Weinviertel#

Weinviertel Region ("Region below Manhartsberg Hill"; Weinviertel, literally: "Wine Quarter"), Lower Austria. As a political unit it comprises the northeastern part of Lower Austria; the Weinviertel (in particular the loess layer over tertiary deposits) is bounded in the west by Manhartsberg Hill, in the south by Wagram region, the River Danube and Marchfeld Plain, in the east by the River March and in the north by the Czech border. The eastern part of the Weinviertel Region forms part of the northern Vienna Basin. The Weinviertel Region is divided into two parts by an outstanding range of cliffs ( Falkenstein Mountains, Leiser Mountains) as well as by the elevations of the Bisamberg Hill and the Rohrwald woodlands of the flysch zone of the Alps, which form the geological border between the molasse zone in the west and the Vienna Basin in the east. The important rivers of the Weinviertel Region are Pulkau, Schmida, Goellersbach, Russbach and Zaya. Parts of the Danube Wetlands have been a national park since 1996. 282,000 people, that is 19 % of the Lower Austrian population, lived in the Weinviertel Region in 1991; all political districts of the Weinviertel (except for Hollabrunn) and the region as a whole experienced a considerable growth in population from 1981-1991. Agriculture in the countryside near Vienna comprises the cultivation of cereals (wheat, barley, rye), root crops (maize, potatoes, sugar beets), wine and fruit as well as alternative crops (oil-seed rape, sunflowers, soya beans). The Marchfeld Plain is Austria´s main area for cultivating cereals and vegetables. The wine growing centres of the Weinviertel, which has a Pannonian climate, are the "large-scale vineyards" of Retzer Weinberge, Falkensteiner Weinberge, Matzner Huegel, Wolkersdorfer Hochleithen and Kirchberger Wagram. The main grape varieties are Gruener Veltliner (60 %), white Burgundy, Welschriesling, Zweigelt and Blauer Portugieser. With an area of around 18,000 hectares, the Weinviertel Region is the largest wine-growing area in Austria. Woodland in the Weinviertel accounts for around 16 % including the Marchfeld Plain (Rohrwald, Ernstbrunner Wald, Hochleithenwald, Matzner Wald woodlands and others). The most important industrial branches are metal processing, food, building materials, paper and printing and the chemical industry. Petroleum and natural gas extraction (OMV) is concentrated in the east of the Weinviertel; well-known petroleum villages and towns are Neusiedl an der Zaya, Zistersdorf, Matzen, Auersthal and Prottes. Tourism in the Weinviertel is mostly restricted to day-trips. Towns and villages in the vicinity of Vienna benefit from the tourism of the capital. Large parts of the Weinviertel are popular for second homes of people living in Vienna. The main railway connections are the Franz-Josefs-Bahn (Franz Joseph Railway Line leading from Vienna to Gmuend and Prague), Northern Railway (to Bernhardsthal) and Eastern Railway (to Marchegg) as well as other lines leading to Laa an der Thaya and Retz. Vienna´s Schnellbahn suburban railway network reaches as far as Gaenserndorf, Mistelbach and Retz ("Verkehrsverbund Ost-Region" transport association since 1984). Due to the extension and improvement of public transport the commuter area of Vienna is gradually spreading over the whole Weinviertel Region. Main roads lead from Vienna via Stockerau to Maissau and Haugsdorf as well as from Vienna to Drasenhofen. Main towns and villages in the Weinviertel Region are Korneuburg, Stockerau, Hollabrunn, Retz, Laa an der Thaya, Poysdorf, Hohenau an der March, Mistelbach, Wolkersdorf, Gaenserndorf and Marchegg.

Literature#