Töpperweg - from castle to castle

Description

Andreas Töpper, probably the largest private entrepreneur of the Danube monarchy. Hammer lord, industrialist, philanthropist, and major landowner. Those who embark on the "from castle to castle" route follow in his footsteps. Töpper was both the builder of Neubruck manor house and one of the many owners of Scheibbs Castle on Rathausplatz. Our Töpperweg connects his two former estates.

The start and end point of the thematic route is Scheibbs Castle. We take a short moment to visit the beautifully greened arcaded courtyard of the castle and the impressive "cathedral of the Erlauf valley", the Scheibbs parish church. Then we cross the square towards the town hall. From here we go down the Rathausstiege, first crossing the main street and then the Erlauf over the so-called Sandsteg. We pause for a moment and let the flair of the old town by the river wash over us. Full of energy we now head out of town. Along the Erlauf promenade with its impressive chestnut avenue, we stroll past the widow's seat of Töpper’s second wife Amalie, the house Erlaufpromande 30, and the adjacent Töpperbrücke, which the hammer lord had built as a connection to his estate on the left bank of the Erlauf. We follow the Erlauf always upstream. Along this popular Scheibbs promenade, many cozy benches invite a short rest by the Erlauf. After continuing our way along Strudenzeile towards Neustift, we find ourselves on the famous Dreimärkterstraße, which connected the markets of Scheibbs, Purgstall, and Gresten during the heyday of iron and provision trade as a connection to Innerberg, today's Eisenerz. Shortly afterwards we are already attracted by the Buchebner inn "Zum Steinbruchwirt", where we enjoy a cool refreshment in the shady garden to continue past the former tuff quarry, whose material was used to build many chapels, walls, and buildings that we pass by. We now follow a good stretch of this former trade route, which flows into today's B25 near Neubruck. To continue our exploration in the footsteps of Andreas Töpper, we must cross both the B25 and the B28 coming from St. Anton/J., because the return to Scheibbs leads along the mountain slopes on the right bank of the Erlauf. Before that, however, we plan a stop at the impressive Töpper Castle Neubruck, which was extensively renovated and revitalized on the occasion of the 2015 regional exhibition "ÖTSCHER:REICH - The Alps and Us". Well rested, we now start the return journey along the course of the 2nd Vienna High Spring Water Pipeline. The start of the signposted part of the thematic route is outside the castle and factory premises at the confluence of the Erlauf and Jeßnitz (near the EVN hut). We follow a well-developed forest road up to the "Anslöd" hill where we can observe the huge, gentle Highland cattle of the landowner grazing. This short and easy ascent will be the only one on our path. After a short break at this viewpoint, we then continue our route via Hochbruck. First we cross a meadow, then the route as a narrow hiking trail leads into a mixed forest and passes above Lehenhof Castle until the Burgerhof settlement above Scheibbs. Here begins the last section of our round, which leads back to Scheibbs Castle via Burgerhofstraße in the residential area. A detour to the Jelinekwarte on Rudolfshöhe (524m) is rewarded with the view over Scheibbs and the foothills of the pre-Alps towards the Danube.

Starting point of the tour

Cultural Office of the Municipality of Scheibbs Rathausplatz 1, 3270 Scheibbs 07482/42511-63

Destination point of the tour

Back at Scheibbs Castle on Rathausplatz

Route description Töpperweg - from castle to castle

From the start and end point at Scheibbs Castle via Rathausstiege and Sandsteg to the left bank of the Erlauf. The route runs about 5 kilometers along the Ötscherland bike route upstream. Via Strudenzeile and Dreimärkterstraße, past the former tuff quarry in Neustift, with a dining option at the Buchebner inn "Zum Steinbruchwirt", we reach the B25/B28 intersection near Neubruck Castle after about an hour, where we cross both main roads and head back towards Scheibbs along the right bank of the Erlauf. A short detour to the castle is definitely worth it. Here begins the signposted part of the thematic route, which follows along the course of the 2nd Vienna High Spring Water Pipeline first over a well-developed forest road, then over the "Anslöd" hill, and finally above Lehenhof Castle into the Burgerhof Forest. Via Burgerhofstraße we finally reach the starting point at Scheibbs Castle again.

Yellow signposts, grey information boards