Krems an der Donau

Krems is first recorded in 995, and in the eleventh and twelfth centuries it was almost as large as Vienna; it stands where the Wachau gorge opens into flatter country, which made it a trading and river town. The old centre is largely intact: the Steiner Tor gate of 1480, the Hoher Markt, Gozzoburg, a thirteenth-century merchant palace with painted rooms, arcaded courtyards and stepped lanes running down to the Danube, and the neighbouring town of Stein absorbed alongside. The Kunstmeile, an art mile in converted industrial and monastic buildings, holds the Kunsthalle Krems, the Landesgalerie Niederösterreich in a twisted concrete block of 2019, the caricature museum and the Dominican church. Wine is the other economy - Krems sits between the Wachau and the Kamptal.

History

Krems first appears in writing in 995, in a charter of Otto III, though people had settled here long before. In the 11th and 12th centuries the town, then called Chremis, was almost as large as Vienna, and it received its town rights in 1305 (Wikipedia, Krems an der Donau).

What's there

• The Steiner Tor - the 1480 town gate at the head of the main street.
• Gozzoburg - a thirteenth-century merchant palace with painted medieval rooms.
• The Kunstmeile - galleries in converted industrial and monastic buildings.
• Stein - the absorbed neighbouring town along the river.

When to go

April to October; autumn for the wine season. A day.

Practical notes

The old town is hilly with steps. Galleries close on Mondays and between exhibitions. Cyclists and boat traffic fill the riverside in summer. The centre is quiet on Sundays.

Nearby

Dürnstein and the Wachau are west; Göttweig Abbey is across the Danube.

Key facts