Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich;
Austro-Bavarian
Bavarian (german: Bairisch , Bavarian: ''Boarisch'') or alternately Austro-Bavarian, is a West Germanic language, part of the Upper German family, together with Alemannic and East Franconian.
Bavarian is spoken by approximately 12 million peo ...
: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine
states of Austria
Austria is a federal republic made up of nine states (German: ''Länder''). Since ''Land'' is also the German word for "country", the term ''Bundesländer'' (literally ''federal states'') is often used instead to avoid ambiguity. The Constituti ...
, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the
capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...
of Lower Austria has been
Sankt Pölten, replacing
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
which became a separate state in 1921. With a land area of and a population of 1.685 million people, Lower Austria is the second most populous state in Austria (after Vienna). Other large cities are
Amstetten,
Klosterneuburg,
Krems an der Donau,
Stockerau and
Wiener Neustadt.
Geography
With a land area of situated east of
Upper Austria, Lower Austria is the country's largest state. Lower Austria derives its name from its downriver location on the
Enns River which flows from the west to the east. Lower Austria has an international border, long, with the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
(
South Bohemia and
South Moravia Regions) and
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...
(
Bratislava and
Trnava Region
The Trnava Region ( sk, Trnavský kraj, ; hu, Nagyszombati kerület; german: Tyrnauer Landschaftsverband) is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions. It was established in 1996, before which date most of its districts were parts of Brat ...
s). The state has the second longest external border of all Austrian states.
It also borders the other Austrian states of
Upper Austria,
Styria
Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered ...
and
Burgenland as well as surrounding
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
.
Lower Austria is divided into four regions, known as ''Viertel'' (quarters):
* ''
Weinviertel'' or Tertiary Lowland (below the
Manhartsberg)
* ''
Waldviertel'' or Bohemian Plateau (above the Manhartsberg)
* ''
Mostviertel'' (above the
Vienna Woods)
* ''
Industrieviertel'' (below the Vienna Woods).
These regions have different geographical structures. Whilst the ''Mostviertel'' is dominated by the foothills of the
Limestone Alps
The Limestone Alps (german: Kalkalpen) are a mountain ranges system of the Alps in Central Europe.
They are of economic importance, including as a watershed source of drinking water. They have many accessible dripstone and ice caves.
Geography
...
with mountains up to high, most of the ''Waldviertel'' is a
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies un ...
plateau. The hilly ''Weinviertel'' lies to the northeast, descends to the plains of
Marchfeld in the east of the state, and is separated by the Danube from the
Vienna Basin to the south, which in turn is separated from the Vienna Woods by a line of thermal springs (the ''Thermenlinie'') running north to south.
Mountains
*
Schneeberg (Klosterwappen; 2,076 m)
*
Rax
The Rax is a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps on the border of the Austrian federal provinces of Lower Austria and Styria. Its highest peak is the ''Heukuppe'' (2,007 m). The Rax, together with the nearby Schneeberg, are a traditio ...
(Scheibwaldhöhe; 1,943 m; highest summit: Heukuppe; 2,007 m –
Styria
Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered ...
)
*
Ötscher (1,893 m)
*
Dürrenstein (1,878 m)
*
Schneealpe
The Schneealpe or Schneealm is a limestone massif in the Northern Limestone Alps on the Styrian-Lower Austrian border.
Its highest point is the Windberg at 1,903 metres above sea level. Other peaks are the ''Ameisbühel'' (also Amaißbichl, 1 ...
(Ameisbühel; 1,828 m; highest summit: Windberg; 1,903 m –
Styria
Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered ...
)
*
Hochkar (1,808 m)
*
Gamsstein (1,774 m)
*
Stumpfmauer (1,770 m)
* Göller (1,766 m)
*
Hochwechsel (1,743 m)
*
Gippel (1,669 m)
* Großer Sonnleitstein (1,639 m)
*
Großer Zellerhut (1,639 m)
*
Gemeindealpe (1,626 m)
* Scheiblingstein (1,622 m) (not to be confused with
Scheiblingstein (2,197 m), which is in
Styria
Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered ...
