Aschau: Local History, Monuments and the Culinary Hiking Trail

Aschau can be understood through its settlement history, local interpretations of its name, and specific cultural and landscape connections. These include a culinary hiking trail with a named sequence of stops, a farm shop, and a manufactory offering tours and tastings. If you are looking for a hotel in Aschau, plan your stay around the local features you would like to explore: history, heritage protection, the trail, or a tour followed by a tasting.

Local History and the Meaning of the Name

Aschau emerged during land clearance as one of the first settlements in the upper Feistritz Valley. This places the village’s history in a specific context: the establishment of a settlement during the clearing of the land. The local interpretation of the name is a separate matter. Aschau is considered the German equivalent of Gasen; the name Gasen is derived from “jasen,” meaning ash tree. For orientation, these are two distinct points of reference: the settlement history relates to the early settlement of the upper Feistritz Valley, while the interpretation of the name establishes a linguistic connection to the word for ash tree. If you would also like to understand Aschau through its local history, consider these aspects separately: land clearance and the beginnings of settlement on the one hand, and the interpretation of the name on the other.

Heritage Protection and Local Features

Within the cadastral area of Aschau, the Catholic branch church of St. Georgen am Gasenbach and the former cemetery are protected as monuments by ordinance. The rectory at Koglhof 1, also within the cadastral area of Aschau, is protected as a monument by ordinance. These references include the church, the former cemetery, and the rectory; the cemetery’s former use is explicitly part of its designation. They point to different historical features: the church and former cemetery on the one hand, and the rectory with its specified address on the other. If you are interested in heritage protection, this distinction helps you tell the individual sites apart rather than grouping them together as historic buildings in general.

The Bredlitzbach and Its Former Name

The Bredlitzbach runs along the boundary between Aschau and Rossegg. Older boundary descriptions also refer to the same stream as the Prellitzbach. For orientation, the former name therefore refers to the Bredlitzbach, not to a second body of water. As with the derivation of Gasen, this is a historical reference to a name, but of a different kind: “jasen” is used to explain the name Gasen, while Prellitzbach is an older name for the stream. Its location along the boundary provides the specific geographical link between Aschau and Rossegg.

The Culinary Hiking Trail and Local Food Experiences

The Koglhof Culinary Hiking Trail follows the paved road to the “Kremel” organic herb farm shop and then continues to St. Georgen. The order of the stops is clear: first the farm shop, then St. Georgen. The road surface is another specific feature to take into account when planning your route. If you plan to stop at the farm shop, check in advance when visits are possible.

The Oswald/Schaffer vinegar manufactory in Rossegg offers a different culinary experience: tours of the production cellar followed by tastings of various vinegars. The two options differ in what they involve. On the culinary hiking trail, you follow the sequence of the farm shop and St. Georgen; at Oswald/Schaffer, the tour and subsequent tasting are the focus. Dates and operating details may change, so arrange a tour in advance.

Looking for an Apartment or Hotel

Klein Bachbauer offers two holiday apartments in a lovingly renovated wooden farmhouse. The distinction between a holiday apartment and a hotel is important when choosing accommodation: the number given and the renovated wooden farmhouse refer to the holiday apartments. If you are specifically looking for a hotel, focus your search on that type of accommodation.

Discover more destinations: Plenzengreith, Birkfeld, Municipality of Floing, Weiz, Brand, Sankt Kathrein Am Hauenstein, Gschaid bei Birkfeld, Fresen

Go to the overview of the wider travel area: Weiz.