Finally, after the rainy day than yesterday, I opened my curtains to one day absolutely beautiful today. The lush green hills and mountains surrounding Weiz were competing with the blue sky to attract my attention, and of course I was on the road and explore. I started with a visit to the great pilgrimage church in my home town of Weiz. It is assumed that a church, more precisely, a Roman basilica, was on the hill above Weiz is already in the middle11th Century. Due to poor light conditions inside the church, the building was remodeled several times, until the mid 1700s, a decision that was later replaced in the church of a new building. The construction of the new baroque church began in 1757 and was finally completed in 1776.
Weizbergkirche The church is a very impressive and was a popular pilgrimage since the 12th Century. Was a very popular place of pilgrimage of 17Century, but since then the number of pilgrims has fallen. And 'the greatest church in the central city of Weiz and a symbol that can be seen in almost every postcard from my hometown. I was particularly surprised when I went to church and saw the frescoes from the 18th century, renovated, once again impressed the visitors with their colors and surprising details from its latest restructuring.
Outside the church is a plateau, whereThere are wonderful views over the city and the surrounding area. A sculpture as a "Balance beam remembers" people of the transience of life. On the southern side of the hill, the cemetery of Weiz, tombs many features already several hundred years. One of the most famous tombs in the cemetery belongs to Aurelia Schwarzenegger, the mother of the fact that exports the most famous Austrians: Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Then I jumped in the car and headed towards the hill side, the so-called'Pharmacy' ", also in view of the city and has a very popular residential area for decades, for his views. The upper part of the plateau offers a forest and agricultural areas, and is a popular destination for runners and cyclists. From there I went into the woods and towards the east in a valley called Ponigl.
A few minutes from town, this area is still very rural, remote and agriculture. Many plants, some centuries old, are scattered, whilelandscape and still actively involved in agriculture, both maize growing or livestock. The valley ends in a dead end and only for forest roads and trails will take you to the surrounding mountains. An area nearby is known as the "Forest Galgenwald (Gallow's), an area in which they were local criminals, until a few centuries before hanging up. Many legends surround this area and today there is an area that three stone pillars that were used time ago for the functionsRun from the district court.
Behind the picturesque village of Oberdorf set my next goal: Thannhausen Castle (Castle Thannhausen), a large estate, which originally was mentioned 1177 The current version of the castle in Renaissance style, was built in 1500, and has an impressive yard with round-arched arcades. On a regular basis, this farm is used for concerts and offers a perfect setting for musicalEnjoyment.
After a short trip across town and I went back into "Weizklamm" (The Weiz River Gorge), a cut in steep cliffs surrounding limestone that falls straight down, the Weizbach. Interestingly, a regional road, was built into the rock and is so narrow that it is impossible in some parts, two cars passing each other.
I shot the entire 2.5 km of the Weizklamm race through and I often had to stop and one of the many trucksOften in this direction. Mirrors in the corners help drivers to see if there is traffic approaching, and the people are very used to driving on this narrow road between the rocks. On top of the rock there is a hiking trail called "Hunter's Rising" (Trail Hunter's) with breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains and offers his throat.
Past the canyon, there is a crossroads on the left you will see the country come to the village of Passail, and right handcontinue along the river to a small village called a locksmith in Weiz. I turned right and decided to take an uphill climb to the mountain village of St. Kathrein am Offenegg, a popular tourist destination with many hotels, restaurants and bed and breakfast.
St. Kathrein offers numerous hiking trails, a path in the forest, a garden of herbs available to the public and skiing in winter. Already established in the Nordic-Celtic times, the German settlers in the area where the displaced11. Century. A church was already 1295 and the present church was modified and expanded several times and which, over the centuries. I went around and in this small village, surrounded by a cemetery and the church offers a magnificent view westward toward the basin Passail.
After lunch in a beautiful place, my friend Andrea, her family and started a new adventure: a guided tour of the hole "cat", a cave of stalactites that as many functionsAustria. After 15 minutes, just across the hills around the hamlet Dürntal we arrived at the entrance of the cave.
A group of about 20 or 25 people already waiting, and the owner of the cave, a young man named Fritz Geissler, was ready to take upon us our tour. At 30 euros, the leadership is not only a low risk and cost, but Fritz has told us that the preservation of the cave is expensive and the price serves as an importantFilter that keeps out unwanted visitors, not with a genuine interest in the wonders of nature. Its concerns are still warranted because in recent decades, visitors substantial damage done to the cave of stalactites and broken to take home as souvenirs.
We began to gather at the entrance of the cave, and Fritz said it was the name of the cave "cat hole", the word "cat owl made" (an owl male) and "hole") (hole, suggesting that the owls inhabit this cave andregularly fly in and out of the cave, especially from autumn to spring. Right at the entrance, we saw a pillar of limestone, which measured 22 meters in height with a circumference of 46 meters. Fritz would be the type and quantity would be single file along narrow and steep metal stairways, followed by various parts of the cave in touch.
