Traismauer

Traismauer lies in the lowest part of the Traisen valley in Lower Austria. The Danube forms the northern edge of the parish, where the land drops to 190 metres above sea level. To the west and south the ground rises over 300 metres, reaching 350 metres at the Reutbühel in the south. The built-up area covers forty-three square kilometres, half of which is farmland, a quarter woodland, and six per cent vineyards. The first record of the place comes from 799, when it was called Tresma. Long before that, a Roman cavalry fort named Augustianis stood on the site; its walls were reused for later buildings. In the ninth century Traismauer became the seat of a Bavarian border count after the defeat of the Avars. The Salzburger Erzstift held the market from 860 until 1803, and the town received its market rights in 1458. Roman and medieval walls still frame the old town. The Roman Gate and the Hungerturm survive from the fort’s defences. The parish church of St Rupert contains a Carolingian crypt built over the principia of the Roman camp. A baroque parish church and sixteenth-century town houses line the Florianiplatz. The local Krippenspiel, finalised around 1810, is kept in the Heimatmuseum inside the Hungerturm.