More than half of Kreuttal’s municipal area is covered by forest. The area is also home to sunken lanes, historic buildings and marked routes. When planning your trip, it’s worth looking at the villages and their different highlights individually: Hautzendorf offers direct access to the rapid transit railway, while trails, mills and cultural sites provide further reasons to explore the municipality.
Forests, Views and Trails
The Kreuttal circular hiking trail is the longest of the four marked circular trails. It connects all three villages in the municipality and starts at the Rosalia Chapel in Hautzendorf. Another prominent landmark along the way is the observation tower, which stands 25 metres tall. From there, you can see the surrounding villages and, on a clear day, as far as the Carpathians and Schneeberg. The Glockenberg hill is 365 metres high and also has a 25-metre observation tower.
There is also a range of information to help you choose a cycling route. The Kreuttal cycle route runs mostly along paved paths. A few short sections are on gravel and unpaved paths; apart from these stretches, the route is also suitable for road bikes. Kreuttal also has three circular cycling routes. The first goes via Unterolberndorf and Hornsburg to Kreuzstetten and passes directly through the Kreut Forest. This lets you distinguish between a route that is mostly paved and a circular ride with this specific sequence of villages.
If you’re interested in the region’s natural environment, Unterolberndorf has a forest nature trail showcasing the diversity of flora in Kreuttal. You can explore the landscape through a range of themes: views and trail routes on a hike, path surfaces on a cycling trip, or plant diversity on the nature trail.
Sunken Lanes, Wine and Getting There
In Hautzendorf, the Hohlwegkellergasse cellar lane lies in a sunken lane; several of its cellars are still built of stone. The guided cellar-lane walk combines a visit to this site with a DAC wine tasting and ends at the Winter wine tavern, where snacks and drinks are served. Registration is required for the walk. If you’d like to include this specific experience in your plans, be sure to factor registration into your trip planning.
Hautzendorf railway station is also located in the Hohlwegkellergasse. It was built in 1870. Hautzendorf is the only village in the municipality of Kreuttal with direct access to the rapid transit railway. If rail connections are important when choosing where to stay, this difference between the villages in the municipality is especially relevant.
Another glimpse into Hautzendorf’s history can be found at the guild tree in the park. It was erected in 1972 and depicts the trades that were still active in Hautzendorf at the time. At Rosalienplatz in the village centre, the Rosalia Chapel commemorates the 1850 cholera epidemic, which claimed 52 lives. It is also the starting point of the Kreuttal circular hiking trail.
History and Cultural Sites
The history of settlement here stretches back a long way: prehistoric circular ditch enclosures near Hornsburg show that Kreuttal was inhabited more than 5,000 years ago. Today, all that remains visible of Hornsburg Castle is the castle hill and the foundations of a tower-like stone building believed to have been built in the 13th century. The Turkish Rampart is also near Hornsburg: a fortification with a perimeter of about 4.7 kilometres and an interior area of about 78 hectares. These measurements give you an idea of the site’s size, but it should not be confused with the surviving castle remains.
In Unterolberndorf, the Kulturhaus is an Early Romanesque chapel that served as a church until the 19th century. It now regularly hosts cultural events. The LuisenmĂĽhle stands on the Russbach and is the largest and most striking of the several mills along the stream. It is about 200 metres from Unterolberndorf, at the entrance to the Kreuttal proper.
North of Hautzendorf, the pilgrimage church of St. Lambert stands on a wooded hill known as the “Holy Mountain”. The church is 800 years old and is considered a particularly mystical place of power. Its tower houses a bell dating from 1452. Pilgrimages to the church take place every year on Ascension Day and on Lamberti, or the following Sunday. These dates differ from routes you can plan at any time: if you’d like to experience a pilgrimage, plan your trip around the relevant occasion.
Discover more destinations: Poysdorf, Nodendorf, GroĂźkrut, Pellendorf, Patzmannsdorf, Staatz, Hausbrunn, Mistelbach An Der Zaya.
Back to the main travel overview: Mistelbach.
