Austria
Spitz
Spitz: Wine Terraces and a Castle Ruin on the Danube
Spitz is a wine village of about 1,500 people in the Wachau, the World Heritage stretch of the Danube between Melk and Krems, with vineyards on the hills nearby. Its sights are small and close together: a Gothic parish church, a museum of Danube shipping and a castle ruin on the ridge above. The cable ferry across the river may not run when the Danube is low.
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Good to know
Arriving in Spitz
Danube boats call at a landing stage in Spitz, on the left bank of the river midway between Melk and Dürnstein, and your cruise line will tell you where your ship ties up. The village is compact enough to walk everywhere.
- Spitz is a wine village of about 1,500 people, with vineyards on the hills nearby.
- The B3 road follows the north bank of the Danube through the Wachau to Krems.
- A cable ferry with no engine crosses to Arnsdorf on the right bank. It is the only year-round crossing inside the Wachau, as the nearest bridges are at Melk and Mautern.
- When the Danube runs low, the ferry may not operate.
Spitz on Your Own
Everything in Spitz is within walking distance, from the parish church and the shipping museum to the castle ruin on the ridge above the village. The cable ferry across the Danube makes a short extra trip.
- St. Maurice's church: The late Gothic parish church has statues of the apostles from 1380 and an altarpiece by the painter known as Kremser Schmidt. Parts of its old defensive wall survive.
- The shipping museum: The Schifffahrtsmuseum at Auf der Wehr 21 tells the story of Danube shipping in the days of wooden boats and rafts, before steamships arrived in the mid-19th century. In 2026 it was open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. between 1 April and 31 October, so check before you go.
- Hinterhaus: The castle ruin on a rocky spur of the Jauerling, near the Tausendeimerberg vineyard, is free to visit. Its main castle already stood in the 12th century.
- The ferry: The cable ferry to Arnsdorf has run since 1928. It is steered against the current and hangs from a cable 485 meters long.
- Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own.
- Keep your passport within reach: Austrian law requires you to have easy access to your passport. A copy of the photo page helps.
Wine and Apricots
Spitz is a wine village first, and the Wachau is known for dry Grüner Veltliner and Riesling. Its apricots are the other local crop, eaten fresh and turned into jam, schnapps and dumplings.
- Three styles: Wachau winemakers of the Vinea Wachau association, founded in 1983, label their dry wines by strength: Steinfeder for the lightest, Federspiel for the middle range and Smaragd for the fullest, at 12.5 percent alcohol or more.
- The grapes: Grüner Veltliner is the most widely planted grape in the Wachau, and Riesling is often given the prime sites on the steep hillsides.
- Wachauer Marille: Apricots from Spitz and its neighbors carry the protected name Wachauer Marille. More than 100,000 apricot trees blossom in the valley in spring.
- Marillenknödel: Apricot dumplings are one of the many dishes made with the local fruit.
Tipping in Austria
Tipping is common in Austria, and although it is not required by law it is often treated as expected. The currency is the euro.
- In restaurants, 5 to 10 percent of the bill is usual.
- For taxi drivers, rounding the fare up to the next euro is common.
- Never try to tip a government employee, as it may be seen as a bribe.
A Brief History
For seven centuries Spitz was a Bavarian island in Austria, the property of Niederaltaich Abbey from 812 to 1504, and its coat of arms still carries the blue and white Bavarian lozenges. Since 2000 it has been part of the Wachau Cultural Landscape World Heritage Site.
- A gift of Charlemagne, 812: Charlemagne gave the area to the Bavarian abbey of Niederaltaich, and his grandson, Louis the German, confirmed the gift in writing in 830.
- The first record, 865: Archbishop Adalwin of Salzburg consecrated a chapel "ad Spizzun", today the parish church of St. Margaret in Niederranna.
- The Knights of Spitz: The castle of Hinterhaus is first mentioned in 1243. In the 13th and 14th centuries it was held by the Knights of Spitz, vassals of the powerful Kuenring family.
- A market town, 1347: Spitz's right to hold a market is first recorded in 1347.
- To the Habsburgs, 1504: The Bavarian dukes ceded Spitz to Maximilian I for his help in settling the War of the Succession of Landshut, and he sold it in 1507 to his steward, Eitel Friedrich II of Hohenzollern.
- A Protestant center: Under the Protestant Kirchberg family, from 1518 to 1575, and then the originally Lutheran counts of Kuefstein, from 1590 to 1646, Spitz became a regional center of the Reformation. A Protestant church and the Pastorenturm tower in the cemetery were built in 1613, and in 1654 the town still counted 823 Lutherans.
- The Thirty Years' War: Imperial troops burned the market town in 1620, and Swedish mercenaries did the same in 1645.
- Forced labor, 1944 to 1945: A local construction firm used Hungarian Jews, women and children among them, as forced laborers.
- To learn more ashore: The Schifffahrtsmuseum at Auf der Wehr 21 covers the history of shipping on the Danube.
Spitz with Children
Spitz is small enough for a relaxed family walk. The ferry ride is the draw for younger children, and the castle ruin is a climb for older ones.
- Younger children: Ride the cable ferry. Its original cabin is a camera obscura by the artist Olafur Eliasson, which projects both banks of the river onto the walls, reversed.
- School age: The shipping museum shows how boats and rafts moved goods on the Danube before steam. Guided tours in English can be booked ahead by email or phone.
- Teenagers: Walk up to the Hinterhaus ruin. Legend says the ghost of Adelheid, wife of Heinrich the Iron, appears there every year on the anniversary of her husband's death.
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