Wienerwald

Vienna Woods, Lower Austria/Vienna, wooded northeastern foothills of the Alps near Vienna, popular recreation area in the vicinity of Vienna. The northern part belongs to the flysch zone ("Sandstone Vienna Woods", highest peak: Schöpfl mountain, alt. 893 m), the southern part to the limestone Pre-Alps (Peilstein, alt. 716 m). In the west, the Vienna Woods are bounded by the Rivers Große Tulln and Traisen, in the north by the Tullnerfeld Plain and the River Danube and the Wiener Pforte Gap, in the east by the Vienna Basin and in the south by the Triestingtal and Gölsental valleys. The regions to the west and east of the Woods are also referred to as "Viertel ober dem Wienerwald" (= region above the Vienna Woods, i.e. the "Mostviertel" in Lower Austria) and the "Viertel unter dem Wienerwald (= region below the Vienna Woods, i.e. the "Industrieviertel", also in Lower Austria). The highest peaks in the Vienna Woods are Schöpfl mountain (alt. 893 m), Gföhlberg mountain (alt. 885 m) and Hoher Lindkogel Mountain (alt. 843 m). The Vienna Woods are situated in a zone mainly influenced by the Atlantic transitional climate. The northeastern part of the Vienna woods extends to the western municipal districts of Vienna (Wald- und Wiesengürtel). In the north (Flysch Vienna Woods), 77% of the Vienna Woods consist of deciduous forest (especially beech, oak and hornbeam), about 46 % of the wooded area in the southeast (Limestone Vienna Woods) is made up of coniferous trees (spruce, black pine, fir and larch); the eastern slopes of the Vienna Woods are used for wine growing, in the west are the Lainzer Tiergarten Nature Preserve and the Sparbach Nature Park. Along with the rivers already mentioned above, the Rivers Wien and Schwechat (Helenental) are also of importance. The Vienna Woods were a protection forest and hunting ground for local princes for a long time; In the years 1870-1872, J. Schöffel saved the Vienna Woods from deforestation. Today, the Vienna Woods are a conservation area but threatened by the indiscriminate spread of low-density settlements and pollution, making them one of the most damaged forests in Austria today. The Vienna Woods are crossed by the Western Railway, the Westautobahn motorway (A 1) and the connection between Westautobahn and Südautobahn motorway via Alland (A 21). Important municipalities situated at or in the Vienna Woods include Klosterneuburg, Purkersdorf, Pressbaum, Bad Vöslau, Baden, Gumpoldskirchen, Mödling, Brunn am Gebirge and Perchtoldsdorf.

Literature: G. Trumler, Das Buch vom Wienerwald, 1985; Verein Wienerwald-Konferenz (ed.), Wienerwald-Konferenz: Alarm im Wienerwald, Wienerwald-Tag 1991 in Purkersdorf, 1993; B. Plöchinger, Der Wienerwald, 1993.