Leiser Berge

The Leiser Berge rise above the Weinviertel hills in Lower Austria, a cluster of steep limestone ridges capped by the Buschberg, Steinberg and Oberleiser Berg. They stand just north of Ernstbrunn where the Pannonian plain meets the first folds of the Carpathians. The slopes are cut by narrow valleys that carry winter and spring moisture down to the surrounding vineyards. The area was declared a 4 500-hectare nature park in 1970 because its steppe grasslands and mixed-oak woods shelter rare plants. Fine-earth steppes on Jurassic limestone support narrow-leafed grasses and many species whose main range lies far to the east. Succulents cling to sun-baked rock faces, while early spring annuals race through their life cycle before the dry summer heat returns. Wanderers follow the Weinviertel and Eastern Borderland long-distance trails that cross the ridges between Oberleiser Berg and Buschberg. A historic narrow-gauge railway once climbed these slopes on ramps of 27 per mille, matching the steepest grades of the Semmering line. Villages such as Neubau, the highest settlement in the Weinviertel, sit on the lower shoulders of the hills, their lanes opening onto views across the vineyards below.