Stage 22 From Glacier to Wine South Route Remschnigg - Leutschach

Beautiful views of the Styrian and Slovenian wine country and the Scherschenhof farm of the Tertenjek family (Tel. +43 3455 6461) with its extensive offer, ranging from vacation apartments to a herb tavern, a must tavern and a farm store, are our starting point. In the southeast, the church of Sveti Duh already greets us in the distance, our next stopover on this stage of the hiking route "From Glacier to Wine".

The rest of the way leads us along the border to the Hartmann family farm and the Oberguess winery, which was first mentioned in a document in 1495. Via a downhill road we reach the Buschenschank Postl vlg. Dobay (Tel. +43 3454 6581), where we keep to the right and climb quite steeply through a high forest to reach a quite historically significant hamlet. A border stone with the inscription "St. Germain 10.Sept. 1019", a contemporary witness of the now almost 100 years old border demarcation, which took place after the 1st World War.

Immediately after that we reach the church of Sveti Duh, which - mostly located on the Slovenian side - offers us beautiful panoramic views of the surrounding wine country. In 1919 the border between the Republic of Austria and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was drawn. As a result, the parish of Heiligengeist was also divided - one part remained on the Austrian side and became part of the parish of Leutschach, the other part was assigned to Yugoslavia. Today the church is a popular place of pilgrimage. On Pentecost Sunday, the great pilgrimage festival takes place every year with a Slovenian and a German language service.

Afterwards we walk further east, cross the road that leads up from Leutschach to the border and come to the southernmost point of Styria. Here we leave the Grenzpanoramaweg, branch off to the left and now hike slightly downhill towards Leutschach, our stage destination. At first the path leads through some woods, but the further we walk towards Leutschach, the more often vineyards become our companions. A special feature of the Heiligengeistklamm, which runs parallel to the west of us, are the numerous mills such as the Spitzmühle, which we also reach. The Spitzmühle, coming from Leutschach the entrance to the Heiligengeistklamm, is a show water mill rebuilt according to old plans. The last two kilometers lead us straight to Leutschach, our stage destination. Center of the South Styrian hop-growing region and one of the centers of the South Styrian wine-growing region. A cross-section of the work of the winegrowers gives, in addition to the numerous catering establishments, the wine gallery housed in the old town hall with a tasting and shopping opportunity. In Leutschach, by the way, we have the choice of taking stage 23 of the main route or marching on the variant directly to Leibnitz, the destination of the southern route.

Detailed information about arriving by ÖBB (Austrian Federal Railways) can be found at www.oebb.at or on the Verbundlinie Steiermark website www.busbahnbim.at

With Verbundlinie’s BusBahnBim route planner app, planning your journey has never been easier: simply enter towns and/or addresses, stop names or points of interest to check all bus, train and tram connections in Austria. The app is available free of charge for smartphones – on Google Play and in the App Store

Steiermark Tourismus

Tel. +43 316 4003

info@steiermark.com

www.steiermark.com/en

If you would like to hire a  tour operator, simply book with Steiermark Touristik, the official travel agency of Steiermark Tourismus:

Tel. +43 316 4003 450, 

www.steiermark-touristik.com

The Steiermark Touren app, available free of charge on Google Play and the App Store  (Android, iOS), offers detailed first-hand information: brief facts (length, duration, difficulty, ascent and descent/elevation gain, ratings), map, route descriptions, altimeter, compass, peak finder, navigation along the tour. You can also create your own personal lists of favourite tours and sites, store tours and destinations offline, use social media channels, and much more.

Gratis Pocket Card Wanderroute "Vom Gletscher zum Wein" finden Sie auf www.steiermark.com

Kompass WK224 Steirisches Weinland- Stainz, Sausal, Sulmtal, Leibnitz www.kompass.at

Freytag & Berndt WK411 Steirisches Weinland · Südwest Steiermark www.freytagberndt.at

Rother Wanderführer "Vom Gletscher zum Wein": auf 160 Seiten mit 80 Farbabbildungen 60 Höhenprofile, 60 Wanderkärtchen im Maßstab 1:75.000, zwei Übersichtskarten, GPS-Tracks zum Download, Format 11,5 x 16,5 cm, kartoniert mit Polytex-Laminierung, ISBN 978-3-7633-4550-2, www.rother.de