Baumgarten an der March

Baumgarten an der March is a small village in Lower Austria, home to just 192 people. It sits beside the March river, close to the borders with Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The village’s importance comes from its role in Europe’s energy network. In 1959, a gas distribution centre opened here, growing from an old field that once produced gas. The first shipment of Russian gas arrived in 1968, and since then the site has become one of the continent’s key hubs for moving gas across Europe. Every year around 40 billion cubic metres of gas pass through Baumgarten. The site covers 18 hectares and contains filter separators, dryers, compressors and metering sections. Gas arrives from pipelines, is cleaned and compressed, then sent on to Austria and beyond. Some gas travels west via the WAG pipeline, while other supplies head south through the TAG pipeline or east into Hungary via the HAG pipeline. Underground storage sites at Tallesbrunn and Schönkirchen hold extra reserves, ready to meet demand when needed. Visitors to Baumgarten see a quiet village surrounded by flat farmland and the March river. The gas facilities themselves are industrial and not open to the public. The landscape is calm, with few buildings beyond homes and farmsteads. The riverbank offers a quiet place to walk, while the flat fields stretch out towards the horizon. The village’s only real landmark is the gas hub, which hums with activity unseen by outsiders.