Falkensteinmauer

The Falkenstein is a 720-metre-high mountain near the market town of Frankenfels in Lower Austria. It stands east of the town centre, its steep north-west face known as the Falkensteinmauer forming a dramatic limestone cliff. The flat summit plateau above the cliff is used for farming and offers wide views over Frankenfels, the opposite Frankenfelsberg and the Natter valley. Walkers can reach the lookout from the south-west via the Guten Hirten or from the north-east through the Pielachleiten area past Nattershof and Vorder-Höhenberg. The Pielachtaler Bahnwanderweg and the Großer Pielachtaler Rundwanderweg 652 both cross the Falkensteinmauer. The Falkensteinmauer is a three-part cliff that ends at the summit plateau. Made of grey limestone in many shapes, it rises seven to eighty metres and is the largest rock face in the Pielachtal valley. It is also Frankenfels’s landmark and attracts climbers and walkers alike. About 150 routes are bolted across five sectors, graded from UIAA IV- to X+. The climbs range from slabs to vertical walls with up to seven metres of overhang. A hamlet called Falkensteinrotte lies south-east of the cliff around the 952-metre Sonnberg. The name comes from the farm Falkenstein, which stands near the cliff in Falkensteinrotte 3. The mountain’s cliffs and plateau make it a well-known local landmark for both climbing and walking.