On the Roof of the Danube - View from the Wachau Terrace, © Naturpark Jauerling-Wachau

On the roof of the Danube

It is the roof of the Danube - the Jauerling towers 960 m above sea level.

No other mountain on the 2,850 km long Danube is higher than the Jauerling. More than 700 metres in altitude separate the Danube bank from the summit area. The entire Jauerling mountain range covers 11,500 hectares and is designated as a nature park. The seven municipalities of Aggsbach, Emmersdorf, Maria Laach, Mühldorf, Raxendorf, Spitz and Weiten form the area of the nature park region.

The Jauerling is the connecting link between the UNESCO World Heritage Wachau and the Southern Waldviertel. The region is a river landscape, wine-growing area, characterised by original meadows and fields, quiet forests and gentle valleys and forms a unique historical and cultural ensemble.

People have been settled here since the Stone Age. The Celts started wine-growing and in the Middle Ages the salt market and Danube trade brought wealth to the region. Due to the good strategic location, cultural and spiritual centres flourished in the still very original, idyllic nature park municipalities. The churches and the ruins of the many castles bear witness to the past.

As the sunny roof and local mountain of the Wachau, the panoramic summit area of the Jauerling often towers above the surrounding fog and cloud fields. Jauerlingers and visitors alike then fortify themselves while soaking up the sun and enjoy the liberating view of the beautiful, unspoilt landscape around the highest mountain along the Danube.

About the Nature Park