News
Our nature park and the Rudolfswarte tower are open all year round. There is free access with no entry fees.
Help needed for translation of web pages into English! Any support for translation of our German texts into proper English and for corrections of existing English pages is very welcome. If you can help, please send us a short mail: info@naturpark-purkersdorf.at
Our nature park is freely accessible...
...please note our nature park rules...
The Wienerwaldhaus Museum, the drinking fountain and the WC at the Nature Park Centre are closed until the end of March. The two "dry" porta-potties on the western edge of the Kellerwiese are available at all times.
Nature park-Charta signed together with the municipality of Purkersdorf for the upcoming Nature Park concept.
At this year's general assembly of Purkersdorf nature park at the beginning of December 2024, not only was the nature park board confirmed or newly elected for the next 3 years, but the Nature Park-Charta adopted by the municipal council was also signed together with Chairman Rudolf Orthofer, Mayor Stefan Steinbichler and City Councillor for the Environment Sabina Kellner.
This “Nature Park-Charta” is part of the update of the nature park concept required by the state of Lower Austria, which contains the development goals and tasks of nature park work for the next 5 years.
Insightful results of the online survey from summer 2024
Lots of the data from our large online survey, is now to be incorporated into the creation of our Nature Park concept 2030.
The latest news...
...are always available on our facebook and Instagram channels.
Restoration work after the flood/storm completed
After the major storm on the weekend of September 14/15, 2024, all the necessary renovation work along the hiking trails, especially on the nature trail and in sections of the Buchenweg (former Danebenweg), has now been completed before the onset of winter. The missing seats will be newly installed in spring 2025.
The heavy rainfall and the effects of the 1000-year flood of the Wienfluss along our nature trail have shown that even forest soil can only store a limited total amount of water in the long term. Interesting information on this can be found in the BFW article (in German) “How much water does forest soil store?”
Donate and save taxes
The Purkersdorf Nature Park was recognised as a charitable organisation with registration number NT2157 by the tax office on 30 July 2024 with effect from 1 January 2024. Donations to the Nature Park are therefore fully tax-deductible.
- For companies, donations to us are fully tax-deductible as a business expense.
- Donations from individuals are automatically taken into account as special expenses for income tax or employee tax assessment if you provide your name and date of birth on the bank transfer so that we can report the donations to the tax office at the beginning of the following year.
Please support us with a donation to our account "Verein Naturpark Purkersdorf" IBAN AT54 1200 0006 1914 6806.
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Enjoy winter to the full...
...and come to rest on a walk in the wintry forest.
On a winter walk, you may notice the Judas ear on the dead wood of elder bushes. This jelly-like edible mushroom looks very much like an ear, hence its name. It is yellow-brown in color, reddish on the inside. If it dries out, it shrivels. When it comes into contact with water again, it returns to its original shape.
You can read more about in our "21 Sinne broschure" (in German), pages 38-39.
Hiking in the nature park
Well equipped, nothing stands in the way of a walk in the forest: thanks to the fall-like forest air, you can enjoy a nice views on sunny days in selected parts of the nature park. Please note our hiking tips.
Our wild animal enclosures in winter
Our deer and wild boar can also be easily observed in the enclosure in winter. In the cold season, however, the deer move at a much slower pace in order to reduce their energy consumption due to the cold. In order for the deer to get through the winter well, it grows new hair (twice as long as in summer), particularly noticeable on the neck. Overall, the coat color changes from a shiny summer red to a muted winter gray. In very cold weather, the wild boar simply snuggle closer together to keep each other warm.
Drone flights over the wild boar and deer enclosure extended
The Nature Park has been supporting the BAMBI research project at Hagenberg University of Applied Sciences since mid-March 2023. The aim is to find a method with which wild animals can be recorded and counted by automatically analysing drone infrared images in a wide variety of ecosystems. The Purkersdorf Nature Park is particularly suitable for this research project because there are a known number of animals in our enclosures with which the drone data can be calibrated. Following successful results and with the agreement of the partners, the project will be continued provisionally in 2024.
Roe deer enclosure currently still uninhabited
After our roebuck unfortunately escaped last autumn, we are taking advantage of the vacancy and have already thinned out the enclosure somewhat. It is currently being extended with an additional green area and a water place. We hope that we will be able to offer tame deer again in spring 2025.
