Großmugl is a town in the district of

Korneuburg Korneuburg () is a town in Austria. It is located in the state Lower Austria and is the administrative center of the district of Korneuburg. Korneuburg is situated on the left bank of the Danube, opposite the city of Klosterneuburg, and is 12&n ...

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. It is situated about 15 km north of

Stockerau Stockerau () is a town in the district of Korneuburg in Lower Austria, Austria. Stockerau has 15,921 inhabitants, which makes it the largest town in the Weinviertel.https://statistik.at/wcm/idc/idcplg?IdcService=GET_PDF_FILE&RevisionSelectionMetho ...

within the

Weinviertel The ("wine quarter") or ("area below the ") is located in the northeast of Lower Austria. In the east, the borders Slovakia at the March River. In the south, it borders and , its limits being the Wagram, the Danube and the . Its western nei ...

. Großmugl takes up about 64.49 square kilometers, 29.91 percent of which are forest.

The giant tumulus

The name of the village literally translates as "large steep hill," and refers to a nearby

tumulus A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or '' kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones ...

(locally known as the ''Leeberg'') that is believed to have been erected by the people of the Kalenderberg culture, probably around 600-500 B.C. This was a northeastern subgroup of the

Hallstatt culture The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Western and Central European culture of Late Bronze Age (Hallstatt A, Hallstatt B) from the 12th to 8th centuries BC and Early Iron Age Europe (Hallstatt C, Hallstatt D) from the 8th to 6th centuries ...

, with a standard of living generally somewhat poorer than the other coexisting subgroups of the eastern Hallstatt cultural area. The geographic position of the Leeberg is 48° 29.34'N/16°13.45'E. With 55 m diameter and 16 m height remaining, the Leeberg is the largest hill grave in Central Europe. Taking erosion into account, its original size can be estimated at 18–20 m height and a base diameter of about 70 m. Because of its unusual size it has apparently defied graverobbers and also the more recent efforts of "amateur archeologists." Although it is beyond doubt that this huge tumulus must be a powerful local chieftain's burial place, no serious attempt at scientific investigation of the Leeberg has been made either. Großmugl opened a permanent star walk installation designated for astronomical observations with the unaided eye. The Großmugl Star Walk was designed by Project Nightflight and built in close collaboration with the municipality of Großmugl.

References

External links

Großmugl Homepage
(German)
Großmugl Star Walk Installation
Cities and towns in Korneuburg District Iron Age Austria Tumuli in Austria {{LowerAustria-geo-stub