The best hikes from bus stations around Zwettl-Niederösterreich

The Mühlbach-Promenade in Zwettl is a picturesque green space right in the historic old town. It nestles against the Zwettl riverbank and the old city wall, combining nature with leisure activities.

Located in the heart of Waldviertel, Privatbrauerei Zwettl has access to excellent raw materials for brewing good Lower Austrian beer. The Waldviertel, resting on a massive granite base, offers ideal brewing water due to its geological peculiarity. Furthermore, short growing seasons, plenty of sunshine, and significant temperature differences between day and night allow hops and malting barley to develop exceptional aromas here. These gifts of nature are utilized by the Zwettl brewers with great dedication, and the Zwettl beers are brewed entirely to the taste of Austrians.

Privatbrauerei Zwettl – a family business with tradition in the Waldviertel When tradition and modern entrepreneurial spirit work together, that forms a good basis for success. If an ideal location and talented employees with strong loyalty and motivation are added, it can become a great success story. Like that of Privatbrauerei Zwettl in the wonderful Waldviertel.

At low water level, a rocky bay is formed. At high water level, a rocky island emerges from the water.

No Merlot here — the shelf stands empty, quiet, waiting for a bottle that never comes. Kein Merlot hier — das Regal bleibt leer, still, wartend auf eine Flasche, die nie kommt. Pas de Merlot ici — l'étagère reste vide, silencieuse, attendant une bouteille qui n'arrive jamais. No hay Merlot aquí — el estante queda vacío, silencioso, esperando una botella que nunca llega.

The Ottenstein reservoir, is the largest of the Kamp lakes and is among the richest waters in fish in Austria and at the same time among the best predatory fish waters in Europe. Its water surface is 4.3 km² and extends with its fjord-like, branched side arms, with a length of more than 14 km, up to Zwettl. The deepest point is 69 m.

At the Kamp, above Zwettl, a weir with a mill race and a power station were to be built, in which two turbines with a total of 100 HP would generate enough electricity to operate at least 950 light bulbs in Zwettl, each with a luminous intensity of 16 standard candles. [The "standard candle" was an old unit of measurement for luminous intensity = the light of a paraffin candle with a diameter of 20 mm, whose wick was trimmed so that the flame burned 50 mm high.] Initially, it was planned to generate high-voltage direct current, which was to be transported to Zwettl via an approximately 2.8 km long overhead line to a transformer. The costs for all preparatory work (including land and usage rights acquired as early as April 1892) were borne in equal parts by Wichtl, Göschl, and Löscher out of their own pockets.

In 1892, when the use of electrical energy was still in its infancy worldwide, three Zwettl businessmen made the bold decision to build an "electrical power and light central" (= a power plant) in this city. They were the 40-year-old master miller Alois Wichtl (Kuenringerstraße 3), the innkeeper Karl Löscher (Ottenschlager Straße 2), then just 38 years old, and the 43-year-old master cabinetmaker Friedrich Göschl (Kamptalstraße 22). They consulted the Viennese electrical engineer Franz Kröttlinger and became convinced that they had found the ideal location for their power plant in the Kamptal, near the Gschwendtmühle. Here, both the drop, water level, and water volume seemed suitable for the project to the technician.