Krems an der Donau (, ) is a city in

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. With a population of 24,821, it is the 20th-largest city of Austria and fifth-largest of Lower Austria. It is approximately west of

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. Krems is a city with its own

statute A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wil ...

(or '' Statutarstadt''), and therefore it is both a municipality and a district.

Geography

Krems is located at the confluence of the Krems and

Danube River The Danube ( ; see also other names) is the second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest south into the Black Sea. A large and historically important riv ...

s at the eastern end of

Wachau The Wachau () is an Austrian valley formed by the Danube River. It is one of the most prominent tourism in Austria, tourist destinations of Lower Austria, located between the towns of Melk and Krems an der Donau, Krems that attracts epicureans ...

valley, in the southern

Waldviertel The ''Waldviertel'' (; ; Central Bavarian: ; ) is the northwestern region of the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is bounded to the south by the river Danube, to the southwest by Upper Austria, to the northwest and to the north by the Czech ...

. Krems borders the following municipalities: Stratzing, Langenlois, Rohrendorf bei Krems, Gedersdorf,

Traismauer Traismauer is a municipality in the district of Sankt Pölten-Land in Lower Austria, Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Feder ...

, Nußdorf ob der Traisen, Paudorf, Furth bei Göttweig, Mautern an der Donau,

Dürnstein Dürnstein () is a small town on the Danube river in the Krems-Land district, in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is one of the most-visited tourist destinations in the Wachau region and also a well-known wine growing area. The municipal ...

, and

Senftenberg Senftenberg ( German, ) or (Lower Sorbian, ) is a town in Lower Lusatia, Brandenburg, in eastern Germany, capital of the Oberspreewald-Lausitz district. Geography Senftenberg is located in the southwest of the historic Lower Lusatia region at t ...

History

Krems was first mentioned in 995 in a certificate of

Otto III Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was the Holy Roman emperor and King of Italy from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was c ...

, but settlement was apparent even before then. For example, a child's grave, over 27,000 years old, was found here. This is the oldest grave found in Austria. During the 11th and 12th centuries, Chremis, as it was then called, was almost as large as

. At the end of the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

, Swedish troops captured Krems in 1645 during their invasion of Lower Austria. The city was recaptured by Imperial troops under Hans Christoph von Puchheim and Johann Wilhelm von Hunolstein on 5 May 1646. Krems is the primary producer of Marillenschnaps, an

apricot brandy Apricot brandy can refer to a liquor (or Eau de Vie) distilled from fermentation (food), fermented apricot juice or a liqueur made from apricot flesh and Apricot kernel, kernels. One method of production involves using a pound of loaf sugar ...

. It is also the hometown of Martin Johann Schmidt, called "Kremserschmidt", the leading

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

, draughtsman and etcher of the Austrian late

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

City division

* Innenstadt ''(Inner City)'' * Weinzierl * Mitterau * Stein * Egelsee * Rehberg * Am Steindl * Gneixendorf * Lerchenfeld * Krems-Süd ''(South Krems)''

Population development

# Quelle der Daten: Homepage der Stadt Krems und Statistik Austria Colors = id:hellgrau value:gray(0.7) id:dunkelgrau value:gray(0.9) ImageSize = width:400 height:auto barincrement:25 PlotArea = left:40 right:20 bottom:25 top:10 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:0 till:26000 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = gridcolor:hellgrau unit:year increment:5000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:dunkelgrau increment:5000 start:0 PlotData= color:skyblue width:20 shift:(20,-4) fontsize:S bar:1869 from:start till:18023 text:"18.023" bar:1880 from:start till:18950 text:"18.950" bar:1890 from:start till:18497 text:"18.497" bar:1900 from:start till:21022 text:"21.022" bar:1910 from:start till:22388 text:"22.388" bar:1923 from:start till:22205 text:"22.205" bar:1934 from:start till:23140 text:"23.140" bar:1951 from:start till:22410 text:"22.410" bar:1961 from:start till:23097 text:"23.097" bar:1971 from:start till:23520 text:"23.520" bar:1981 from:start till:23076 text:"23.076" bar:1991 from:start till:22783 text:"22.783" bar:2001 from:start till:23713 text:"23.713" bar:2011 from:start till:24003 text:"24.014" The population (with principal residence status) in the

agglomeration Agglomeration may refer to: * Urban agglomeration, in standard English * Megalopolis, in Chinese English, as defined in China's ''Standard for basic terminology of urban planning'' (GB/T 50280—98). Also known as "city cluster". * Economies of agg ...

was about 50,000 at the end of 2010.

