The best city hikes and walks in Zwettl

The old cult object, a statue of the Virgin with Child, has now been displaced by the construction of a Lourdes grotto and a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes. To the left of the grotto stands Saint Francis of Assisi in a semicircular niche. The statue depicts the saint in his characteristic brown habit, accompanied by an ox. He carries a crozier and holds a book, referring to his role as a religious role model and founder of an order. In the ivy-covered Lourdes grotto stands a statue of the Virgin of Lourdes. She wears a white dress with a blue sash. To the right of the grotto stands Saint Florian in a semicircular niche. He is depicted as a Roman soldier with armor, a cloak, and a spear.

Between Klosterstraße and Schulturm, the city wall is integrated as an outer wall into the St.Martin retirement home and can be viewed from the adjacent car park. Numerous new breakthroughs will be made during the construction work at the retirement home.

Sometime between 1935 and 1938, the tower gets its current roof; before that, it was known with brick battlements.

The school tower stands at the easternmost corner of the city wall. The tower's floor plan is polygonal (eight sides of different lengths). The tower is four stories high, with a descending floor without windows and three ascending ones. It is placed in front of the existing wall, which can be seen very clearly on the wide inner side and the connection corners. Access to the tower is via an opening in the city wall. On the 2nd upper floor, there is a bricked-up door, which presumably led to the rampart. The defensive tower was formerly called Hafnerturm, due to the neighboring Hafner workshops at Neuer Markt. It gets its current name from the citizens' school founded in 1872, the first in Lower Austria, which is located on the same plot and is now run as a New Middle School for Sport and Economy.

Lovingly restored, the crenellated wall projection is presented in all its glory, and interactive exhibits offer a vivid glimpse into the city's history. A path and staircase lead to the top of the city wall.

Once likely situated at the boundary between the original town layout and the first town expansion dating from before 1230, the so-called "Moser Tower" is now integrated into the house at Schulgasse 10. The three-story defensive tower has a ground plan in the shape of an outwardly curved triangle, resembling the prow of a ship. The masonry of the tower and that of the town wall in this area dates from the second half of the 13th century and is thus among the oldest surviving parts of Zwettl's town fortifications. In the early 17th century, it was called the Water Tower, probably because of the large town pond that at that time stretched from its base to the dam, today's Gartenstraße. The currently used name derives from the Moser family, who owned the tower and the adjacent house from 1870 to 1961.

The three bells originally located in the church tower, dating from 1779, 1818, and 1881, had fallen victim to the wars. To mark the 700th anniversary of the Zwettl Citizens' Hospital Foundation – now called "Zwettl Citizens' Foundation - St. Martin's Senior Center" – three new bells were acquired in 1998 and installed in the bell chamber of St. Martin's Church tower, which had been empty for over 50 years.

The old civic hospital, which was located outside the city gate before 1295, was one of the oldest in the region. In 1427, during their unsuccessful siege of the city, the Hussites destroyed the hospital and the adjoining St. Martin's Chapel. The new civic hospital was built on land acquired by the citizens of Zwettl in 1438 near the New Market and opened in 1448. The newly built hospital church was placed under the patronage of St. Martin. Gothic stonework can still be seen in the church today: the portal to the sacristy, the sedentary niche, and the square tabernacle. A late Gothic Madonna and Child standing on a crescent moon was restored in 1995 by Ralf Wittig from Zwettl and installed in the apse above the altar.