Fritz said it was the former owner and discoverer of the cave, a married couple by the name of Hermann and Regine Hofer. Torquewas out of town, in the cave in 1951 after an extended honeymoon came to sit on another stalactite cave near modernize - the cave "Grassl. With the admission of revenue from other quarries, Hermann and Regine Hofer were able to seek his beloved cat hole, the project has been all his life to pay. Among the 1952 years and 1955 has found the other two parts of the cave, he began to dig tunnels and access points and started the electrification ofcave.
Fritz told us the tedious, hard work and tedious job that was involved in this cave for the public. Each of the 400 concrete measures 135 meters deep in the mountain had built by hand and had to be the cement from the bucket through the narrow passage. Openings in other caves have been identified by the flickering candlelight that there was a flow of air and a possible link to another, nordiscover a part of the cave.
The cave consists of several parts: right next to the entrance is the "Marteldome" that a 45 m deep vertical shaft of the pair initially used to access the cave. Another big cavernous space is the "Fantasy Hall (Hall of Fantasy), an area with a length of 120 metes, a width of 85 meters and a height of 15 meters and a variety of functions, interestingly shaped stalactites. Fritz Geissler stressed, limestone coral, delicate, white andLimestone colored curtains and stalactites and stalagmites, which grow together in stages until they were fully connected columns shape.
He explained that the age of the rocks is very different, some of the younger could be tens of thousands of years and the massive columns earlier date would have many millions of years. Hermann Fritz Geissler said that Hofer's often said that "people are 1000 years, but only a single second of life in this cave," aComment, which is guaranteed in our daily human concerns and fears in a broader context. Our guide also pointed out the bones of a cave bear, an extinct species of mammals, about 30% larger than the brown bear that was abandoned after the last ice age some 20,000 years ago. Large colonies of bats still live in this cave.
In 1955, Hermann and Regine Hofer, finally, the magical realm (Enchanted Kingdom), a cave discovered a wide range of features inspired by royalty magicLimestone, including one king, one queen, knights, and some even a real dog. Nearby is a giant ice cream cone-shaped limestone is processed, whose history is fascinating: Fritz Geissler, who was a rich American man once to stalactites powerful proposed to pay a huge sum of money for her and a vertical tunnel buy a drill straight through the mountain, in order to leave the stalagmites. But the owners cave, Hermann and Regine Hofer, both deeply religious and humble man, notsurprisingly rejected the generous offer out of hand. The integrity of the cave was more important to them than material gain.
We continue our way down and finally reached the deepest part of the publicly accessible part of the cave: the "Lake Paradise" (Paradise Lake), an underground lake, and a truly magical. An iridescent turquoise-green water is surrounded by alabaster white broken stalagmites and stalactites, a breathtaking vertical walls. Our whole groupstopped taking in this stunning paradise underground lake. We had the deepest part of the tour, 135 meters below the cave entrance, and after the recording of this magical scenery that we have our way back to the surface in the same way we came to achieve
Our adventure had lasted about two hours underground, and on the way up, Fritz Geissler us more eccentric the couple has not yet said firmly that this cave exploring, and made public. The key phrase is that he used"Determination and willpower can literally move mountains," and Hermann and Regine Hofer persistence led to the discovery of new sections of the cave, and only their hard work, construction and manufacture of stairs and paths that visit made it possible for ordinary people and enjoy the cave.
The Hofer planned visits to the public through the cave from 1960 to 1980, but then closed the cave, while the visitors has caused so much damage. Fritz Geissler had avisitors to the cave, and offered his help to Hermann Hofer for the preservation of the cave. Her mentor accepts his help and from that moment Fritz Geissler Hermann Hofer was an apprentice. In his later years (Hermann Hofer, who died in 2003 at the age of 95), it was after our guide Fritz Geissler saw and decided to passion of his life, the hole in the cat, much younger man who had the privilege of going beyond legacy.
After extensive renovations in 2004, the hole cat wasfinally reopened to the public, and Fritz Geissler depth knowledge and highly developed rhetorical skills were his cave tour will make a special attraction in the entire region. I had the opportunity to interview this extraordinary young man, and also said it now has a training program for the mental strength to supplement the experience in the training cave. Our whole group was our adventure with the cave and took the enthusiastic and informativePresentation of our guide to chat, and many people head for a little 'and the connection.
The visit to the cat hole was the perfect introduction for my trip due tomorrow: a stroll through the adjacent Raab Gorge, a deep gorge, which is surrounded by very high mountains that contain these caves. So after a tasty barbecue at my friends Andrea and Herbert Place, featuring delicious pork chops and a kitten chasing a pet rabbit, I rested for a big walk tomorrow.
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