What is meant by art in public spaces in Lower Austria?

Art in public spaces includes sculptures, installations and temporary works that are not located in museums but in freely accessible places such as squares, paths or natural landscapes. In Lower Austria, it is part of a curated programme that brings landscape, society and art into dialogue.

Where can I find interesting art in public spaces in Lower Austria?

Spread across the entire country – from the Wachauer Nase in the Wachau region to the Camera Obscura on the ferry in Spitz-Arnsdorf, from Grafenegg Castle Park to the Himmelsleiter in Schrems – works by renowned artists such as Olafur Eliasson and Brigitte Kowanz invite visitors to explore. A central overview is available at koernoe.at.

Is there a route or map for public art in Lower Austria?

Yes – Kulturvernetzung Niederösterreich provides an interactive map at koernoe.at. Here, you can filter artworks by region, theme or artist – ideal for planning your own trip.

Is art in public spaces in Lower Austria accessible at all times?

Generally speaking, yes. Most of the artworks are located outdoors and can be viewed free of charge around the clock. Some installations, such as walk-in objects or light artworks, have a special effect at certain times of day or in certain weather conditions.

What is special about art in public spaces in Lower Austria?

The works often blend subtly into their surroundings or deliberately contrast with them. Instead of museum-like distance, there is direct encounter – with the landscape, the place, the idea. Many works invite visitors to think, pause or playfully change their perspective.

Art in public spaces

Art that speaks like landscape

In Lower Austria, art is not just viewed – it is experienced, discovered and enjoyed. Between the Danube and vineyards, village squares and nature trails, installations, sculptures and walk-in artworks open up new perspectives on familiar surroundings.
Follow these trails in the open air and experience how art reinterprets and enlivens public spaces in Lower Austria, inviting dialogue.

Ein malerischer Weg schlängelt sich durch die sanften Hügel, umgeben von üppigen Weinreben, die in der warmen Sonne leuchten. Die frische Luft ist erfüllt von dem süßen Duft reifer Trauben, während Wanderer in entspannter Stimmung die Schönheit der Natur genießen. Hier, wo die Landschaft und die Kultur des Weinanbaus harmonisch verschmelzen, wird jeder Schritt zu einem unvergesslichen Erlebnis. — ©© Niederösterreich Werbung/Julius Hirtzberger

Würmla's Wände

In Würmla, large-format murals transform house facades into expressive images. Artists have reimagined public space here – colourfully, critically, surprisingly.

_{With 80 cans of paint and a large dose of courage, history has been transformed into graffiti here – the circular route through Würmla is now a walk-in work of art and one of the most unusual art trails in the country.}

Würmla's Walls circular hiking trail — ©Donau Niederösterreich - Kamptal-Wagram-Tullner Donauraum

Die Vierte Wand

On the 671-metre-high Seekopf hill in the Wachau region stands "Die Vierte Wand" (The Fourth Wall), a wood and steel structure designed by Eldine Heep and Klemens Schillinger. The tower replaces a former viewing point and offers a dramatically staged ascent with impressive views of the Danube.

_{The construction transforms the ascent into a staged experience – an architectural highlight along the World Heritage Trail.}

Viewing platform with a view of the river and vineyards in a green landscape. — ©© Niederösterreich Werbung/Franziska Consolati

Wachauer Nase

The artist group Gelatin created the "Wachauer Nase" (Wachau Nose), a concrete sculpture approximately four metres high on the banks of the Danube near St. Lorenz. The walk-in nostrils invite visitors to linger and offer a humorous view of the surroundings.

_{The sculpture was created from plaster casts of around 70 noses of Wachau residents – a collective}_{homage to the region}_.

Contact

Wachauer Nase

Marktgemeinde Rossatz-Arnsdorf

St. Lorenz
3602 St. Lorenz

Phone: +43 2714 6217
Email: gemeinde@rossatz-arnsdorf.gv.at
Website: www.rossatz-arnsdorf.at

How to get here

Himmelsleiter

In the Schrems High Moor Nature Park, Heinz Cibulka's "Himmelsleiter" (Stairway to Heaven) rises up into the sky. The imposing wooden structure symbolises the path into the unknown and offers a unique view over the moorland landscape of the Waldviertel region.

_{The ladder ends in nothingness – or in heaven. Depending on how you look at it.}

Illustrative image — ©© Waldviertel Tourismus, Studio Kerschbaum

Contact

Naturpark Hochmoor Schrems

UnterWasserReich Schrems

Moorbadstraße 4
3943 Schrems

Phone: +43 2853 76334
Email: info@unterwasserreich.at
Website: www.unterwasserreich.at

How to get here

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Käferberg in Langenlois

Heimo Zobernig's sculpture on Käferberg hill in Langenlois consists of around 130 hollow steel balls, only three of which form the base. The seven-metre-high structure is reminiscent of a bunch of grapes and blends harmoniously into its surroundings.

^{The rusting surface of the spheres changes over time – a sculpture in constant flux.}

Two people walk past a large sculpture made of spherical elements, surrounded by vineyards. — ©© Niederösterreich Werbung/Julius Hirtzberger

Camera obscura

Artist Olafur Eliasson has installed a walk-in camera obscura in the middle of the Spitz-Arnsdorf roll-on/roll-off ferry. In this dark room, light falls through a small opening onto a lens and is projected upside down (partly inverted) onto the interior wall.