Scharten combines outdoor activities with a distinctive cultural landscape and a long history of churches. In spring, cherry, pear and apple blossoms define the Obst-Hügel-Land; other highlights include themed trails and historic building stories. The Obst-Hügel-Land Nature Park includes not only Scharten but also St. Marienkirchen an der Polsenz.
Trails with different focuses
The Schartner Wanderfit circular trail offers a practical way to get some exercise: it is 3.5 kilometres long and has six stations with a total of nine pieces of equipment. The fitness trail starts in the village centre by the Naturpark-Volksschule. The exercises and stations are clearly signposted. Its length, starting point and facilities give this trail a different character from a walk that focuses primarily on the seasonal landscape.
The Cherry Blossom Trail is signposted in both directions. When choosing between the trails, you can compare a fitness trail with designated stations with a trail that is signposted in both directions. The Bee Experience Trail adds another themed option: it is located on the Cherry Blossom Trail in Hochscharten/Wolfsgrub and was redesigned in spring 2015. Its 18 information boards cover the life cycle of the worker bee, honey production and flower pollination.
Blossom season in the Obst-Hügel-Land
In spring, the blossoms of countless cherry, pear and apple trees transform the Obst-Hügel-Land into a sea of white flowers. This is an especially inviting time for hiking or cycling. Blossom season is therefore a useful guide if you want the landscape to be the main focus of your stay; the routes and themed trails also offer interests of their own that are not tied to the description of this particular season.
Local places to stop for refreshments are also linked to the season: during blossom season, innkeepers, snack stations and fruit farms around the Cherry Blossom Trail offer visitors regional specialities. If you would like to include these offerings in your plans, it is best to time your visit for blossom season. This keeps the seasonal limitation part of your planning, rather than treating the places to stop for refreshments as a year-round offering.
Cultural landscape and location
The Obst-Hügel-Land Nature Park is a 26-square-kilometre protected landscape in the municipalities of Scharten and St. Marienkirchen an der Polsenz. It was designated in 2005 to preserve and further develop the cultural landscape characteristic of the Upper Austrian Alpine foothills. The scenic hilly countryside of Scharten and its surroundings forms the southern edge of the Eferding Basin.
This regional context helps explain the landscape beyond the place name Scharten: the nature park includes two municipalities, while the hilly countryside is described as the southern edge of the Eferding Basin. When choosing activities, these different perspectives sit side by side—the trails and themes in Scharten and the nature park’s cultural landscape.
Two churches, two historical timelines
The Maria Scharten Pilgrimage Church is first documented in a deed dated 1 January 1400. Construction of the present-day church began in 1506 and was completed in 1632. The pilgrimage destination is a crowned statue of the Virgin Mary carrying the crowned Christ Child. The written record, building history and pilgrimage destination offer different points of historical interest without needing to be treated as one and the same.
The Protestant Tolerance Church dates back to a wooden prayer house built in 1782, the first Tolerance prayer house in Upper Austria. This wooden structure was followed by a masonry prayer house in 1819. The tower was built in 1900; the conversion into a Tolerance Church was completed in 1911. This sequence reveals several construction phases: from the early prayer house to the later masonry building, then the tower and the completed conversion.
Together, the two churches offer different historical points of reference: for Maria Scharten, the focus is on its documentary record, the period when the present-day church was built and its pilgrimage destination. The history of the Protestant Tolerance Church, by contrast, is shaped by successive construction and conversion phases. If you would like to include cultural themes in your stay, you will find more than a single date or a single, uniform historical narrative.
Plan your journey and stay
Scharten can be reached by car from Wels or Eferding via the B 134. You can define the focus of your plans clearly: the routes, the spring blossoms and their seasonal specialities, or the history of the two churches. If you are looking for a holiday apartment for your stay, this choice can help you plan your days in Scharten around your own interests.
Discover more destinations: Pupping, Aschach an der Donau, Prambachkirchen, Sankt Marienkirchen an der Polsenz, Haibach ob der Donau, Hartkirchen, Alkoven, Stroheim.
Go to the overview of the wider region: Eferding.
