Fischa

The Fischa is a right tributary of the Danube in eastern Lower Austria. It rises in the cadastral district of Haschendorf in the town of Ebenfurth and carries groundwater from deep springs of the Vienna Basin. Near Siegersdorf the stream divides into the Old Fischa and the New Fischa, which loops past Pottendorf before rejoining the Old Fischa above Weigelsdorf. The river passes the Fischaradln, a historic flood-plain area, and supplies the park of Pottendorf Castle as well as earlier mills and factories. It flows through the Steinfeld and ends in the Danube below Fischamend, where marshes and old Danube arms line its banks. The Fischa has been known since at least 1063, when King Henry IV issued a charter ‘iuxta flumen Fisek’ for Brixen diocese. To avoid confusion with the Warm Fischa near Wiener Neustadt, it is also called Fischa-Dagnitz, the second part recalling the vanished settlement of Tagais near Haschendorf. Its steady water level and cool temperature of seven to nine degrees make it useful for industry, supporting textile and paper mills in earlier centuries. By Fischamend the river carries an average flow of 7.5 cubic metres per second. Visitors walk along grassy banks where scattered trees and wet meadows stretch away. In the lower reaches the landscape turns to swampy ground beside old Danube channels. The river’s uniform flow and cool water have shaped both industry and scenery, leaving traces of mills and factories along its course. The historic flood-plain and castle park add quiet green spaces where the river’s divided channels rejoin.