Climate

Main sights

Old town

* Bürgerspitalkirche * Dominikanerkirche * Dreifaltigkeitssäule * Göglhaus * Gozzoburg * Großes Sgraffitohaus * Pfarrkirche St. Veit * Piaristenkirche * Pulverturm * Rathaus * Simandlbrunnen * Steiner Tor: The gate, erected in 1480, is the second remaining medieval gate

Outside the Old Town

* Frauenbergkirche * Göttweigerhofkapelle * Großer Passauerhof * Karikaturmuseum Krems * Kloster Und * Kremser Tor * Kunsthalle Krems * Forum Frohner * Landesgalerie Niederösterreich * Linzer Tor * Mauthaus * Minoritenkirche * Pfarrkirche Hl. Nikolaus * Salzstadl * University Krems

Transport

The city's main railway station is a junction of the Franz-Josefs Railway to Vienna, the Kremser Railway to St. Pölten, the Donauufer Railway to Spitz and the regional railway to Horn. It is at the intersection of the Stockerauer Speedway S5 and the Kremser Speedway S33, and is traversed by the Danube Road B3, the Retzer Road B35, the Kremser Road B37 and the Langenloiser Road B218. Krems is a junction of the '' Wieselbus'' bus lines, which provides radial connections between Sankt Pölten and the different regions of Lower Austria. Main Roads * Stockerauer Schnellstraße (S5) from Krems to

* Kremser Schnellstraße (S33) from Krems to St. Pölten * Donau Straße (B3) from Krems to

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

* Aggsteiner Straße (B33) from Krems to

Melk Melk (; older spelling: ) is a city in the Austrian state of Lower Austria, next to the Wachau valley along the Danube. Melk has a population of 5,257 (as of 2012). It is best known as the site of a massive baroque Benedictine monastery named ...

** Aggsteiner Straße (B33a) from Krems to Mautern an der Donau * Retzer Straße (B35) from Krems to Retz * Kremser Straße (B37) from Krems to

Rastenfeld Rastenfeld is a town in the district of Krems-Land in the Austrian state of Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Ams ...

** Kremser Straße (B37a) from Krems to

* Langenloiser Straße (B218) from Krems to Langenlois Railroad * Franz-Josefs-Bahn from Krems to

* Kremser Bahn from Krems to St. Pölten * Donauuferbahn from Krems to Spitz * Kamptalbahn from Krems to Sigmundsherberg Air traffic * Gneixendorf airfield is a small general aviation airport.

In the city

A network of four bus lines operates at regular intervals within the city. Every summer, a tourist train connects the ancient parts of the city with museums, the central railway station and the passenger ship terminal of Krems.

Politics

Municipal council

The municipal council consists of 40 members and since the municipal elections in 2017 it consists of the following parties: * 19

Social Democratic Party of Austria The Social Democratic Party of Austria ( , SPÖ) is a social democratic political party in Austria. Founded in 1889 as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (, SDAPÖ) and later known as the Socialist Party of Austria () from 1945 unt ...

(SPÖ) – the mayor and the first vice mayor * 8

Austrian People's Party The Austrian People's Party ( , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since January 2025, the party has been led by Christian Stocker (as an acting leader). It is currently the second-largest p ...

(ÖVP) – the second vice mayor * 5

Freedom Party of Austria The Freedom Party of Austria (, FPÖ) is a political party in Austria, variously described as far-right, right-wing populist, national-conservative, and Eurosceptic. It has been led by Herbert Kickl since 2021. It is the largest of five part ...

(FPÖ) * 2 KLS * 1 Austrian Green Party * 1 PROKS Municipal elections in Krems were held, at the same time as the Austrian legislative election, 2022 in 2022.

City's senate

The city's senate consists of 10 members: * SPÖ: 5 members * ÖVP: 3 members * FPÖ: 2 members

Public facilities

Educational facilities

* BHAK/BHAS Krems * Bundesgymnasium Piaristen * Bundesgymnasium Rechte Kremszeile * Bundesreal- and Bundesoberstufenrealgymnasium (BORG) Krems Heinemannstraße * Bundesrealgymnasium Krems Ringstraße * Danube Private University * University for Continuing Education Krems * Adult education centre * HLA/HLW Krems * HLF Krems * HTBL Krems * IMC Fachhochschule Krems (

University of Applied Sciences A vocational university or university of applied sciences (UAS), less commonly called a polytechnic university is an institution of higher education and increasingly research that provides applied professional education and grants academic de ...

) * Karl Landsteiner Privatuniversität für Gesundheitswissenschaften * Oberstufenrealgymnasium Englische Fräulein * School of education

Prison

* Justizanstalt Stein is a prison housing some of Austria's worst offenders.

Leisure and sports sites

Swimming is available at Kremser Strandbad (indoor

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...

) and outdoor. *

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

– Kremser SC *

Ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

– KEV Eagles *

Miniature golf Miniature golf (also known as minigolf, putt-putt, crazy golf, and by #Nomenclature, several other names) is an offshoot of the sport of golf focusing solely on the putting aspect of its parent game. The aim of the game is to score the lowest ...

* Rugby Club Krems *

Skatepark A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, Freestyle scootering, scootering, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairw ...

Team handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a Handball goalkeeper, goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands ...

