“DAY RIDE 2021_1”
Austrias easternmost corner is widely known for the following: Lake Neusiedel, huge flatlands and big vineyards. Due to the lack of slopes and bends, this part of my home country is not the first choice for motorcyclists to ride. Living since over a decade in the nearby capitol city Vienna I explored this “boring” corner very well the last years, and found out, that there are a lot of nice sights in this part of Austria. This is, let’s say, a little summary of enjoyable sights within this area. Enjoy …
DATE: FEBRUARY 2021, DISTANCE: 320 KM or 200 MI, GRAVEL/STREET RATIO: 40/60%, HIGHLIGHTS: 1. A huge Transformer Station, 2. Old Chalk-Chimney, 3. A little Chapel, 4. Graveyard, 5. Windmill, 6. A recycled Iron-Curtain-Watch-Tower, 7. Castle Halbturn, 8. Army Museum, 9. Ancient Roman Ruins, 10. A Surveillance Station, 11. Sunset at a nice Lookout
February 2021: The winter was loosing its strength in the warmer eastern Parts of Austria. On the early morning of a sunny, but still cold day, I took my old trusty girl …
Чернотa out for a ride. We left Vienna on its southeastern edge along some supporting roads which were crossing the railway lines. Very close to the borderline between Vienna and the federal state Lower Austria …
is this huge Transformer-Station located. From an artificial hill with its own peak-cross, I had a good overview over this areal. It impressed me how much effort is necessary for supplying a big city like Vienna with electricity. Especially because this is surely not the only Transformer Station for the whole city. From this electricity-giant, I rode to …
this electricity dwarf in a southern suburb of Vienna, which produces just enough energy for a small little adjoining factory.
Keyword “Factory”: Just a few kilometers further, near the hill range of the “Leitha Mountains”, is this …
unique shaft furnace located. In German language, that furnace is called “Kalkofen Baxa”. It was built in 1893 and was used for burning big amounts of lime/chalk, which was mined in a nearby stone pit and was in duty til the year 1978. Later it was restored and nowadays, a small museum about the hard work conditions in this oven, is located in the rooms of the furnace. On www.kalkofenbaxa.at you will find further information about this place, its history and a few nice pictures about the hard work back then. A few …
easy single tracks later, I passed to another …
stone pit, which was founded back in ancient Roman times. Whilst exploring its surrounding …
I stumbled over this crack in the landscape. A closer look showed me that this is kind of an old trench. Til now I wasn’t able to find out more about it, especially because, as far as I know, there was no positional warfare in this part of Austria during WWII. Whatever!,…
Next stop was the “Rosalia Chapel” which is placed on a small hill near the village Oggau. I took the chance and used the provided bench for a short tea-break and warmed my limbs in the warm February-Sun. Just a few hundred yards westwards of this chapel, lies …
the “Hoelzl-Stone” which is an about 10×20 meter tall rock, resting on a rise, surrounded by fields and vineyards. The ride went on and the landscape …
flattened more and …
more, whilst getting closer to the Lake Neusiedel. On our way southwards, Чернотa and I traversed another interesting …
place near the small town Frauenkirchen, which is completely surrounded by trees. First I thought this is a military graveyard, but I found out, that both visible monuments were built for remembering to War-Prisoners of World War One. Back then, at this place was a camp installed, in which many thousands of Serbian, Italian, Russian war prisoners were detained by the Austrians. According to estimations, about 4500 – 6000 soldiers got buried within this huge area.
After a short walk, I left this history-charged place and went on for my first visit of …
the windmill in the village Podersdorf. This over 160 years old windmill is one of the last of its kind in the Austrian federal state Burgenland.
Thereafter Чернотa and I reached an area of the huge Lake Neusiedel which is known for its …
swampy and …
sandy shoreline, framed from a …
dense reed belt. I took the chance and …
climbed this old watchtower, which is a left over from the Iron Curtain, which was installed decades ago, not far from this place. It seems like this type of watchtower was an often used standard type along the former borderline between East and West. Чернотa and I saw a few of these relicts on a multi day ride, which followed the former death strip of the Iron Curtain —> THE IRON SIDE RIDE 😎
I climbed the watchtower and enjoyed the view, while Чернотa was waiting. Most people say, “boring” when seeing …
such straight tracks … .
