Lower Austria Hotels Austria

Lower Austria Lower Austria is the largest (19K sq km) of the nine states of Austria, in the northeast. Though situated to the east of Upper Austria, it is called lower Austria because it is further down the Danube that flows west to east. The Moravia region of the Czech Republic shares borders to the north, Slovakia or the eastern side, the province of Styria to the south and the west is Upper Austria. The capital of Lower Austria since 1986 is Sankt Polten, though Lower Austria surrounds the federal state of Vienna , which was a part of Lower Austria until `1920. It is a scenic, hilly region, drained by the Danube with peaks of the Eastern Alps and the Wienerwald (Vienna Woods), and has around half of Austria’s arable land, known for its grain and wine growing.

Lower Austria is divided into four regions or viertel. The Mostviertel (the region above the Vienna Woods) comprises the foothills of the Limestone Alps, whilst the Waldviertel is a granite plateau. The Industrieviertel is the region below the Vienna Woods, and these valleys around Vienna contain more than half of all Austrian Industry.

This is a historic area, and was once heavily fortified and the 550 fortresses and castles, many in ruins but still able to be seen. Medieval dynasties had Wiener Neustadt at the foothills of the Alps. Richard the Lion Heart was imprisoned at Durnstein along the Danube – which now has terraced vineyards.

There are many monasteries and churches – early Romanesque and Gothic as well as later striking Baroque abbeys- in Lower Austria. In summer the area is also alive with music festivals and theatre.