Höhenwanderweg Eichgraben Rekawinkel

Description

This hike takes you on the trail of the railroad in the Vienna Woods. Right at the start, you pass under the 26.4 m high and 81 m long viaduct. Next to it, a steam locomotive, built by Karl Gölsdof, stirs up railroad romance. The "Kaiserin Elisabeth Westbahn" was completed in 1858 after just 26 months. Some of the canteens that fed the workers became hotels and restaurants. Heimito von Doderer described the journey through the Vienna Woods as follows: "That's it: left - right everything sinks, leaves us, we rise as if in an elevator, we are outside, above, above: the viaduct. Eichgraben. O green valley, soon the crowns fill up, the forests foam, the far edge of the hill." Our path leads us through precisely this landscape. We hike via Potzenstein and Sonnleiten to Rekawinkel. "Reckhenwinckel" was first mentioned in 1563. At that time, the area was uninhabited, but the road to Vienna passed through here. The eponymous Recken were highwaymen who made life difficult for travelers. According to other sources, the name refers to the local weather conditions. The Vienna Woods act as a weather divide: Alpine and Pannonian climates meet on the northern side of the Alps. Due to the upward curvature of the Alpine arc, weather conditions often accumulate here, leading to increased precipitation: "Rega angle". However, the region also owes its proverbial "good air" to this circumstance. The hilly terrain means that there is a constant exchange of air. To round off the tour, we recommend taking the Westbahn back, of course.