👨🎓 I say: “When such tracks are boring for you, just turn the right-hand side lever of the handlebar further towards you and the boredom vanishes. 🥱🤛✊🛵💨💨😆
In the area of “Seewinkel” are also some impressive …
little lakes located inwards the plain. With Spring- and in Summer, there are plenty of different and very seldom birds living here. (… and nearly as many birdwatchers too!)
Now it was time for leaving…
the wasteland behind, and for a visit of this …
church in the village “Andau”. I’m not really a “Fan” of any faith, but I really like to watch the different and most of the time very impressive ways of how such buildings were built. As far as I can remember, this is my first double-tower-church I’d seen here in Austria.
In the neighbor village I saw this old tractor, which is a Volvo BMT 650, built in the seventies; powered by a 4-cylinder Diesel engine, which delivers 73 hp out of 4,2 Liter displacement. I like such old, nearly only mechanical operating, Diesel-powered machines. They show well how far, til today, combustion engines have evolved. In the same village, I had to stop a second time for …
this impressive graffiti. I really like the fact that the artist has highlighted each gap between the bricks with its own shading. Kudos to this very detailed work. The next stop was at …
“Castle Halbturn“, which was built around the year 1700 as a hunting lodge for the Austrian Emperor. After another …
speedy lane, …
Чернотa and I had to wait a long time for the arriving/passing of this freight train. I don’t understand why sometimes the beams closes about five!!! minutes before the arrival of the train. *headshaking*jawn*
But our effort was rewarded with our next main sight of the day: A former …
Pillbox-Area, where some old …
military equipment was …
displayed. The bunker itself, which is another relict of the Cold War, is only accessible with a guided tour, organized from the Austrian-Military-History-Museum. Here is a link leading to further details about this former defense building: “Bunkeranlage Ungerberg”
Just a braaap away is this awesome ancient …
ruin located. It is a former Romanian-Emperor-Palace with impressive dimensions. Because I was curious how this …
building has looked hundreds of years ago I did a web search whilst writing this report.
Indeed, I was able to find a very detailed website which is delivering loads of knowledge about this place, including a 3D-model. If you are interested too in such stuff, you should maybe give this website: https://kaiservillabruckneudorf.com a try.
It already was late afternoon and the sun stood low at the horizon, so I left this ruin, underpassed the …
nearby freeway and skidded on along some …
muddy trails northwards. I had to make a …
potty break near this huge grain silos, located close to…
the border with Slovakia. Here, near the former “iron border, is an impressive building located, which is also a relict from this elapsed time and which is still in duty:
The “Military-Communications-Intercept-Station: Koenigswarte.” I climbed the nearby …
watch tower. On top the view over to …
Slovakia/ the city Bratislava was amazing. From up there, the sight into the area of …
this military Area was also better. The Station was built back in the Cold War using an old huge world war bunker as foundations. During the Cold War, it was used as a listening sentry, for receiving signals from the eastern countries. After the collapse of the Warsaw Pact, the station was modernized and is today still in duty for the interception of satellite signals. I changed my point of view atop the watchtower …
to the west, where the sun was now nearly touching the horizon. Therefore, I hurried the steps of the tower downwards, made …
this pic of a nice forked tree and chased Чернотa up to move forward for the village “Hainburg”. There, is a another nice lookout on top of the …
mountain Braunsberg located. I took a sip from my tea bottle and enjoyed the view over the golden twinkling river Danube, where a freight ship was fighting against the current. With …
the fading red glowing sun, I entered the city Vienna …
on its eastern edge, where big mineral oil processing facility is producing 24/7 hours a day gasoline products for the Austrian market.
Total riding distance of this day ride: 320 km or 200mi
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