Mautern an der Donau

Mautern an der Donau, Lower Austria, town in the district of Krems an der Donau, alt. 201 m, pop. 3,037, area 9.14 km², situated on the south bank of the River Danube right opposite the town of Krems, on the north-eastern edges of the Dunkelstein Woods; bridge crossing the Danube. - District Chamber of Agriculture, Raab Baracks, Römerhalle multipurpose hall; production of beverages, vinegar and apricot brandy, trading companies, fruit-growing, viticulture. - Roman Castle, partly preserved towers (Hufeisenturm, Fächerturm) along the west side of the fortifications; ruins of an early Christian church; which might have belonged to the monastery of Saint Severinus, who died at Favianis in 482; Roman clay masks exhibited in the museum of Krems. First documented mention of Mautern an der Donau as "civitas" in 899, mentioned in the Nibelungenlied (Middle High German epic poem) as "Mutaren", mentioned in the Raffestetten Customs Regulations in 904. - Originally Gothic parish church (first documented mention in 1050), altered in Baroque style in 1697, staggered construction with a rectangular choir and Stations of the Cross by M. J. Schmidt (1770), presbytery (1708); four-winged palace (built between the 15^th and the 18^th centuries) with its own chapel (1620); Gothic Chapel of St. Margaret (houses the museum of local history, first documented mention in 1083), decorated with frescoes (around 1300); the wine-growing estate of Nicolaihof with St. Agapit Chapel; Janaburg building in the centre of Mautern an der Donau with a columned doorway (1576).

Literature: Österr. Städtebuch, vol. IV, part 2: Die Städte Niederösterreichs, 1976; M. Buxbaum, Die Stadt Mautern an der Donau von 1945 bis 1955, master´s thesis, Vienna 1993.