The best cycling routes in Zwettl

Schloss Waldreichs was first documented in 1258. Around 1400, Kaspar and Bernhard von Waldreichs are mentioned as feudal lords. After its destruction by an executionary army of the estates in 1446–1448, it was rebuilt as a fortress around 1450 under Hans Harrasser. The present-day ruin in the east wing, the chapel, and the eastern tower date from this period. In 1460, it was enfeoffed to Vinzenz Stodoligk. From 1519–1536, it was united with the Lordship of Ottenstein. Between 1530–1534, it was converted into a moated castle under Eustach Stodoligk. From 1533, it was a free property. In 1536, the complex passed to the Barons of Altena, who expanded it with a zwinger and a manor farm. After its conquest and plundering by imperial troops, the complex was rebuilt again and subsequently changed owners frequently. When it passed to Heinrich von Pereira-Arnstein in 1815, it was united with the Lordship of Wetzlas.

The local authorities succeeded in persuading the master artist Hundertwasser to design and construct a fountain in the main square. The presentation of the fountain model met with both widespread approval and vehement opposition from the residents of Zwettl. In 1994, the fountain, consisting of three main elements—the two fountain columns with basins and the pavilion—was unveiled to the public. Since then, it has been a popular meeting place in the heart of the town. Friedensreich Hundertwasser died in February 2000 at the age of 71.

Until the end of the 19th century, a monumental fountain stood in the middle of the main square, the terminus of Zwettl's oldest water supply system, dating back to the early 17th century; a place where the population gathered, not just to fetch water. A war memorial was erected here in 1925, and from the mid-20th century onward, the square in the heart of the town was primarily used as a park. In the early 1990s, the municipality of Zwettl decided to redesign the main square. The aim was to give the town an attractive central point once again and thus preserve the tradition of the old Zwettl main square for the present and future. Friedensreich Hundertwasser, born Friedrich Stowasser in 1928, had owned an old mill on the banks of the Kamp River above Zwettl since the 1970s.

Originally, after the town's founding, Trinity Square was part of Zwettl's main square, which at that time stretched as an extensive triangular plaza from the townhouses behind the Hundertwasser Fountain to the level of the Hausleitner house above the "Zur Goldenen Rose" inn. The construction of houses along the lower Landstraße, the so-called "Grätzl," significantly narrowed the main square, and the addition of the cross street eventually divided it into two squares.

During the Baroque period, people everywhere were eager to express their gratitude for overcoming the plague years and the Turkish Wars by erecting plague or Trinity columns. In 1727, the pillory in the upper square was replaced by the richly sculpted sandstone column created by Kaspar Högl of Eggenburg. During the last renovation in 1998, extensive environmental damage to the figures was repaired, and the entire column was painted a light yellow. The four life-size statues are, in the center at the front, the Immaculate Conception; to her left, St. Sebastian (pierced by five arrows); to her right, St. Roch (pointing to the plague boil on his thigh); and St. Florian (holding a flag in one hand and a bucket of water in the other). The iron fountain in the immediate vicinity of the Trinity Column is a gift from the then-mayor, Eugen Beck, of the twin town of Plochingen near Stuttgart.

Europe's largest Waldrapp aviary in Waidhofen an der Thaya

Take a break at the main square in Waidhofen/Thaya. Enjoy a short stroll along the southern promenade or treat yourself to an ice cream or coffee at one of the pastry shops in Böhmgasse or Niederleutnerstraße.

This bridge brings you closer to the nostalgia of the former Thayatal railway.