Reichenau an der Rax is a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

in the

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 ...

n 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 Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

, situated at the foot of the Rax mountain range on the '' Schwarza'' river, a headstream of the

Leitha The Leitha (; , formerly ; ; Czech language, Czech and ) is a river in Austria and Hungary, a right tributary of the Danube. It is long ( including its source river Schwarza (Leitha), Schwarza). Its basin area is . Etymology The ''Lithaha'' Riv ...

History

Reichenau castle was first mentioned in a 1256 deed. Duke Otto IV the Merry, who in 1327 had established the abbey of Neuberg, acquired Reichenau in 1333 and granted it to the monastery. Originally an

ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically including metals, concentrated above background levels, and that is economically viable to mine and process. The grade of ore refers to the concentration ...

mining and forestry area, Reichenau due to its picturesque setting became a summer resort of the

Viennese Viennese may refer to: * Vienna, the capital of Austria * Viennese people, List of people from Vienna * Viennese German, the German dialect spoken in Vienna * Viennese classicism * Viennese coffee house, an eating establishment and part of Viennese ...

nobility in the 19th century. From 1854 on the development of the area was decisively promoted by the opening of the Semmering railway line with a train station in neighbouring Payerbach, part of the

Austrian Southern Railway The Austrian Southern Railway () is a long double track railway, which linked the capital Vienna with Trieste, the former main seaport of Austria-Hungary, by railway for the first time. It now forms the Southern Railway in Austria and the Spi ...

''(Südbahn)'' from the Vienna '' Südbahnhof'' to

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

. Reichenau was directly connected to Payerbach by the '' Höllentalbahn'' narrow gauge railway in 1926 at the same time with the opening of the ''Raxseilbahn'', the oldest

aerial tramway An aerial tramway, aerial tram, sky tram, cable car or aerial cablecar, aerial cableway, ropeway, téléphérique (French), or Seilbahn (German) is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary cables for support, with a third movin ...

in Austria. In 1873 a drinking water pipeline to Vienna was built to supply the

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

capital with mountain water rising from the Rax range. In 1872

Archduke Charles Louis of Austria Archduke Karl Ludwig Josef Maria of Austria (30 July 1833 – 19 May 1896) was the younger brother of both Franz Joseph I of Austria and Maximilian I of Mexico, and the father of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (1863–1914), whose assassina ...

had the ''Villa Wartholz'' residence erected near his favourite hunting grounds, according to plans by

Heinrich von Ferstel Freiherr Heinrich von Ferstel (7 July 1828 14 July 1883) was an Austrian architect and professor, who played a vital role in building late 19th-century Vienna. Life The son of Ignaz Ferstel (17961866), a bank clerk and later director of the ...

. In 1889

Nathaniel Anselm von Rothschild Nathaniel Mayer von Rothschild (26 October 1836 – 16 June 1905) was a member of the Rothschild banking family of Austria, known as art collector and patron. Life Born in Vienna, he was the fifth child and first son of Anselm von Rothschild (18 ...

followed with the building of Hinterleiten Palace. He however did not spend much time in Reichenau and shortly afterwards donated the palais to a veterans foundation, while the

Villa Wartholz The Villa Wartholz or Castle Wartholz is a former imperial villa in Reichenau an der Rax in Lower Austria. History Villa Wartholz was designed by Heinrich von Ferstel in the historicist style in the years 1870 to 1872 for Archduke Karl Ludw ...

remained a seat of the Habsburg family, especially of

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

and his wife Zita; their first son,

Otto Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants '' Audo'', '' Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fr ...

, was born and baptized there, and when Charles become Emperor of Austria,

was his summer residence in the years 1917 and 1918. Reichenau was the summer retreat of the author Heimito von Doderer, where he wrote large parts of his novel '' The Strudlhof Steps''. The priest

Heinrich Maier Heinrich Maier (; 16 February 1908 – 22 March 1945) was an Austrian Roman Catholic priest, pedagogue, philosopher and a member of the Austrian resistance, who was executed as the last victim of Hitler's regime in Vienna. The resistance gro ...

, head of the spectacular Austrian resistance group during the Nazi era, was a

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

in Reichenau in the 1930s. His very successful Catholic resistance group very successfully passed on plans and production facilities for V-1, V-2 rockets, Tiger tanks and aircraft (Messerschmitt Bf 109, Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet, etc.) to the Allies. This enabled the Allies to target decisive armaments factories and to protect residential areas.Hansjakob Stehle "Die Spione aus dem Pfarrhaus (German: The spy from the rectory)" In: Die Zeit, 5 January 1996.

Notable people

Otto von Habsburg Otto von Habsburg (, ; 20 November 1912 4 July 2011) was the last crown prince of Austria-Hungary from 1916 until the dissolution of the empire in November 1918. In 1922, he became the pretender to the former thrones, head of the House of Habs ...

, head of the

House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful Dynasty, dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout ...

from 1922 to 2006, was born at ''Villa Wartholz'' in Reichenau on 20 November 1912. *

Theodor Herzl Theodor Herzl (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist and lawyer who was the father of Types of Zionism, modern political Zionism. Herzl formed the World Zionist Organization, Zionist Organizat ...

died in Edlach, a village of Reichenau an der Rax, on July 3, 1904.

Transport

Beside the ''Südbahn'' railway line, Reichenau can be reached via the ''B27 Höllental Straße'' federal highway running from

Gloggnitz Gloggnitz is a mountain town in the Neunkirchen (Austrian district), Neunkirchen district of Lower Austria, Austria. Gloggnitz is situated in the south-western part of the Viennese Basin, Vienna Basin in Lower Austria. It is surrounded by the hi ...

and the ''S6 Semmering Schnellstraße'' expressway to Rohr im Gebirge.

References

Gallery

Hirschwang - Villa Schoeller.JPG, Hirschwang - Villa Schoeller Hirschwang-Reichenau 2.JPG, Hirschwang-Reichenau Reichenau - Thalhofstr Museumsbahn 02.JPG, Höllental Railway near the Thalhof road Reichenau an der Rax Villa Wartholz 1900.jpg, Villa Wartholz Theater Reichenau.jpg, Theater Reichenau - Thalhofstr im Herbst.JPG, Schlösschen on the Thalhof road Reichenau - Thalhofstr - Blick ins Tal zum Feuchter.JPG, Thalhof road - View into the valley to Feuchter Reichenau an der Rax, Pfarrhof, ehemalige Doringer-Villa.jpg, Vicarage, former Villa Doringer Höllentalbahn (Niederösterreich) Betriebsgebäude in Reichenau.jpg, Höllental Railway operations building Reichenau an der Rax, Schlossanlage Reichenau.jpg, Schloss Reichenau Reichenau - Wartholzkreuz.JPG, Wartholz Cross GuentherZ 2005-09-24 0059 Kaiserbrunn Kaiserbrunnen.jpg, Kaiser Fountain Reichenau - Raxseilbahn, Talstation.JPG, Valley station of the Rax cable car Reichenau an der Rax - Raxalm-Berggasthof.JPG, Top station with restaurant of the Rax cable car Reichenau an der Rax, Villa Waldhuette 3.jpg, Waldhütte Villa

External links

Pictures of Reichenau/Rax and information in English
{{authority control Cities and towns in Neunkirchen District, Austria