The trek took me through the historic town of Krems, the beginning of the Wachau
area. In Krems, I went to High School. Medieval churches and buildings, baroque
houses, tiny, winding, cobblestone streets, steep stony stairways; all these things
welcomed me after forty years of absence.
Street in Krems
Town of Stein, View through a medieval gate to the Frauenbergkirche (Women‘s mountain church)
At the piety column (an Austrian name for that is Marterl, which comes from
Martyrium) I rested and looked back to my home village, the Göttweig monastery,
the city of Mautern and its iron bridge.
Piety column with a view to the city of Martern and the bridge across the Danube. Monastery Göttweig in the background
The Danube once marked the northern border of the Roman empire. In this area,
the Roman empire lasted for 400 years. In Roman times, I would have been standing
on barbaric ground. Over the green bridge, 68 years ago, my mother escaped the
Russian soldiers at the age of 16 at the end of World War II. She biked alone to the
northern part of Austria. Half of the bridge was destroyed by German soldiers the
day after her escape. Because of that, she could find safety.
Vineyard, trail and wall with trail marker
Blooming peach tree and vineyards
Little hut in a vineyard
After some hours of walking through the vineyards, I approached the city of
Dürnstein. Dürnstein is a small medieval town with a baroque church. The ruin
above the town was once a castle, one of the many castles built in this area in the 11th
century. In this castle, Richard Lionheart was imprisoned. The church is also
special to me. My first marriage was in this church.
Medieval town of Dürnstein with the blue church tower and the ruin where ,in the year 1192, Richard Lionheart was imprisoned by the Austrian Duke Albrecht V
– Text and pictures by Garyo