Lienz

Lienz is a medieval town in East Tyrol in Austria. This fairly small city of about 12,000 inhabitants (2021) has a well-preserved historic centre and a good number of interesting sights.

Understand

The Liebburg, in use as the city's town hall

Get in

Lienz is located at a road junction between the Drautalstraße highway, leading from Carinthia to the Puster Valley in the Italian province of South Tyrol (B100), and the Felbertauernstraße (B108) from Lienz to Mittersill in Salzburg.

It is also connected by the Drautalbahn railway line from Villach to Innichen and Bruneck/Brunico in South Tyrol.

• 1 Lienz railway station (Linz Hauptbahnhof), Bahnhofplatz. (updated Apr 2021)

Get around

In Lienz, free buses run regularly between the city centre and the ski areas or Lake Tristacher in the winter and summer seasons. Public city buses run outside of the season. However, Lienz is so small that many places can be reached easily on foot.

See

Schloss Bruck

• 1 Schloss Bruck. Bruck Castle was the home and stronghold of the Counts of Gorizia. It dates back to the 12th to 13th centuries. It has an especially extensive collection of works by the locally born painter Albin Egger-Lienz. It houses the city's folklore museum, the castle's cultural-historical exhibition, and the archaeological department of Aguntum and Lavant.  
• Liebburg. Built in the early 17th century as a residency for the lords Wolkenstein-Rodenegg, this well-preserved castle on the main square is used as town hall. 
• 2 Church of St. Andrä (Stadtpfarrkirche St Andrä). This parish church is the oldest church in the city. It was built on the foundations of an early Christian sacred building (probably 6th century, seat of the bishop who had moved from Aguntum/Lavant) in the Romanesque style and was converted into a three-aisled Gothic basilica in the 15th century by the Gorizia workshop. The altars date from the Baroque period, and the tower was only completed in this century.  
• The war memorial, at the parish church of St. Andrä. Erected in 1925 by Clemens Holzmeister, decorated with a four-part picture cycle by Albin Egger-Lienz.
• St. Michael's Church (Benefiziatkirche St. Michael). From the 14th century. It was the burial place of the Lords of Graben, former ministerials of Lienz. 
• St. Mary's Franciscan Church and Monastery. From the 15th century (Görzer Bauhütte). The nave shows a uniform Gothic character, enriched by some beautiful frescoes.
• The Iselturm is a tower with the original city wall, as it surrounded the entire city in the 16th century. The tower was rebuilt, the fresco was painted by Anton Fronthaler. Parts of the city wall can also be found in other places.
• Tyrol's oldest painted wayside shrine at the leper house (from the plague period around 1400).
• The Liebburg was built in the 17th century by the Counts of Wolkenstein as a residence. It was rebuilt in 1988 and is now the town hall of Lienz. In December, its 24 front windows serve as an Advent calendar.
• The Antoniuskirchl (originally a granary) from the 17th century was converted into an Orthodox shrine in memory of the massacre and mass suicide during the deportation of the Lienz Cossacks by the British Army in the first post-war months in the Lienz district of Peggetz. A small memorial and the Cossack cemetery can also be visited there.
• The Marian Column on Johannesplatz was erected after the great fire in 1789 in place of the completely destroyed Johanneskirche (former city church).
• The Rieplerschmiede dates back to the 16th century and, in addition to occasional demonstrations of blacksmithing, also offers space for a life-sized nativity scene in winter.
• 3 Dominican monastery (Dominikanerinnenkloster Lienz). The monastery has existed continuously since 1220 and is one of the oldest buildings in the city. The church has holes in the outer walls of a Romanesque flat ceiling above the Gothic vaults. The frescoes by various artists are remarkable.  

Do

Summer

• Mountain sports: In summer, Lienz offers opportunities for many mountain, hiking and climbing tours as well as other alpine sports such as  paragliding or mountain biking. Some of the rugged peaks of the Lienz Dolomites in the south of the city can only be climbed with climbing equipment. To the north of Lienz lies the Zettersfeld ski area, a popular launch site for paragliders and hang gliders in summer as well as a starting point for long hikes in the Hohe Tauern National Park.
• Cycling: In summer, Lienz is a meeting point for many mostly Italian cycle tourists and is located on the Drau cycle path , which runs from the source of the Drau in Toblach/Dobbiaco in South Tyrol to Maribor/Marburg in Slovenia.
• Swimming: At the foot of the Lienz Dolomites is Lake Tristacher, East Tyrol's only bathing lake.
• With small children: There is a large playground under apple trees in the city park on the right bank of the Isel near the old town.
• The Schlossbergbahn, not far from the old town, takes you to the petting zoo on the Moos-Alm. There is also a forest playground there. The main square itself is traffic-free, so children can easily zoom around on scooters or balance bikes. The fashion store on the main square also has a children's corner with a film. There are toys at Mühlgasse 1.

Winter

• Skiing and snowboarding: In winter, Lienz is visited by many tourists because of the ski areas Zettersfeld and Hochstein. The World Cup ski area Hochstein (women's World Cup races are held every two years) is rather challenging due to the long, steep slopes. Zettersfeld, on the sunny side, is a more family-friendly ski area with easy slopes and is frequented by many snowboarders and trick skiers because of the Sunsitepark snowboard course.
• Ski tours: The snow-covered mountains in the area around Lienz offer the possibility of ski tours.
• Other winter sports: In the area around Lienz there are also three illuminated toboggan runs and several cross-country ski trails in winter.

Eat

The local speciality is East Tyrolean Schlipfkrapfen: dumplings filled with potato filling. They are eaten with melted butter, parmesan and chives and, depending on family customs and philosophy, served with green salad or milk. In addition to Schlipfkrapfen, other types of dumplings can also be found on East Tyrol's menus, such as meat dumplings. Another East Tyrolean speciality is Graukas (grey cheese), a curd product that is eaten with onions and vinegar. It is served with Vintschgerl or Schüttelbrot (both typical Tyrolean bread specialties).

Henkele is also considered a speciality. The smoked, dry beef (venison, chamois or lamb are also used) is similar to Bündnerfleisch or Bresaola and only develops its full flavour when it is thinly sliced.

East Tyrol, with its rural character, produces a lot of regional specialties that also find their way onto menus. Many inns therefore always offer seasonal products.

Sleep

• Hotel Holunderhof, Zettersfeldstraße 36,9905 Gaimberg/Lienz.