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Hiking tour Starting from Pöggstall, main square
Pöggstall and the small, charming village of Braunegg, 860 m above sea level, are connected by the wonderful "Traunfellnerweg" trail.
Pöggstall and the small, charming village of Braunegg, 860 m above sea level, are connected by the wonderful "Traunfellnerweg" trail.
In the southern Waldviertel, you can follow in the footsteps of the painter Franz Traunfellner (1913-1986). He spent most of his life in the small village of Gerersdorf, a farming village situated high above the Weitental valley. His expressive paintings often reduce the Waldviertel to the essentials. The nearby Pöggstall Castle has its own Traunfellner memorial rooms with woodcuts, lithographs and etchings as well as a documentation of Traunfellner's life. The Traunfellner Trail starts from the castle forecourt and leads over seven kilometers past the artist's favourite places, including Traunfellner's home. Equipped with a folder containing a number of landscape motifs, the trail allows hikers to compare art and reality. The artist is buried in the cemetery of the late Gothic church of St. Anna im Felde.
Worth seeing:
Pöggstall Castle - which hosted the Lower Austrian provincial exhibition "Alles was Recht ist" in 2017 - is home to a museum on the history of law, including the only "original" torture chamber and a documentation on the life and work of the artist Franz Traunfellner. The special exhibition "Pöggstall Castle - between the region and the imperial court" in the barbican is just as exciting and tells of the eventful restoration, significant finds and amazing stories about the lords of the castle. A 3D animation vividly shows how the keep and the later castle grew from its original structure to its present form.
In addition to Pöggstall Castle with its barbican (traffic circle), the very old St. Anna Church in the field (1140), the parish church of Pöggstall and the pilgrimage church in Neukirchen (1118) on the Ostrong, which is older than Maria Taferl as a pilgrimage church, are also worth a visit.
Leisure tips:
4 tennis courts, beach volleyball court, soccer pitch, a covered multi-sports facility, children's playgrounds, campsite, mountain bike and cycle routes, fishing and riding opportunities, Laas horse farm, Texas Longhorn Austria, Hotglass Atelier Faffelberger, Kräuterhof Schrammel, Josef Mitmasser brand painting.
Make sure when choosing the route that it matches your fitness level. Check whether the gastronomy businesses you want to visit along the way are open. Pack your mobile phone and map material in your backpack.
Sturdy footwear, functional clothing, sun and rain protection, map material, if necessary telescopic poles, first aid kit (blister plasters), sufficient provisions (snacks, muesli bars, fruit, water).
Starting from the starting point – preferably after visiting the Traunfellner documentation at Pöggstall Castle – you walk past the castle pond towards Bergern. You look towards the Mandlgupf, into the Weitental valley towards the old pilgrimage church St. Anna im Felde, and the Ostrong. A cozy forest path and a short ascent leads to Straßreith. The view falls on the old farm with its mighty house trees. Past Muckendorf you reach the Wiegenhalt near Braunegg ("halten" = to tend the grazing cattle). In good weather the view from the barrier-free viewing platform extends from Schneeberg to the Totes Gebirge. Looking towards Braunegg, you will certainly recognize the motif of the woodcut "Tauwetter". The "field path" leads into the village. The large mural on the neighboring house of the Mayer guesthouse was painted after a motif by Traunfellner and represents the origin of the place name Braunegg (brandecha = slash-and-burn clearing).
The Mayer guesthouse in Braunegg offers a place to rest. In the Traunfellner corner, when leafing through a folder you find "deeper insights" into the artist and his work as well as "the area around here". Besides food and drink, the hiker also receives Traunfellner art cards with a stamp from the landlord. The path continues to Oed, past the motifs "Oed" and "Föhn" through the high forest of the "Lange Berg" into the valley. Shortly before Gerersdorf, you recognize the "road to Braunegg". Soon after, you reach the Traunfellner House. Looking back from there: you find – artistically reduced to essential lines and surfaces – the motif "full moon". Through the village you continue to the meditative rest area in front of the small chapel "Winternacht". You look onto fields and the ridge of Mandlgupf, above which sometimes perhaps a cloud angel – "moon angel" – floats.
A look through the window of the chapel door shows an old rural processional cross, which Traunfellner depicted in his expressive woodcut "Bauernherrgott". After about 88 meters, the walk leaves the road and follows a farm track to Loibersdorf. Past a historic lime kiln, following a small road, you reach the starting point of the hike.
A1 Melk and over the Danube bridge in Emmersdorf - Weitenegg - Pöggstall
In good weather, there is a fantastic panoramic view of the Alpine foothills and the Gesäuse mountains. The viewing platform, which is located on the hiking trail, helps with the identification of the mountain peaks through information boards.
TVB Ysper-Weitental
3683 Yspertal, Hauptstraße 9
(T) +43 7415 6767 25
info.yw@waldviertel.at
www.waldviertel.at
Waldviertel Tourism
3910 Zwettl, Sparkassenplatz 1/2/2
(T) +43 2822 54109
(E) info@waldviertel.at
(I) www.waldviertel.at
Letzte Änderung: 3 Aug 2026