0 years of nature park beekeeper Bieno & nature park honey special edition 2024/25
The nature park and master beekeeper Benno Karner have been working closely together for 10 years, for which he has now received an award from the Austrian Nature Park Association. With his many years of work as a nature park beekeeper "Bieno", he makes an important contribution to biodiversity with his industrious bees.
The nature park honey with the title of Nature Park Speciality of the Austrian Nature Parks supports old traditions in production and in particular the preservation of this cultural landscape. We would like to thank you very much for the good cooperation and look forward to many more years of delicious nature park honey!
Our nature park honey not only sweetens tea or many dishes, but also keeps you healthy. The jars (250g and 500g) with the particularly pretty winner's label from last year's competition can be purchased from the Nature Park office. Please order in advance.
Clean empty jars without lids can be handed in at any time at Wiener Straße 12 by the door to the Nature Park office.
We are the 1st Nature Park School Campus!
Since June 7, 2024, besides the Purkersdorf general special school (ASO), the Purkersdorf elementary school and the Schöffelschule (Lower Austrian middle school) have also been certified as Nature Park schools. Together they now form the 1st Nature Park School Campus and have anchored the Nature Park in their respective educational concept. Nature park-related topics are incorporated into regular lessons so that the children get to know and appreciate the beauty, diversity and importance of our forests.
"Frosch im Wassertropfen"
Amphibians - frogs, toads, toads, salamanders and newts - are inhabitants of two worlds - the land and the water. As part of the "Frog in a drop of water" project, the University of Innsbruck is using modern DNA analysis methods to investigate a wide variety of bodies of water in order to identify the amphibian species present in them. We took part and were allowed to send in samples from our forest biotope for analysis.
Listen to our nature park and watch the video
Together with "Hallo Purkersdorf", our managing director was able to record a podcast about her work and our Purkersdorf Nature Park at the beginning of July. Click here for the blog and to listen in.
As part of his Voluntary Environmental Year 2024, Benedikt Brabetz made a great video project about the nature park. Ben shows you what the nature park means to him and uses interviews to capture what the nature park means to others.
Biosphere Reserve report about Purkersdorf
The Biosphere Reserve Wienerwald has provided to all Wienerwald municipalities a report about the most important measures to safeguard biodiversity. The report for Purkersdorf shows that many suggestions are well covered by our activities in the nature park.
A summary of the municipal report can be found here on our website.
"Natur trifft Buch"
Together with the Purkersdorf City Library, we once again collaborated on the theme of “Nature meets books” this year. In addition to the summer events for reading in the countryside, there were also special “Experience Tuesdays” in the foyer of the library every afternoon. In addition, the nature park has made part of its specialist library available to the city library until further notice. These media can be borrowed from the city library. Books can be found in the following areas: Identification books, educational forest media, cookbooks, information on the Austrian nature parks and much more.
"Science meets schools"
The "Science meets schools" project has been running since November 2023. Along Schwarzhubergasse and in the adjacent Purkersdorf school campus, pupils from the nature park schools ASO, the primary school and the secondary school have planted a climate hedge with the nature park.
By regularly observing the hedges (leaf sprouting, flowering, fruiting), the children investigate how temperature, sunshine and precipitation influence growth in different locations. The research work on the hedge ("outside") is processed and analysed in class ("inside"). With the start of spring, the pupils were able to discover and explore the first buds.
Outdoor classroom of the Gablitz primary school in Purkersdorf nature park
Due to the great success of the last 4 years, the market town of Gablitz has extended the outdoor classroom programme until June 2027. In autumn, 4 forest learning days and further training with the school's teachers have already taken place.
Book tip for children (in German): How a forest grows
Come along on a walk through the forest and find out how a small plant can grow into a whole forest! This non-fiction picture book uses atmospheric pictures and poetic texts to show nature lovers of all ages how a tiny plant can grow into a whole forest.
Awarded by the German Academy for Children's and Youth Literature:
"Rarely has a non-fiction picture book been told in such a literary-aesthetic, clear, informative and varied way. A walk you will want to repeat!"
From 4 years - available at naturseiten.at