­ence rooms and museums devoted to art and carica­ture. The old town of Stein, where hardly anything has changed for centuries, is only a short walk from here.