Vienna - Kahlenburg

Kahlenberg stands 484m/1,585ft high. It is, so to speak, Vienna's own "mountain" and virtually the last part of the Vienna Woods to the east. There is a magnificent view from the terrace with its fine Heurige restaurant. Farther off, beyond the city and the Marchfeld, the Little Carpathians and the Schneeberg region. On the summit of the Kahlenberg stands a television tower and the recently restored 22m/72ft- high Stephanie Observatory (125 steps to the top; open Sun., pub. hols. 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.) which was a gift from Crown Princess Stephanie in the 1880s, designed by Fellner and Helmer who were the architects of the Viennese theaters and the Ringstrasse. It was from up here that in 1683 the relieving army of the Polish Prince Sobieski brought aid at the 11th hour to the city of Vienna which was being besieged and almost overrun by the Turks for a second time. The event is commemorated by the Sobieski Chapel in the little Baroque Church of St Joseph. Poets and composers have always had a soft spot for Kahlenberg. The fact that it was once called "Sow Hill", presumably on account of the numbers of wild boar in the dense oak woods, was forgotten long ago. Grillparzer wrote: "If you have seen the land all around from the top of Kahlenberg, you will understand what I have written and what I am".