REICHENAU, A RECOGNISED HEALTH RESORT
A place with tradition and history
Reichenau Castle was first mentioned in a document in 1256, when noble servants of the Lords of Pitten-Klamm acquired the property rights.
The last owner, Margarethe Bader-Waissnix, established a foundation in 1992 for the benefit of the community of Reichenau to establish a cultural centre. In accordance with this foundation, Reichenau Castle was the main venue of the Lower Austrian Provincial Exhibition in 2003. Also in 2004, a large railway exhibition on the occasion of the jubilee "150 years Semmeringbahn" was shown under the motto "Fascination Semmeringbahn".
Heyday in the imperial period
Emperor Franz Josef already came with Elisabeth to Reichenau for recreation and hunting.
Later Emperor Karl and Empress Zita chose Villa Wartholz as their permanent summer residence.
Many splendid villas remind us of this highly traditional time.
www.reichenau.at
Kurpark Reichenau
It was here that society met during the imperial period for music and dance. The music pavilion, which provided protection from too much sun and rain for musicians and dancers, also dates from this time.
www.reichenau.at
The local mountain, the Rax
The Raxalpe is the mountain giant with a high plateau directly behind Reichenau, which together with the Schneeberg forms the most north-eastern foothill of the Limestone Alps. The highest point of the Rax with 2007 meters is called the Heukuppe.
Inns and huts on the Rax are the Raxalpen-Berggasthof, Otto-Schutzhaus, Seehütte, Habsburghaus, Karl-Ludwig-Haus, Waxriegelhaus and the Edelweißhütte at Preiner Gscheid. The area thus invites you to do some "hut hopping.”
From Hirschwang the Rax cable car takes you to the top station at 1,546 meters. The route is 2160 meters long and has a height difference of 1017 m. The Rax cable car, built in 1925, is the first passenger cable car in Austria.