Archaeology in the Wienerwald

Caves used in the Stone Age, Iron Age settlements and medieval monasteries: the Wienerwald region provides archaeologists with a rich source for research.

The Wienerwald is rightly considered to be the stronghold of the Biedermeier period. However, archaeological excavations show that people also made their home here much earlier – from the ice age through to the Middle Ages.

For thousands of years, paths through the Wienerwald have connected the Danube valley to the Thermenregion. Archaeological finds from numerous caves, including the Königshöhle near Baden and the Merkeinsteiner Höhle near Gainfarn, testify to early settlement of the region. Bronze and Iron Age people established huge hill forts on many of the peaks of the Wienerwald, such as the one on the Kalenderberg near Mödling. In the Early Middle Ages, Avar groups settled on the eastern edge of the Wienerwald – one of their most important burial grounds was discovered in Leobersdorf. The Carthusian monastery built by monks near Mauerbach in the seclusion of the Wienerwald is now regarded as one of the best-researched medieval monasteries in Austria thanks to many years of archaeological investigations.