Laaber Kaiserzipf

The Laaber Kaiserzipf is a wooded hill rising 381.9 m in Vienna’s 13th district, Hietzing. It forms the south-western edge of the city where the Vienna Woods meet the Lainzer Tiergarten. The hill lies on the border with the Lower Austrian villages of Laab im Walde and Breitenfurt. Its slopes drop down to meadows such as the Schanzwiese, which leads north to the Bärenberg. Nearby peaks include the Kaiserzipf to the east and the Kaufberg to the south. The name first appears in records in 1819, when it was called Kaiserzipf after its former owner and the nearby village of Laab im Walde. The word Zipf refers to the hill’s tapering point at the top. The area has always been part of the imperial hunting ground, and today it remains within the protected Lainzer Tiergarten. The hill’s wooded slopes are typical of the Vienna Woods range, the north-eastern spur of the Alps. Visitors walk shaded forest paths that wind up to the summit clearing. From the top there are wide views across the Vienna basin and the city skyline. The hill is quiet, with only the sound of wind in the trees and birdsong. The Lainzer Tiergarten surrounds the hill, offering longer walks to meadows and other hills. The contrast between the dense woods and open meadows makes the Kaiserzipf a peaceful spot close to the city.