Sonnwendstein

The Sonnwendstein is a mountain in the Semmering range near the border between Lower Austria and Styria. Its slopes rise above the pilgrimage village of Maria Schutz at 760 metres. The old Triester Straße once crossed the Semmering here until the 1970s. Below the summit stands the Pollereshütte, reached by the steep Gebirgsjägersteig in about an hour and a half from Maria Schutz. The mountain carries a 1957 broadcasting tower and a Telekom Austria relay station beside the summit. A 1935–36 chapel, the Josefskapelle, was built on the summit with a road specially constructed from the Semmering pass. In 1934 two tourists, Franz-Josef Jonas and Emilie Wessely, were murdered nearby; the killer was later executed in Vienna. The old Pollereshaus hotel burned down in 1985 and was replaced by today’s smaller Pollereshütte. Visitors walk the Gebirgsjägersteig to the hut, then climb to the summit in minutes. The tower and chapel mark the highest point, where wide views stretch on clear days as far as the Neusiedler See. The abandoned Sessellift once carried skiers from Maria Schutz to the old hotel; its closure ended winter sports here. The path and the remains of the lift line show how the mountain once served both pilgrims and skiers.