Schrems#

Schrems, Lower Austria, town in the district of Gmuend, alt. 532 m, pop. 5,925, area 60.82 km2, industrial town in the north-west of the Waldviertel region, near Gmuend. - Day-care centre for the disabled (Caritas), industrial and commercial vocational schools, Waldviertel Ecological Centre, mud baths, Volkshilfe welfare organisation, museum, culture centre, Waldviertler Hoftheater theatre, library, multi-purpose hall, adult education centre. 3,194 employed persons (1991), approx. 67 % of whom work in the processing industry, electrical industry, textile industry, construction of prefabricated houses, granite quarries, brewery; peat cutting discontinued (following initiatives to convert the moor into a nature preserve). - First documented mention 1179, town status since 1936. Neo-Baroque parish church (destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1871) with Baroque high altar (around 1720-1730), altar painting by C. Carlone; castle (built after 1635, alterations 1777-1781); pillory (16th century); Vereinspark park (19th century) and main square with modern stone sculptures; many natural ponds in the vicinity.

Literature#