Easy hikes and walks around Burgschleinitz-Kühnring

In 1451, St. John Capistrano visited Eggenburg. The enthusiastic citizens then founded a Franciscan monastery in 1460. The church was consecrated in 1466 and richly furnished with artworks during the Baroque period. In 1786, the monastery was dissolved by Emperor Joseph II and subsequently converted into a cotton factory. Due to the great city fire in 1808, which reduced 203 houses to rubble and ashes, this building also became a ruin. It was only rebuilt in 1833 by the Redemptorists. Among the many members of this order house, Brother Johann Baptist Stöger, who has already been beatified, stands out particularly. His remains rest in a high tomb in the family chapel of the monastery church.

For the 700th anniversary of the town charter of Eggenburg in 1977, the artist Ernst Degasperi, born in South Tyrol, gifted his adopted home of Eggenburg the sgraffito inside the so-called Turndl, or today better known as the Tower of Peace - part of the eastern wall of the medieval town fortifications.

It is a hall church with a simple net vault and has no columns, although it is a work of Gothic architecture. The neo-Gothic tower was built in 1844. In 1896, the church received stained glass windows from the workshop of Tiroler Glasmalerei. With the exception of the late Baroque crucifix above the triumphal arch, the furnishings are almost entirely neo-Gothic and were designed with the participation of art-loving lay brothers of the Redemptorist order. On the left side wall, a modern glass door opens access to the family chapel, for the construction of which Brother Baptist Stöger carried the stones on his back from the city wall.

The Eggenburg main square impresses above all with its vastness, which reflects the importance of the former ducal town of Eggenburg as a trading and market place. Markets were important sources of income for the town in the Middle Ages. On August 13, 1277, Rudolf von Habsburg confirmed to the town of Eggenburg the same freedoms, rights, and privileges with which Vienna had been favored by his predecessors and himself.

The Neutor is part of the medieval city fortifications of Eggenburg.

Also a beautiful view of the old hilltop castle, whose history dates back to the 12th century. It is privately owned by the Abensperg and Traun families. It is not open to the public.

Maissau Castle is a well-preserved hilltop castle. Its history dates back to the 12th century. Two distinct aspects of the complex are presented to the viewer. The older part, facing the forest, dates back to the 14th/15th century and still displays early Gothic architecture, particularly the watchtower and defense tower. From the town side, the southern wing, since its 19th-century remodeling, bears the character of a Romanesque-Neo-Gothic style. The complex is owned by the Abensperg and Traun families. It is not open to the public.

A very idyllic place!