Piber, Austria

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Renaissance castle and headquarters for the Lipizzaner Stud at Piber The spire belongs to a Romanesque parish church which is actually behind the castle known to be in existance in 1066 and once home to Benedictine Monks.

I heartily recommend the drive from Vienna south to Piber. It is quick, scenic and easy to navigate. Piber proved to be what I think of as the quintessential Austria. The Sound of Music and the von Trapp family instantly leap into mind. We were overwhelmed by the urge to yodel!

We arrived in Piber in the late afternoon, just in time to see the mares and young stock brought inside for the night. One lipizzaner was being exercised (loose, no equipment) in an outdoor arena. Our gasthof was located immediately beside the Stud and provided an excellent view of the headquarters, pastures, schooling areas and stabling. It is part of the picture on page 39 in Hans Handler's 1972 book, The Spanish Riding School: Four Centuries of Classic Horsemanship.

We were virtually the only tourists at the stud that afternoon, even though the weather was excellent which made the visit all the more enjoyable and personal for me. There were no organized tours available, perhaps explaining the lack of tourists, but I didn't feel that was a problem as I saw everything I needed to or certainly enough to make the visit worthwhile.

The mares travelled very calmly (at a walk) via a public cobblestone road to reach their stable from the pastures. The men had to work quite hard to convince the herd to come in. These horses apparently spend their nights remaining in a community situation. They were lead to a large open area in the stable as opposed to individual stalls or boxes. All of the men working with the horses were uniformed.

One of the young Lipizzaners is a coppery brown. I think, an unusual colour for the Lipizzaners today. Most are born dark and turn white as they age but I wonder if this brown one will do the same. If it is a male, perhaps we will see it performing at the School in Vienna someday.

From Piber, we drove through the Austrian Alps and into southern-Germany and Bavaria. The drive was SUPERB even though it was raining (and snowing depending on the our altitude). Austria is a stunningly beautiful country. We spent a couple of days visiting the palaces and castles in Bavaria and then continued on to Karlsruhe, Germany, the home of Reitinstitut E. von Neindorff, via the Romantic Road .....

Skip von Neindorff and go straight to England
or


Return to the Spanish Riding School in Vienna
(virtually, anyway)

created November 14, 1999 by Barbara Dodington-Huis