Vienna's Hausberge (german: Wiener Hausberge) are the mountains of

Raxalpe The Rax is a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps on the border of the Austrian federal provinces of Lower Austria and Styria. Its highest peak is the ''Heukuppe'' (2,007 m). The Rax, together with the nearby Schneeberg, are a traditio ...

, Schneeberg and

Hohe Wand Hohe Wand is a municipality in the district of Wiener Neustadt-Land in the Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a ...

in the south of the state of

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

. These mountains may be reached from

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in about an hour and are therefore a popular recreation area for the Viennese.

Accessibility

The Viennese ''

Hausberg {{italic title ''Hausberg'' (lit.: "house mountain", plural: ''Hausberge'') is German for a prominent mountain or hill in the immediate vicinity of a village, town or city, usually located on its municipal territory, but outside the built up are ...

e'' - a ''

'' is a local mountain associated with a town or city - may be reached by car on the Southern Autobahn (A2). There are also good public transport links between Vienna and the mountains. For the Raxalpe, the visitor can catch a train on the Southern Railway to Payerbach-Reichenau, then a ''Retter'' bus to Hirschwang, Hinternaßwald or the Preiner Gscheid. For the Schneeberg, Southern Railway trains run to Wr. Neustadt, then the visitor can catch a diesel railcar on the Schneebergbahn to Puchberg and continue on the

rack railway A rack railway (also rack-and-pinion railway, cog railway, or cogwheel railway) is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with th ...

up the Hochschneeberg or catch a train to Neunkirchen and the ''Retter'' bus to Losenheim. For the Hohe Wand, visitors may also take the train to Wr. Neustadt and continue by bus (operated by ''Partsch'') to Maiersdorf or Stollhof.

Historic development

With the construction of the Semmering Railway this region became popular with day trippers from Vienna. Tourist traffic initially flocked to the Rax and Schneeberg mountains which were easier to get to and were accessible by a cable car and a

. Before mass tourism arrived, many of the visitors were botanists, mineralogists, geographers and agronomists, who took to wandering in the mountains because of their specialism, their reports fascinating citizens of the Biedermeier period, who hitherto had been restricted to day trips in the immediate vicinity of Vienna, to places like the

Vienna Woods The Vienna Woods (german: Wienerwald) are forested highlands that form the northeastern foothills of the Northern Limestone Alps in the states of Lower Austria and Vienna. The and range of hills is heavily wooded and a popular recreation area ...

. The first record of an unofficial climb of the Hohe Wand dates to the year 1862. Alpine clubs were founded and built refuge huts on the high plateau.

Today

The Rax, Schneeberg and Hohe Wand are still the most popular mountains in the

Gutenstein Alps The Gutenstein Alps (german: Gutensteiner Alpen) are a mountain range in the Eastern Alps in Central Europe, and the northeasternmost part of the Northern Limestone Alps, reaching heights over 1,000 m. Topography Die Gutenstein Alps are ...

and the

Rax-Schneeberg Group The Rax-Schneeberg Group (german: Rax-Schneeberg-Gruppe) is a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps on the Styrian-Lower Austrian border in Austria. Location According to the official classification of the Eastern Alps by the Alpine Cl ...

, and they are very well served, with easy access, good viewing points and numerous waymarked footpaths. By contrast, other mountains such as the Dürre Wand or

Schneealpe The Schneealpe or Schneealm is a limestone massif in the Northern Limestone Alps on the Styrian-Lower Austrian border. Its highest point is the Windberg at 1,903 metres above sea level. Other peaks are the ''Ameisbühel'' (also Amaißbichl, ...

are less often climbed.

Literature

* Karl Flanner: ''Die Hohe Wand. Menschen - Arbeit - Touristen.'' {{Authority control Mountains of Lower Austria