‘Here you have to hike with painters,’ wrote Hermine Cloeter in her 1922 book Donauromantik – Tagebuchblätter und Skizzen aus der goldenen Wachau (Danube Romanticism – Diary Entries and Sketches from the Golden Wachau). In it, the author and cultural historian described her hiking experiences in the Wachau region – a nostalgic place of longing for many artists of the time and characterised by idealised landscapes and descriptions. It was the Wachau painters in particular who established the view of a seemingly untouched, pre-modern landscape.¹ This romanticised view of the landscape is still evident in the Wachau today: At scenic viewpoints, hikers’ attention is drawn to special panoramas.

Trail Studies challenges this static perception of landscape by offering alternative perspectives. Our artistic and scientific exploration of cycling and hiking trails begins with movement itself. The slow pace of cycling and hiking allows us to experience the landscape in detail. Our artistically sharpened gaze focuses on what the picturesque representations of the Wachau painters did not show: the transformation of the landscape through human intervention, signs of industrialised agriculture, and the experience of the landscape as we move through it. For us, walking is more than just a means of transport. It is a way to reflect our relationship with the landscape. Our films and photographic works, drawings, and landscape architectural studies of cycling and hiking trails aim to sharpen our sensitivity to processes, structures, moods and narratives, thereby expanding our understanding of the landscape.

The results were presented at an exhibition in the Multisaal hall in Dürnstein municipality and summarised in four thematic leaflets. The digital leaflets, film works and further investigations of the Trail Studies are available here.

^[1] Blaschitz, Edith (2022): Fotografien, Stereoskopien, „Naturaufnahmen“, Heimatfilme: Visuelle Medien und die Konstruktion der Landschaft Wachau. Mitteilungen Stadtarchiv Krems, 1: 1-52. https://doi.org/10.57704/pvp5-er64