)
* Drahtekogel (1,565 m)
*
Sonnwendstein (1,523 m)
* Obersberg (1,467 m)
*
Königsberg
Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was ...
(1,452 m)
*
Großer Sulzberg (1,400 m)
*
Reisalpe
The Reisalpe (1,399 m) is the highest mountain in the Gutenstein Alps and lies between Lilienfeld, Hohenberg and Kleinzell in Lower Austria. It is a popular destination, both for hikers in summer and also for ski mountaineering and snowshoe wal ...
(1,399 m)
*
Gahns (1,380 m)
*
Tirolerkogel (1,377 m)
*
Türnitzer Höger (1,372 m)
*
Unterberg (1,342 m)
*
Traisenberg (1,230 m)
*
Dürre Wand (1,222 m)
* Hohenstein (1,195 m)
*
Eisenstein (1,185 m)
*
Hohe Wand (1,132 m)
*
Großer Peilstein (1,061 m)
*
Weinsberg (1,041 m)
*
Hocheck (1,036 m)
*
Nebelstein (1,017 m)
*
Eibl (1,007 m)
*
Hohe Mandling (967 m)
*
Jauerling (961 m)
*
Hoher Lindkogel also named Eisernes Tor (834m)
*
Anninger (675 m)
*
Buschberg (491 m)
Other mountains in Lower Austria may be found at
:Mountains of Lower Austria.
Alpine passes
*
Semmering (985 m)
*
Wechsel (980 m)
The state border with Styria runs over both passes.
Rivers
Almost all of Lower Austria is drained by the Danube. The only river that flows into the North Sea (via the
Moldau and the
Elbe
The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Re ...
) is the
Lainsitz in northern ''Waldviertel'', the
Erlauf river.
The most important rivers north of the Danube (on its left bank) are the
Ysper,
Kamp,
Krems,
Lainsitz,
March and
Thaya
The Thaya ( cs, Dyje ) is a river in Central Europe, the longest tributary to the river Morava. Its drainage basin is . It is ( with its longest source river German Thaya) long and meanders from west to east in the border area between Lower ...
. South of the Danube (on its right bank) are the
Enns,
Ybbs,
Erlauf,
Melk,
Pielach,
Traisen,
Schwechat,
Fischa,
Schwarza,
Triesting,
Pitten and the
Leitha.
Lakes
*
Ottenstein Reservoir
Ottenstein is a municipality in the district of Holzminden, in Lower Saxony, Germany.
See also
* Ottenstein Plateau
The Ottenstein Plateau (german: Ottensteiner Hochebene or ''Ottensteiner Hochfläche'') is part of the Lower Saxon Weser Upl ...
(4.3 km)
*
Lunzer See (0.69 km)
*
Erlaufsee (0.56 km, of which about half lies in Lower Austria)
*
Erlauf Reservoir
*
Wienerwaldsee
The Wienerwaldsee (English:''Vienna Forest Lake'') is a shallow reservoir, located 20 kilometres west of Vienna, Austria.
It is located just north of Austria's main motorway, the West Autobahn, between Tullnerbach and Neu-Purkersdorf. It was cre ...
(0.32 km)
Caves
Lower Austria is rich in natural
cave
A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...
s; in all 4,082 have been recorded. Most of the caves have formed in limestone and dolomite rocks and are therefore called
karst cave
Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant r ...
s. Cavities also form in the marble of the Central Alps and the Bohemian Massif. Among the largest caves in Lower Austria are:
*
Ötscherhöhlensystem (
Ötscher): 27,003 m long; union of the
Taubenloch
Taubenloch (French: Gorges du Taubenloch) is a gorge in the Canton of Bern, above Biel/Bienne in Switzerland. It crosses the first Jura Mountain chain, as considered from the Swiss Plateau.
Location
The gorge covers a length of around 2 kilometr ...
and
Geldloch
*
Pfannloch (
Ötscher): 5,287 m long
*
Lechnerweidhöhle (
Dürrenstein): 5,252 m long
*
Trockenes Loch (
Schwarzenbach an der Pielach): 4,510 m long
*
Hermannshöhle (
Kirchberg am Wechsel
Kirchberg am Wechsel is a town in the district of Neunkirchen in the Austrian state of Lower Austria
Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, locat ...
