Hocheck

The Hocheck is a 1,037-metre mountain in the Gutensteiner Alpen of Lower Austria. It stands on the border between Furth an der Triesting and Altenmarkt an der Triesting, forming the highest point of a ten-kilometre ridge that splits eastward from the main Alpine chain at the Veiglkogel. With its summit just 24 kilometres from Vienna’s city boundary, it is the nearest thousand-metre peak to the capital. The summit holds the free-standing Meyringer-Warte, a 13-metre observation tower, while below it the Hocheck-Schutzhaus offers shelter. A memorial nearby honours comrades lost in the two world wars. Plans for a rack railway from Furth in the Furtertale valley were abandoned in 1906 when funds ran short, and two drag-lifts that once served the south-eastern slope have also disappeared since the early 1990s. Walkers reach the top by several routes: from Furth via the Krennweg, from Altenmarkt along the Wieshofersteig, or from Weissenbach through Eberbach. The road once open to cars now serves only walkers and cyclists, leaving the mountain’s slopes quiet and uncrowded.