– Union Handballklub Krems * Union Badminton Krems Margarete von Babenberg

Notable people

* Ava (ca.1060–1127), poet, the first named female writer in the German language; she lived in Krems * Margaret of Austria (1204–1266), German queen, (1225-1235) & Queen of Bohemia, (1253-1260). * Johann Georg Schmidt (1685–1748), called the "Wiener Schmidt", an Austrian

painter, he died in Krems * Martin Johann Schmidt (1718–1801), called the "Kremser Schmidt", painter of the Austrian

Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

, he died in Krems * Michael Wutky (1739–1822), an Austrian landscape painter in the

style * Ludwig Guttenbrunn (1750–1819), an Austrian artist of portraits and history painting. * Vinzenz Eduard Milde (1777–1853), Dean of Krems and

Archbishop of Vienna The Archbishop of Vienna is the prelate of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna who is concurrently the metropolitan bishop of its ecclesiastical province which includes the dioceses of Eisenstadt, Linz and St. Pölten. From 1469 to 1513, ...

, pastor of Krems and teacher at the former Piarist Gymnasium Krems, (DE Wiki). * Ludwig Ritter von Köchel (1800–1877), an Austrian musicologist, writer, composer, botanist and publisher. * Franz Schneider (1812–1897), physician and chemist * Eduard Melly, (DE Wiki) (1814-1854), art historian, politician and numismatist * Johann Nordmann (1820–1887), journalist, travel writer and poet * Wilhelm Gause (1853–1916), painter, he died in Krems *

Josef Maria Eder Josef Maria Eder (16 March 1855 – 18 October 1944) was an Austrian chemist who specialized in the chemistry of photography, and who wrote a comprehensive early history of the technical development of chemical photography. Life and work Eder was ...

(1855–1944), photochemist and pioneer of

Picture An image or picture is a visual representation. An image can be two-dimensional, such as a drawing, painting, or photograph, or three-dimensional, such as a carving or sculpture. Images may be displayed through other media, including a proje ...

Photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

* Julius Ernest Wilhelm Fučík (1872–1916) composer and conductor; military musician in Krems, 1891-1894 * Wilhelm Miklas (1872–1956), politician (CS) and the third

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the 1st Republic, 1928-1938 * Josef Meller, (DE Wiki) (1874–1968), university professor of ophthalmology * Josef Bayer, (DE Wiki) (1882–1931), director of

Natural History Museum, Vienna The Natural History Museum Vienna () is a large natural history museum located in Vienna, Austria. The NHM Vienna is one of the largest museums and non-university research institutions in Austria and an important center of excellence for all matt ...

, helped find

Venus of Willendorf The Venus of Willendorf is an Venus figurine estimated to have been made years ago. It was recovered on 7 August 1908 from an archaeological dig conducted by Josef Szombathy, Hugo Obermaier, and Josef Bayer at a Paleolithic site near Willendorf ...

* Fritz Dworschak (1890–1974), an Austrian numismatist, art historian and museum director * Rudolf Redlinghofer (1900–1940),

Conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

, Nazi victim, beheaded in 1940, now rehabilitated * Peter B. Neubauer (1913–2008), child psychiatrist and psychoanalyst * Wolfgang Kummer, (DE Wiki) (1935–2007), physicist * Dagmar Braun Celeste (born 1941), an American counselor, author and former first lady of

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

* Ulrike Lunacek (born 1957), journalist and politician (Green) * Robert Streibel, (born 1959), historian, writer and poet.

Sport

* Gregor Hradetzky, (1909–1984), organ builder and canoeist, two gold medals at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

* Marko Stankovic, (born 1986), football player, played 371 games * Lukas Thürauer (born 1987), Austrian footballer who has played over 340 games

Twin towns

Krems is twinned with the following cities: *

Ribe Ribe () is a town in south-west Jutland, Denmark, with a population of 8,367 (2025). It is the seat of the Diocese of Ribe. Until 1 January 2007, Ribe was the seat of both a surrounding municipality and county. It is now part of the enlarged E ...

, Denmark, since 1971 *

Böblingen Böblingen (; ) is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, seat of Böblingen (district), Böblingen District. Sindelfingen and Böblingen are Geographic contiguity, contiguous. History Böblingen was founded by Count Wilhelm von Tübingen-Bö ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

, Germany, since 1971 *

Beaune Beaune (; in Burgundian: ''Beane'') is widely considered to be the wine capital of Burgundy in the Côte d'Or department in eastern France. It is located between Lyon and Dijon. Beaune is one of the key wine centers in France, and a major ...

Côte-d'Or Côte-d'Or () is a département in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of Northeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 534,124.

Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (; , sometimes abbreviated BFC; Arpitan: ''Borgogne-Franche-Comtât'') is a region in eastern France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions, from a merger of Burgundy and Franche-Comté. The new region ...

, France, since 1973 *

Passau Passau (; ) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the ("City of Three Rivers"), as the river Danube is joined by the Inn (river), Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's population is about 50,000, of whom ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, Germany, since 1974 *

Kroměříž Kroměříž (; ) is a town in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 28,000 inhabitants. It is known for Kroměříž Castle with its castle gardens, which are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The historic town centre with the castle ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, since 1994 *

Grapevine ''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 81 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus consists of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, bot ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, United States, since 1999

References

External links

Pictures of Krems and information in English language

Video of a street walk through the Old Town of Krems an der DonauLower Austria official webpage
{{authority control Populated places on the Danube Cities and towns in Lower Austria World Heritage Sites in Austria