TaoWalk 3: Hainburg on the Danube - Summer 2025

Описание: Hainburg an der Donau.
Wide river, slow current, reed beds, open sky stretching beyond the horizon.

The Danube.
Water moving without hurry, drifting clouds reflected on the surface, distant birds.

Riverside paths.
Gravel underfoot, wind in tall grass, quiet rhythm of steps and breath.

Floodplains.
Wild growth, soft earth, branches bending in the light.

Driving through Hainburg.
Stone houses, narrow streets, passing windows, everyday life in motion.

Castle ruins above the town.
Walls watching the river, history resting in silence.

Open fields near the water.
Space, air, long lines of landscape, nothing demanding attention.
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The first known settlers in the region were Illyrian and Celtic tribes who lived on the Braunsberg hill, overlooking the Danube.

During Roman times, the area was shaped by the nearby city of Carnuntum, the capital of the province of Pannonia Superior, where Emperor Marcus Aurelius once resided.

In 1050, Emperor Henry III ordered the construction of a castle here. By 1108, it was in the possession of the Babenberg dynasty.

In the 13th century, Hainburg was already a fortified town with two gates, fifteen towers, and a 2.5-kilometer defensive wall. Around 1220–1225, the ransom paid for Richard the Lionheart contributed to the expansion of the castle and the construction of the Viennese Gate.

On 11 February 1252, Ottokar II – later King of Bohemia – married Margaret of Austria, the last of the Babenbergs. Between 1267 and 1268, he expanded the lower part of the castle. After his defeat in the Battle of Dürnkrut in 1278, the castle passed to the Habsburgs.

In 1482, following a long siege, the Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus and his Black Army occupied Hainburg. By 1629, the castle had come under the ownership of the city itself.

On 11 July 1683, during the Second Ottoman Campaign, both the town and the castle were destroyed.

The castle was rebuilt in 1709 by Count Löwenberg.

In 1738, the six-year-old Joseph Haydn came to Hainburg to receive his first musical training from his relative Josef Mathias Franck and sang as a choirboy. Today, a fountain on the main square commemorates him.

In the 19th century, Hainburg became a garrison town. After the end of the First World War, it became the easternmost town of Austria.

In 1984, the occupation of the Hainburger Au marked a turning point in Austrian environmental history. Protests against a planned power plant in the Danube floodplains led the government to abandon the project.

Today, Hainburg is part of the Danube-Auen National Park. The Philippus and Jakobus Church remains one of its historic landmarks.