The Vienna Woods (german: Wienerwald) are forested highlands that form the northeastern foothills of the

Northern Limestone Alps The Northern Limestone Alps (german: Nördliche Kalkalpen), also called the Northern Calcareous Alps, are the ranges of the Eastern Alps north of the Central Eastern Alps located in Austria and the adjacent Bavarian lands of southeastern Germany. ...

in the states 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 ...

and

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

. The and range of hills is heavily wooded and a popular recreation area with the Viennese.

Location

The Vienna Woods are bounded by the rivers Triesting,

Gölsen The Gölsen is a river in Lower Austria, in the Mostviertel. It is a right tributary of the Traisen. Its drainage basin is . The river begins in Hainfeld with the confluence of the Fliedersbach and the Ramsaubach (also called the ''Innere Gölse ...

, Traisen and

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

, and are on the border of the

Mostviertel (English: ''Most Quarter'') is the southwestern quarter of the four quarters of Lower Austria (the northeast state of the 9 states in Austria). It is bordered on the north by the Danube and to the south and west by the state borders of Styria ...

and the

Industrieviertel (; en, Industrial Quarter), or , is the southeastern quarter of the four quarters of Lower Austria (the northeast state of the 9 states in Austria). It is bordered on the north by Vienna and the , to the west by the , and to the south and east ...

, two of the four quarters of Lower Austria. Reaching into the

city of Vienna A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

itself, they are a favourite outdoor destination for the densely populated area around the city.

Geography

The highest elevation in the Vienna Woods is

Schöpfl Schöpfl is the highest hill (893 m) in the Vienna Woods, Wienerwald mountain range (Vienna woods), the north-easternmost part of the Alps. Geologically, it belongs to the flysch Alps. The main top of the wooded mountain range carries a high obse ...

at above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

, the location of the

Leopold Figl observatory Leopold may refer to: People * Leopold (given name) * Leopold (surname) Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The Simpsons'' * Leopold Bloom, the protagonist o ...

. Important rivers in the Vienna Woods are the

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

, the

Schwechat Schwechat () is a town southeast of Vienna known for the Vienna International Airport and Schwechater beer. The city is home to the refineries of the Austrian national oil company OMV. Geography Schwechat is named after the river Schwechat, wh ...

and the Triesting. The northeasternmost

Leopoldsberg The Leopoldsberg (; ) is perhaps Vienna’s most famous hill, towering over the Danube and the city. Leopoldberg’s most prominent landmark is the church which stands at the top, and which is clearly visible from Vienna below. Construction of the ...

overlooking the Danube and the

Vienna Basin The Vienna Basin (german: Wiener Becken, cz, Vídeňská pánev, sk, Viedenská kotlina, Hungarian: ''Bécsi-medence'') is a geologically young tectonic burial basin and sedimentary basin in the seam area between the Alps, the Carpathians and t ...

forms the eastern end of the

Alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...

chain. Even though the Vienna Woods are a

protected landscape Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although t ...

and important recreational area, they are threatened by

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...

. The

Lainzer Tiergarten The Lainzer Tiergarten is a 24.50 km² (6,054-acre) wildlife preserve in the southwest corner of Vienna, Austria, 80% of it being covered in woodland. It dates back to 1561, when Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand I created it as a ...

, an extensive park populated by the

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

and other woodland animals, as well as the ''Schwarzenbergpark'', were created on the territory of the city of Vienna during the 19th century. The natural park ''

Sandstein-Wienerwald The Sandstein-Wienerwald natural park (''Naturpark Sandsteinwienerwald'') is a natural park near Purkersdorf in the Vienna Woods (''Wienerwald''), Austria. Although a protected area under Austrian law, it is freely accessible. The park's 77 hec ...

'' is near

Purkersdorf Purkersdorf is a municipality in the district of Sankt Pölten-Land District, in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. The Sandstein-Wienerwald natural park, a part of the Vienna Woods, is situated on its territory. The municipality belonged to Wi ...

