Weiglwarte

The Weiglwarte is a stone lookout tower built in 1901 on the 723-metre Sandl hill near Dürnstein in Lower Austria. It stands 16 metres tall and was named after Augustin Weigl, known as the father of tourism in the Wachau region. The first wooden tower on the site, erected in 1881 by the Rossatz section of the Austrian Alpine Club, served both as a lookout and a shelter. After the club dissolved in 1892, the tower passed to the Austrian Tourist Club, which replaced it with the current stone structure.

The new tower was completed by master builder Josef Utz and opened in 1901 before more than two thousand guests. It cost 8,600 crowns to build and later served as an amateur radio station and meteorological measurement point in the 1970s. Today it also houses a national triangulation point and a radio station for the regional energy provider.

Visitors climb to the viewing platform for wide views across the Danube valley and surrounding vineyards. The platform was rebuilt in 1993 after damage led to a temporary closure. The tower remains a quiet spot for walkers and cyclists exploring the Wachau’s hills and wine trails.