Railway hiking trail: Semmering-Breitenstein

Railway hiking trail

The hike starts at Semmering railway station and leads along the UNESCO World Heritage Semmering Railway. Information boards and beautiful viewpoints accompany the entire route.  From Semmering station, the trail leads along the railway body to Wolfsbergkogel station. At the Doppelreiter lookout, you can enjoy a panoramic view of the imposing viaducts and tunnels with the Rax and Schneeberg mountains in the background. From here, trains can be observed on their journey over the most imposing structure of the Ghegabahn, the "Kalte Rinne". The "20 Schilling View" (named after the motifs of the 20 Schilling note) is a must. The trail continues to the Fleischmann Bridge, the "Red Mountain" along the railway road, from the "Cold Gully" the trail leads along the upper Adlitzgraben road, past the Iron Cross, to Breitenstein. You can return to the starting point or continue on to Payerbach and Gloggnitz comfortably with the Semmering Railway or on hiking trails along the railway.

 

History

In the beginning it was a path that led over the Semmering Pass - evidence of this has existed since the Middle Ages. Then, in the early 18th century, Emperor Charles VI had a road built with a gradient of up to 17 percent, over which horses laboriously struggled with their loads. Finally, in 1841, the order was given to build a railway line from Vienna to Trieste to meet the transport needs of the beginning industrialisation. Finally, in 1844, it was "only" a matter of closing the gap between Gloggnitz and Mürzzuschlag via the Semmering. Under the direction of Carl Ritter von Ghega, 20,000 workers finally built Europe's first full-track mountain railway, which has undergone only a few changes to this day. On the 41 km long line, the trains travel over 16 viaducts, 100 bridges and through 15 tunnels. Since 1998, this "outstanding technical solution to a major physical problem in the construction of early railways" has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

From Vienna, take the A2 Südautobahn to the S6 Semmering-Schnellstraße and take the Maria Schutz exit. Turn right onto L4168. Continue on Semmering/L4168 and Semmeringstraße. Turn right onto Bahnhofstraße.

From Graz take the S6 Semmering motorway and exit at Spital/Semmering. Turn left onto Semmering Ersatz Str./B306. Continue on B306. At the roundabout drive straight ahead to Semmering. Continue on Passstraße, this runs slightly to the right and becomes Semmering. Turn left onto Bahnhofstraße.