Since a couple of years I spend a weekend with my family somewhere in Austria, not to far from Vienna. This year we traveled to Pöllauberg in the eastern part of Styria. We had booked our stay at the Retter Bio-Natur-Resort, which has definitely changed in recent years. In the past the hotel has been a family-run business, with a fine kitchen and a manageable amount of guests.
Today it is still family-run, but the hotel complex has tripled and so have the guest. These reserve the loungers around the pool from 6am onward. Exactly what you want on a relaxed vacation. The food has also taken a turn for the worse. While it’s all organic, it just doesn’t taste as good anymore, plus, I hate to line up at the buffet. Add to that wine prices as if we are right downtown in Vienna, and it is the perfect mix. But I did enjoy the swimming pools, and if you went to the kids pool, there were always enough loungers due to the lack of kids. Only when it was cloudy, you got enough room at any pool.
pool for adults only @Hotel Retter
With Pöllauberg as starter point and our octogenarians in the family still in good shape, we booked two guided tours in the area. First up was a visit to Vorau Abbey, which dates back to 1163. There’s not much left from this time, at least nothing that I remember. But we had a very knowledgeable guide, who answered all our questions diligently. Not that I had so many, but my brothers as usual were very inquisitive.
Stift Vorau @Styria
Stift Vorau in all its glory @Styria
inner courtyard @Stift Vorau
We passed the church and looking at it, one can imagine the immense wealth of the church. The only thing that comes to mind is opulence looking at the altar and the pulpit.
inside the abbey church @Stift Vorau
The abbey was lucky enough not to get dispossessed during the reign of Joseph II., who closed down all non-working monasteries and abbeys. The property of these passed into a fund, which financed the church until Hitler came. Since then the citizens of Germany and Austria have to pay tax to the church. During WWII the abbey got damaged, but has been rebuilt beautifully in the years after the war. Just look at this mural in the registry, where Jesus sits on a huge rainbow. His hair is curly and at first glance he looks rather devilish.
ceiling in the registry @Stift Vorau
My favorite room by far was the library though. Two old globes, thousands of books, and just the best smell. We loved it so much that we took our family picture there.
library @Stift Vorau
library ceiling @Stift Vorau
family portrait @Stift Vorau
The next day we drove to Hartberg, a small town with a lot of history. It saw its first settlers in the Neolithic time, then came the Romans, and the Hungarians arrived even twice. Apparently there was a lot of coming and going. We had booked a guided tour, which started at the city museum. The town itself has a beautiful main square with its church and city hall.
city hall @Hartberg
the current pharmacy @Hartberg
The very knowledgeable guide gave a short overview of the history of Hartberg and lead us to Charnel House behind the church. A charnel house is like an ossuary. This one kept the bones on the lower level, which cannot be accessed at the moment, and the two top floors were used as a baptism chapel.
Charnel House @Hartberg
The rotund building dates back to the middle of the 12th or 13th century. According to a legend the charnel had the date of 1167 above the portal, but no proof of this was found. Inside are beautiful frescoes, which indicate that the sponsor of this building had been in the Holy Land at one time, although not the painter. Strange animals can be seen in some of the frescoes. A fire destroyed the roof and part of the frescoes in 1715, but Theophil Melicher restored it to its current state in 1893.
the fresco above the altar @Charnel House Hartberg
The door on the left leads down to the ossuary.
colorful frescoes @Charnel House Hartberg
The castle in Hartberg, yes this small town also has a castle, houses performances and exhibitions. The roots of the castle go back to the beginning of the 12th century. While we visited the ClariArte, some kind of music festival, occupied the building.
Schloss Hartberg @Steiermark
Just below the castle there is another tower ,the so called Reckturm, from the middle of the 13th century, which was used as a prison.
Reckturm @Hartberg
We left the Hotel Retter and Pöllauberg the next day, but decided to visit one more fortress in the area. Friedensburg Schlaining is about an hour away, not really in the direction of Vienna, but it didn’t matter on that Sunday. This is another building from the 13th century, currently owned by the province of Burgenland.
Friedensburg Schlaining @Burgenland
I am not sure where the name Friedensburg comes from, but it does its name justice. We saw two exhibitions here, one about Schlaining and peace, which included an original paper crane from Sadako and the 1000 paper cranes. The other one included life stories of people in the area, who came to prominence or notoriety during WWII. It was quite hard to read about all these people, the good ones and the bad ones. The basement includes an interactive show of the history of the fortress.
It was a weekend to my liking, with lots of history and guided tours. In gorgeous weather the eastern part of Styria is beautiful and it’s an area I can only recommend for a visit! Yours, Pollybert
