Easy hikes and walks in Bezirk Baden

The Merkenstein Cave is a cave protected as a natural monument, located directly below the Merkenstein castle ruins near Bad Vöslau in Lower Austria. It extends about 72 meters deep into the castle rock and has a culturally and historically significant connection to the fortress above: a vertical shaft connected the cave directly to the castle kitchen in the Middle Ages, where it was used as a waste chute. Archaeological excavations here have brought to light Ice Age animal bones from cave bears, as well as human tools from the Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Roman Imperial periods. In times of crisis, such as the Second Siege of Vienna in 1683, the cave served as a refuge for the population. To protect the monument and the bats that overwinter there, the entrance is closed with a grate; entry is only possible as part of officially offered guided tours by the municipality of Bad Vöslau, by prior arrangement.

The Mozart Temple, located above the Lanner-Strauß monument, is one of the landmarks of the spa park. Until 1962, it was called the Aesculapius Temple and is one of the oldest structures in the spa park. The neoclassical building closed off the main avenue from 1798, where the external staircase is now located. In 1853, the temple was moved to the rising slope as part of the expansion of the spa park. The temple was donated in 1798 by Emperor Franz I/II., who was intensely involved with garden art, after a beneficial spa treatment in Baden. Source: https://www.meinbezirk.at/baden/c-lokales/frischzellenkur-fuer-den-mozarttempel_a1666886

Below the Mozart Temple in the Baden spa gardens is the Lanner and Strauss monument. On a six-part stone slab stands a pedestal of red stone, on which are the bronze figures of Joseph Lanner and Johann Strauss (father), created in 1912 by the sculptor Hans Mauer. Joseph Lanner and Johann Strauss Sr. often made music in Baden in the 1820s/30s, initially probably together in a chapel, later separately. The venues were the Hauswiese, a pavilion in the spa gardens, the Stadttheater, and also the Redoutensaal. Source: https://www.meinbezirk.at/baden/c-regionauten-community/damals-und-heute-baden-kurpark-lanner-und-strauss-denkmal-1912-2021_a4450662

No more water flows there

The rustic hut is located in the middle of the partially Mediterranean-looking pine forest of Harzberg.

Once in a lifetime good bread from the stone oven Delicious Rosefrizzante, heart, what more do you want!

The map offers everything a hiker's heart desires, the food tastes excellent and is of the best quality.

The princely Dietrichstein'sche landscape garden in Merkenstein is one of the most remarkable examples of romantic garden art in the "Viennese regions" around 1810. Even if we cannot yet name the architect responsible for the viewing tower and the Turkish Fountain in Merkenstein, these structures reveal an extremely progressive artist of his time, who unconditionally adopted the inspirations of French Revolutionary Classicism into his formal language. He reduced his garden architectures to basic geometric shapes - sphere, cylinder, hexahedron, achieving maximum simplification of architectural language. It is not an exaggeration to describe these 200-year-old garden architectures, in their simplicity, as precursors to modern architecture. Structural damage has severely affected the Turkish Fountain in recent decades, placing its preservation in acute danger. The restoration of the Turkish Fountain, whose dome vault had two deep holes that have now regained their original shape as round windows, strengthens the static structure of the building. Through the joint efforts of the municipality of Bad Vöslau and the Federal Monuments Authority (Bundesdenkmalamt), it should have been possible to ensure that this unique building, in its worthily aged form, continues to preserve the memory of the former garden complex around the Merkenstein ruin for future generations.