Grünbach am Schneeberg

Experience Grünbach, its landscape and its history!

The Grünbach adventure trail »Vom Urknall nach Grünbach« "From the Big Bang to Grünbach", designed in 1998 by the village renewal association "Unser neues Grünbach" and built in cooperation with the market town of Grünbach am Schneeberg in 2001, was handed over to hikers and those seeking relaxation on 16 April 2001 with financial support from the province of Lower Austria.

The path leads through one of the most magnificent areas of the Hohe Wand and the Schneeberg area and shows the thirsty for knowledge a broad spectrum of the earth's history on more than 20 display boards: the origin of the cosmos, the living beings, the landscape and finally the early history of man in this area. The path also reminds us that earth, humans, animals and plants form a community in which - it should be mentioned here - humans seem to be the most dispensable.

Zoltan, who grew up in Budapest, studied at the University of Applied Sciences in Eisenstadt. As a compensatory sport and for the joy of nature, he has made it his hobby to explore the mountains of Lower Austria. As an experienced hiker, he describes his adventure hike:

The starting point for this hike is the Grünbach Schule train station. From here, you first walk on an asphalt road to a hairpin bend, then uphill into the forest to a quarry, which is marked on the maps as "Am Segen Gottes". On the right hand side we find a welcome sign, a map of the course of our hiking trail and the first station "Water - Treasure".

At the edge of a meadow, the path is relatively flat, we soon pass station two, "coal in a field". The first magnificent view towards Puchberg opens up.

Past some back gardens – we should not be irritated by a barking dog – the path leads to an asphalt road, which we soon leave to the left. Following the blue markings, the trail climbs steeply, first crossing a forest road, then along the old route of the chairlift that once led from Grünbach to Hohe Wand.

Completely unexpectedly, we are already standing at lofty heights in front of the third station, entitled "A Wall Pioneer". A few steps further on is a rest area called Grafenberg. Characteristic is the stone ball with the logo of the Austrian Tourist Club.

Soon we reach the Wilhelm-Eichert-Hütte, the first stage destination, if we want to call it that. From the cross at 1052m above sea level, the entire Steinfeld can be overlooked, as well as the mighty Schneeberg in the west. On the left, climbers can often be seen on the wall. And right next to the hut we see the fourth station, "Snorkeling on the Wall".

Now we go uphill towards Plackles, which at 1132 m marks the highest point of the Hohe Wand and at the same time our tour. Shortly before the top, the fifth station is presented, titled "Born in the Big Bang"
Philosophizing about this question, we leave the former Hotel Pfarrer on the left and start a descent in the direction of the Rastkreuz Sattel. After a wide meadow we discover the sixth station, "Dante's Inferno".

The next stations on the descent to the saddle follow one after the other. Number seven "Iron and Cosmic Matter", number 8 "First Life", number 9 right next to a small water source with the appropriate name "Rare Wet by the Wayside", and last but not least number 10, "Weather Secrets".
Arriving at the Sattel rest cross, we find a refuge built only a few years ago at 868m above sea level. From here, various paths fork in different directions. Directly at the intersection is the 11th station, "Arduous Paths".

The path is indeed arduous, because now it is time to make up for the altitude that has just been lost. After an up and down we reach a meadow, at the end of which the 12th station awaits us in a hairpin bend. This provides information about the "artists' home". Now it goes uninterruptedly on a forest road steeply uphill to the site. Shortly before the Naturfreundehaus we discover another station, namely the 13th with the name "Uralter Siedlungsboden".

We have arrived at the site. At 1023 m above sea level, the 14th station immediately catches our eye, marked by a huge bear and its hunter. This depiction is titled "Bear Hunting in the Past". Let's turn around and be amazed at the distance we have covered. The highest point of the Hohe Wand can be easily located by the transmitter mast, and it is now clear what a descent we had to accept to get here.

But the view compensates us in any case, Grünbach is right in front of our feet. We continue past the Naturfreundehaus, first a bit to the west, until we come across the 15th station, "Hartes Leben", on a meadow. Then a red marking branches off to the left in the direction of Grünbach. It goes steeply downhill, and we quickly lose altitude.

Past the Hausstein, we go downhill on a forest road, and already in the valley we come across the 16th station, "Building material from the sea". From now on, we can either return to our starting point in a good 20 minutes, or take a shortcut to the closer Grünbach Kohlenwerk train station.

Conclusion: A real adventure hike. Grünbach can rightly be proud of the adventure hiking trail.
On the ascent to the Hohe Wand, quiet and attentive hikers can easily spot chamois. The view from the Wilhelm-Eichert-Hütte and from the grounds is unique both in the direction of Wiener Neustadt, Steinfeld and Schneeberg. You have to be careful of the otherwise quite good markings: On the descent from Plackles to the Sattel rest cross, we cross a newly laid forest road again and again, and the right path can easily be overlooked. Perhaps additional signs could be placed in the few ambiguous places to pay less attention to the route and more to the beauty of this magnificent area.

Text: www.gruenbach-schneeberg.gv.at