, some 20 km (12 mi) west of Vienna. There are also some caves, such as the ''Dreidärrischenhöhle'' ("cave of the three deaf men").

Geology

The mountain ranges of the Vienna Woods are the transition between the

Eastern Alps Eastern Alps is the name given to the eastern half of the Alps, usually defined as the area east of a line from Lake Constance and the Alpine Rhine valley up to the Splügen Pass at the Alpine divide and down the Liro River to Lake Como in t ...

and the

Carpathians The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...

, separated by the

and some tectonic lines near Vienna. The northern area is part of the Alps'

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

zone, while its south is part of the

. In the east, the border is the

thermal line A thermal column (or thermal) is a rising mass of buoyant air, a convective current in the atmosphere, that transfers heat energy vertically. Thermals are created by the uneven heating of Earth's surface from solar radiation, and are an example ...

, which forms a geological break line to the

Viennese Basin The Vienna Basin (german: Wiener Becken, cz, Vídeňská pánev, sk, Viedenská kotlina, Hungarian: ''Bécsi-medence'') is a geologically young tectonic burial basin and sedimentary basin in the seam area between the Alps, the Carpathians and t ...

Beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

es,

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

s and

hornbeam Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the flowering plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The 30–40 species occur across much of the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Origin of names The common English name ''hornbeam' ...

s grow throughout the north of the Wienerwald forest; in the south are

conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

s, mostly

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

s and firs. The ''Föhrenberge'' (Pine Mountains) natural park is in the latter region.

History

The Vienna Woods have probably been populated since the 8th century. The Vienna Woods was the royal hunting grounds from the 11th century until 1850. Under the influence of the Avars, a Slavic population settled here after the

Völkerwanderung The Migration Period was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes, and the establishment of the post-Roman ...

, which may account for village names such as

Döbling Döbling () is the 19th District in the city of Vienna, Austria (german: 19. Bezirk, Döbling, Doebling). It is located on the north end from the central districts, north of the districts Alsergrund and Währing. Döbling has some heavily populate ...

Liesing Liesing () is the 23rd district of Vienna. It is on the southwest edge of Vienna, Austria. It was formed after Austria's ''Anschluss'' with Germany, when Vienna expanded from 21 districts to 26. Fifteen Lower Austrian districts, especially the ...

Gablitz Gablitz is a municipality in the district of Sankt Pölten-Land District, St. Pölten-Land in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It belonged to Wien-Umgebung which was dissolved in 2016. Population References

{{Authority control Cit ...

. From the 16th century onwards

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...

was practised. Industrial development beginning circa 1840 encouraged increased settlement of the area. Through the northern part of the Vienna Woods (from

Tulln an der Donau Tulln an der Donau () is a historic town in the Austrian state of Lower Austria, the administrative seat of Tulln District. Because of its abundance of parks and gardens, Tulln is often referred to as ''Blumenstadt'' ("City of Flowers"), and "The C ...

), a march of

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

troops of King

Jan III Sobieski John III Sobieski ( pl, Jan III Sobieski; lt, Jonas III Sobieskis; la, Ioannes III Sobiscius; 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696. Born into Polish nobility, Sobie ...

took place, which were to help Vienna in September 1683. In 1870, plans were brought forward to clear most of the forest, but this caused widespread public resistance, in which

Josef Schöffel Josef may refer to *Josef (given name) *Josef (surname) Josef is the surname of the following people: * Jens Josef (born 1967), German composer of classical music, a flutist and academic teacher * Michelle Josef (born 1954), Canadian musician and tr ...

was one of the most important figures. In 1987, the governors of the states of

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

and

Burgenland Burgenland (; hu, Őrvidék; hr, Gradišće; Austro-Bavarian: ''Burgnland;'' Slovene: ''Gradiščanska'') is the easternmost and least populous state of Austria. It consists of two statutory cities and seven rural districts, with a total of ...

signed the ''Vienna Woods Declaration'' to protect nature in the region.

References

External links