The classical and the modern. Theater, music and exhibitions. There is a lively cultural scene in this city just outside the gates of Vienna. The series of summer events is colorful and varied. The many museums provide fascinating insights.

Music and theater

Schubertiaden are staged in June and September at Atzenbrugg Castle, where Franz Schubert holidayed with friends. Sommerspiele is a summer theater festival held in June at lovely Sitzenberg Castle. Cabaret and music are available throughout the summer in the lineup of events for Donaubühne Tulln.

Stockerauer Festspiele present entertaining theater in July and August in the picturesque square in front of the town’s Baroque church. Small-scale performing arts, music of all styles and a Brass Festival are in store for visitors to the Kultursommer Traismauer

The musical offerings at Korneuburger Musiksommer are classical and nostalgic. The imperial courtyard at Klosterneuburg Abbey becomes an opera venue in July and August.  Grafenegg Castle stages Musik-Sommer from mid-June to mid-August. The artistic highlight is the music festival from mid-August to mid-September. Event venues are the new concert hall and the architecturally intriguing open-air stage “Wolkenturm” (cloud tower) that projects upward 15 m into the sky.

The Pleyel Society stages concerts and matinees on a regular basis in memory of  Ignaz Josef Pleyel, the most popular composer in Europe around the year 1800. At Haus der Musik in Grafenwörth there are concerts held throughout the year.

Art to appreciate

Egon Schiele, Austria’s most significant painter and Expressionist, grew up in in Tulln. The city opened the Egon Schiele Museum right on Donaulände as a monument to its famous native son. The museum is in the former district jail and contains 16 original works.

At the Monastery of the Friar Minors in Tulln the focus is on alternating exhibitions of visual arts from different centuries. Hundertwasser’s ship “Regentag” is at anchor in the harbor behind the monastery. It was once the home and workplace of the well-known Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser.

Museum Gugging is located in Maria Gugging near Klosterneuburg. It is unique worldwide in that it is housed in a psychiatric building. The focus is on Art Brut exhibitions. Art Brut is autodidactic art done by amateurs, children and handicapped individuals. Back in the early 1980s Art Brut Center Gugging devoted itself to the appreciation of this movement and is today one of the most important centers of its kind with a gallery and a museum for visitors.

City and life in the region

The cities along the Danube are places that attract culture lovers and adventurers. Strolling, looking and enjoying: The cities along the Danube tell interesting stories. Painters, writers and thinkers have found inspiration here during all periods of history. Today visitors are enchanted by the cityscapes so full of atmosphere and by the general attitude toward life: openness to stimuli and excitement yet acceptance of rest and leisure.

Tulln, the Garden City
Numerous fountains, the Danube promenade, the newly redone main square – Tulln is impressive for its special ambience and myriad places of interest. The charnel and the Gothic parish church are witnesses to times long past. The Egon Schiele Museum showcases paintings of the famous painter Egon Schiele, who grew up in Tulln. Other sights well-worth visiting are the Roman Museum and the exhibitions in the Monastery of the Friars Minor and GARTEN TULLN. In the summer, music and cabaret can be enjoyed on Donaubühne, the open-air stage on the river.

Stockerau
The first documented mention of Stockerau in 1012 related to the martyrdom of St. Koloman. The German-language Austrian poet Nikolaus Lenau spent his holidays in his youth in Stockerau and began writing his “Schilflieder” (Reed Poems) there. The landmark of the city is the yellow-and-white 88 m high tower of the Baroque parish church. Stockerauer Festspiele is a fine summer theater festival directed by Zeno Stanek.

Roman city of Traismauer
The cityscape is dominated by structures from Roman times and the Gothic era. The 1,700 year old Roman Gate and Roman Hunger Tower are well worth seeing. The castle on the main square rests on the foundations of a small Roman fort. The Lay of the Nibelung tells us that Kriemhild once stayed the night in the castle. Traismauer is a good base for bicyclists. Both the Traisen Valley Bike Path and the Danube Bike Path pass through the formerly Roman city.

Korneuburg
The Neo-Gothic city hall from 1895 is the landmark of the city of Korneuburg. The medieval center is the perfect setting for leisurely shopping, summer concerts, and weddings. Its places of interest include the Gothic parish church, the Baroque Augustinian Church, the Pied Piper Fountain, the Trinity Column and one of the oldest synagogues in Lower Austria.

Klosterneuburg
Klosterneuburg is near Vienna nestled between vineyards and the Danube. The spiritual and cultural center of the city is Klosterneuburg Abbey, founded by the Augustinian Canons about 900 years ago. The most precious art treasure in the abbey is the medieval Verdun Altar. In the summer an inner courtyard becomes the venue for “operklosterneuburg”, the abbey’s opera festival.