Today I want to show you a nice winter walk in Dross, a village north of Krems an der Donau in Lower Austria
The walk starts at the municipal office of Dross. Dross used to be an indepent community until 1971. Then it was merged with Stratzing which with it formed the community Stratzing-Dross. In 1993 the two villages became independent communities again.
Then you pass the pilgrimage church consecrated to Our Lady of Fatima.
Soon you will see the castle built in 1726.
After passing the castle you turn off right.
On the left side you will then see the wood of the "Aktion Lebensbaum". For every child born to inhabitants of Dross a tree is planted here.
At the next crossing you turn right. Then you will see a No-Driving-Sign. Here you have to turn right.
Soon you reach the "Jubiläumswarte". This lookout tower has been built in the year 2009 on top of an elevated water reservoir that already existed before.
From the tower you have a nice view on the village and the castle.
In the South you will recognize Göttweig Abbey and on days with good sight you will also see the Lower Austrian Alps.
Then you walk back. At the crossing you turn right.
Soon after you will reach the Drosser Wald, a wood with a special history.
At the fork you walk straight ahead.
After leaving the wood again you will see the Poberkreuz. This wayside cross is not big, but since many hiking trails are crossing nearby, the Poberkreuz is an important landmark for hikers.
Then you walk back a little bit, turn left and after 300 meters walk back again.
This way joins with a way coming from the left.
Now to the special history of this wood. During the Nazi regime, Jews were obligated to forced labor in this wood. Their supervisor, a man called "Severin Worel" found out that they should be killed when their work is finished. So he "invented" new tasks for them and convinced the SS that more paths through the wood have to been created. Additionally, Worel (illegaly) organized food for them. So they were able to work in the wood until they were freed by the Soviet Army. All of the around 40 corced laborers survived thanks to the humanity, courage and power of persuasion of their supervisor.
Almost 80 years have passed after this horrible time, but today you will still find a higher density of paths through this wood than in other woods. When you do not know the history of this wood, you might think that some of them are useless. When you know it, you know that the useless paths have saved dozens of lives.
Shortly after you will reach a paved road and turn right into it.
Then you come to the Föhrenteich (literally translated "Pine pond").
In Summer, the local youth is swimming here or playing beach volleyball. In Winter, everything is quiet.
Then you just follow the paved road to come to Dross again.
GPS data can be downloaded here