Wine Spring along the Danube

The cultural treasures along the Danube are strung one after another like pearls on a necklace: One witness to the ancient history of the Wachau is the Venus of Willendorf, Austria's most famous find from the Old Stone Age.
Steeped in history and perched on hilltops overlooking the Danube: the Benedictine abbeys of Melk and Göttweig, well-known Dürnstein Abbey and the Canonry of Klosterneuburg Monastery with its sacred artworks.
Breathtaking: the view of the Danube Valley from the well-known ruins in Aggstein and Dürnstein.
Vestiges of the imperial past can be explored at Schloss Hof, Europe's largest countryside palace complex and at the Schloss Eckartsau. Schloss Artstetten, home to and the final resting place of Franz Ferdinand, the heir presumptive to the imperial throne, and his wife, Duchess Sophie of Hohenberg. Both were assassinated in Sarajevo in 1914.

The landscapes along the Danube in Lower Austria are as varied and colorful as the musical offerings that draw thousands of visitors to this area every year: Lovers of classical music are sure to get their money's worth at Haydn's birthplace in Rohrau and at the Pleyel concerts in Ruppersthal. The musical performances at Schloss Grafenegg have long been a must for lovers of classical music, offering open-air spectacles of superb quality. A diverse range of modern performance art is also available in the Danube region: The spring highlights include Imago Dei, Donaufestival, Glatt & Verkehrt and Barocktage Melk. Summer visitors will want to check out the many special events on the Danube stage in Tulln or the opera performances in Stockerau and Klosterneuburg. The musical year finds a fitting close in Wachau in Echtzeit, a musical and literary series of events at extraordinary venues in the region.

Historical, iconic & world-renowned
Krems, Tulln, Klosterneuburg and Rohrau have established themselves as centers of the visual arts: The art mile known as Kunstmeile Krems alone boasts ten institutions. Heading the bill are Austria's unique Caricature Museum as well as Kunsthalle Krems, Forum Frohner and the new State Gallery of Lower Austria. Visitors are given insights into the personal life of Egon Schiele, Tulln's most famous Expressionist, along the Egon Schiele Trail extending from the birthplace to the Schiele Museum. Museum Gugging near Klosterneuburg displays fascinating paintings, drawings and objects of Art Brut, a highly respected art movement in today's culture scene. The Harrach's Art Collection in Schloss Rohrau is one of Austria's most famous private collections, featuring works of 17th and 18th c Spanish and Neapolitan painters.

 A vibrant cultural life exists in the towns in the Danube region in Lower Austria, ranging from classical and modern art to theater, music and exhibitions. You won't want to miss the following highlights in the 2020 season:

To Nov. 22, 2020: Permanent exhibition: Rome's Eagle, www.carnuntum.at  
Feb. 3 - 9, 2020: A Real Deix - Unforgotten (70 Years Manfred Deix), www.karikaturmuseum.at  
July 1 - Nov. 2020: The annual exhibition of Klosterneuburg Monastery, www.stift-klosterneuburg.at 
June - Nov. 2020: Special exhibition "Sisi", Schloss Hof & Schloss Niederweiden www.schlosshof.at 
Juni 1- Nov. 2020 Exhibition: The Danube "People, Treasures & Cultures". Renaissanceschloss Schallaburg, www.schallaburg.at  
Aug. 14 - Sep. 6, 2020: Grafenegg Festival, www.grafenegg.com  
Aug. 4 - Sep. 12, 2020: Wachaufestspiele "Der Wachauer Jedermann", www.weissenkirchen-wachau.at  
Oct. - Nov., 2020: Wachau in Echtzeit - Cultural Program by Austrian actress Ursula Strauss, www.wachauinechtzeit.at 

The new State Gallery of Lower Austrian has five levels and 3,000 m² of exhibition space, so visitors can marvel at several exhibitions at once. The central accent set by the State Gallery is its shape, which is rotated in two directions - one toward the historical town center and the other toward the Danube.