Sunday was spring-like, so we drove to the top of Kahlenberg (only 480 metres high, and reached by means of many hairpin bends). This map shows our walk.
Just south of the parking lot is the church. We walked down Kahlenberger Straße to the statue of St. John Nepomuk and then took the steep and stony path shown by a dotted line. Here were lovely little spring flowers called Leberblümchen (Eng: Liverwort, Latin: Hepatica nobilis):
Rejoining the road we turned right and sat for a while. The vines do not yet have any new growth.
Nearly at the top of the hill there is a cemetery, dating from 1783 (marked Mausoleum on the map).
I think Monty was hoping to find some bones:
The grave with fabric draped over the urn is that of Stephan Ziegler, who was a silk merchant. The inscription on the grave stone to the right says: "if you have seen Vienna from the Kahlenberg, you will understand my peace here".
Below is the grave of "the prettiest girl in Vienna". She died in 1815, aged only 21. Unfortunately, no photo or painting exists of her, but that doesnt stop here from being famous still!
We the took the little path up a steep hill. It is a challenging shortcut. We made it and continued back to the top. The * on the map just south of the church is the spot from where I took this photo:
One can see the two arms of the Danube, facing downstream. The Old Danube is on the right, and the New Danube (produced by piling up what was the flood plain and making the Danube Island) on the left. Unusually, both were blue. When spring really comes, mud, etc, from upstream will turn the Old Danube brown. The New Danube is closed off at this end, and only opened when flood threaten.
David