): 4,430 m long
*
Eisensteinhöhle (
Bad Fischau): 2,341 m long
The last two are open as
show caves, along with the Allander stalactite cave, the
Unicorn Cave, the
Hochkarschacht, the
Nixhöhle and the
Ötschertropfsteinhöhle.
Land use
History
The history of Lower Austria is very similar to the
history of Austria. Many castles are located in Lower Austria.
Klosterneuburg Abbey
Klosterneuburg Abbey or Monastery (german: Stift Klosterneuburg) is a twelfth-century Augustinian monastery of the Roman Catholic Church located in the town of Klosterneuburg in Lower Austria. Overlooking the Danube, just north of the Vienna ci ...
, located here, is one of the oldest abbeys in Austria. Before
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, Lower Austria had the largest number of
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
in the country.
The names ''Lower Austria'' and ''
Upper Austria'' are derived from the earlier names ''Austria below the Enns'' and ''Austria above the Enns'', references to the
river Enns
The Enns (, ) is a southern tributary of the river Danube, joining northward at Enns, Austria. The Enns spans , in a flat-J-shape. It flows from its source near the village Flachau, generally eastward through Radstadt, Schladming, and Liezen, then ...
. Going down from its source on the northern edge of the
Central Eastern Alps, the river crosses Upper Austria, then on its lower reaches forms the boundary between Upper Austria and Lower Austria.
In the mid-13th century, it became known as the Principality below the
Enns River (').
Economy
The
gross domestic product
Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is of ...
(GDP) of the state was € 61.0 billion in 2018, accounting for 15.8% of Austria's economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was € 32,300, or 107% of the EU27 average in the same year. Lower Austria is the state with the second-lowest GDP per capita in Austria.
Demographics
Administrative divisions
Lower Austria is divided into four regions: ''
Waldviertel'', ''
Mostviertel'', ''
Industrieviertel'', and ''
Weinviertel''. The
Wachau valley, situated between
Melk and
Krems in the
Mostviertel region, is famous for its landscape, culture, and
wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented grapes. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different ...
.
Administratively, the state is divided into 20 districts (''
Bezirke''), and four independent towns (''
Statutarstädte''). In total, there are 573 municipalities within Lower Austria.
Independent towns
*
Krems an der Donau
*
Sankt Pölten
*
Waidhofen an der Ybbs
*
Wiener Neustadt
Districts
*
Amstetten
*
Baden
Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine.
History
The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...
*
Bruck an der Leitha
*
Gänserndorf
Gänserndorf () is a town on the Marchfeld, Lower Austria, Austria and the capital of Bezirk Gänserndorf. It is about 20 km northeast of Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, p ...
*
Gmünd
*
Hollabrunn
*
Horn
*
Korneuburg
*
Krems-Land
*
Lilienfeld
Lilienfeld () is a city in Lower Austria (Niederösterreich), Austria, south of St. Pölten, noted as the site of Lilienfeld Abbey. It is also the site of a regional hospital Landesklinikum Voralpen Lilienfeld.
The city is located in the valley ...
*
Melk
*
Mistelbach
*
Mödling
Mödling () is the capital of the Austrian district of the same name located approximately 14 km south of Vienna.
Mödling lies in Lower Austria's industrial zone (Industrieviertel). The Mödlingbach, a brook which rises in the Vienna Woods ...
*
Neunkirchen
*
Sankt Pölten-Land
*
Scheibbs
Scheibbs () is a town in Austria in the Scheibbs district of Lower Austria. In 1886, it became the first town in Austria to have street lighting powered by electricity.
Population
Mayors
*1950-1965: Anton Herok
*1965-1983: Alois Derfler
*1983- ...
*
Tulln an der Donau
*
Waidhofen an der Thaya
*
Wiener Neustadt-Land
*
Zwettl
References
External links
Country of Lower Austria - official webpageLower Austria - official visitor information webpagePhotoGlobe- georeferenced photos of Lower Austria
{{coord, 48, 20, N, 15, 45, E, region:AT-3_type:adm1st, display=title
NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union
States of Austria
Wine regions of Austria