Discover Perg: Millstone Tradition, Museums and Nature Trails

Perg combines an exceptional millstone tradition with museums, historic sites and varied landscapes. In the district, the terrain in the north ranges from the varied mountains and hills through intermediate elevations with basins such as the Klam Basin to the Danube plains. This allows you to plan your trip entirely according to your interests: with culture, active trails, nature experiences or relaxing summer days by the water.

Millstones, Museums and History

The Heimathaus–City Museum Perg documents the history of Perg and its surroundings. Its main focuses include the stone and millstone industry, which was significant for Perg, excavations from the Auhof burial ground dating from the 8th to the 10th century, and finds from Mitterberg Castle. Since 2004, it has also housed the permanent exhibition “Kätes Puppenwelt” with more than 400 exhibits.

The history of stone quarrying is vividly presented at the Steinbrecherhaus Millstone Museum: visual materials, stone objects and tools document the work of the stonecutters. The museum preserves a stonecutter’s house built in 1802, where visitors can view a living room, a chamber and a smoke kitchen. The Scherer millstone quarry, a museum open-air site belonging to the Perg City Museum, also commemorates a disused sandstone quarry. The sandstone formed from sand deposited during the Tertiary period, 30 to 40 million years ago, on the shore of a sea in what is now the Machland plain. The tradition of millstone carving in Perg was of great importance beyond the region from the Middle Ages onwards; at its peak, up to 2,000 millstones were extracted and sold throughout the monarchy and beyond.

Other collections also offer special insights. The Pharmacy Museum in Pragstein Castle presents the history of the Austrian pharmacy system and the practical work of pharmacists in the laboratory. The pharmaceutical-history collection of the Aichberger pharmacist family forms its foundation and documents, in particular, the development of small rural pharmacies.

The Celtic village Mitterkirchen Im Machlande opened in 1991 near the site of a former archaeological excavation of a Hallstatt-period burial site. The Celtic village currently comprises 20 buildings. Supervised activities are offered especially for school classes, including pottery making, baking flatbread, weaving, spinning, building log cabins, metalworking and bow making. Since 2011, the Archaeotechnology Days “Chariot and Millet Porridge” have been held there regularly, during which experimental archaeologists live in the Celtic village.

The former collegiate church of Baumgartenberg combines Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque elements. Construction began in 1142, and it was given its Baroque appearance in the 17th century; guided tours of the church are available. Clam Castle was first mentioned in documents in 1128, was owned by the Lords of Machland around 1149 and has been in the possession of the Counts of Clam-Martinic since 1454. Guided tours of the castle, including its armory, a Gothic chapel dating from 1491 and a porcelain collection, are part of the castle museum’s offerings.

Landscape and Trails between the Hills and the Danube

Along the eastern border of Perg District and beyond as far as Ybbs, the Danube forms the Strudengau. The 25-kilometre-long gorge valley lies between steep, densely wooded slopes and the river. The district also includes the Stillsteinklamm gorge and other narrow breakthrough valleys, which are among the valleys carved by rivers and streams into the foothills of the granite massif on their way to the Danube.

The “PERGER Nature Experience Areas” connect ecologically valuable biotopes with vegetation suited to the location along a circular trail. For a quieter summer day, Waldbad Perg is an option, a riverside swimming area with a sunbathing lawn. It also offers a beach volleyball court, an asphalt curling lane and a Kneipp facility. Those who want to combine nature and history can include the Wolf Gorge near Bad Kreuzen in their plans. The gorge-like primeval-rock ravine at the foot of Kreuzen Castle features waterfalls, rock formations, block castles, botanical and faunal special features, as well as near-natural gorge forests. Since 1997, it has been a nature and cultural hiking trail; information boards there explain the bathing facilities of the former Bad Kreuzen cold-water sanatorium.

Excursions and Practical Orientation

For longer hikes, the Danube Trail offers a variety of landscapes.

The Mauthausen Concentration Camp Memorial provides information about its exhibitions and memorial sites at former subcamps of the Mauthausen concentration camp system, as well as a free audio-guide app for Android and iOS in 12 languages.

Stage 4_G03 leads from Mauthausen through the cultivated plain of the Machland and across the panoramic Mühlviertel hills to Perg on the northern edge of the Machland. Stage 4_G04 begins at the “Perg” Danube Trail starting point in the northeastern area of the main square and ends at the “Mitterkirchen” starting point at the northern end of the sports field near the eastern edge of the village. For cyclists, the cycling tour from Perg to Grein An Der Donau uses the Celtic village as a rest stop and as an opportunity for a trip into the past.

Perg is an important transport hub for the district; railways, the federal road and the bypass connect it in an east–west direction. If you would like to combine museums, historic sights and various excursions, you can take this transport location into account when choosing your holiday apartment. This allows you to arrange your daily schedule around the experiences that are especially important to you and your family.

More Places for Planning Your Trip

For your further selection of locations, the following pages are available: Luftenberg An Der Donau, Henndorf, Dimbach, Perg, Straß, Arbing, Langenstein, Sankt Nikola An Der Donau, Saxen, Sankt Georgen Am Walde, Wansch, Naarn Im Machlande, Waldhausen Im Strudengau, Münzbach, Pabneukirchen, Rechberg, Ried In Der Riedmark, Schwertberg, Sankt Thomas Am Blasenstein, Windhaag Bei Perg, Klam, Allerheiligen Im Mühlkreis and Katsdorf.

To the higher-level travel overview: Upper Austria.

More Destinations in Perg

More places for planning your trip:

Sankt Georgen An Der Gusen.