The Vienna Woods
1849–1914
The hilly forested landscape known as the Vienna Woods is the north-easternmost part of the Alpine chain and extends to the western and northern edges of Vienna.
Owned by the sovereign, the Vienna Woods teemed with game and were thus a favourite hunting ground of the Habsburgs, a circumstance commemorated today by the Lainzer Tiergarten, which, as its name indicates, was once an imperial hunting reserve. Places in the Vienna Woods that have special associations with the Habsburgs include Mayerling and the Hermes Villa.
In the latter years of the Habsburg Monarchy a number of villages and towns in the Vienna Woods developed into summer resorts patronized by the Viennese middle classes.
Today the Vienna Woods are an important nature reserve and provide recreation for the inhabitants of Vienna and the surrounding area.
