Night sky
The Gesäuse owes its dark starry sky to its geographical location, because Austria's largest cities Vienna, Graz, Salzburg and Linz are quite far away from the Gesäuse. It lies, so to speak, exactly in the dark middle between these metropolises.
Admittedly, it rains more often in the Gesäuse. The average annual precipitation ranges from 1162 mm in Admont to 1584 mm in Hieflau, but when the sky is clear and cloudless, the stars shine with a clarity that can only be found in very few places in Central Europe. 6000 stars are visible to the naked eye. A look at the light pollution map illustrates the special location of the Gesäuse: www.lightpollutionmap.info.
However, the night is a very sensitive time for wild animals: only then can they move undisturbed in their habitat. For visitors, this means refraining from tours into the area at night. The starry sky in the Gesaeuse is best experienced around the National Park Centre Willow Dome in front of the impressive backdrop of the Hochtor group, in the back Johnsbachtal valley e.g. Kölblwirtor around Buchau alpine pass (parking lot with starting point to Grabneralm), thus easy to reach destinations so as not to disturb the wildlife too much.
The Gesäuse National Park has been offering nighttime photo workshops and dates for "Sternderl-Schauen" (stargazing) for several years. You can find these below.
Further Informations
Here you will find suitable events at which you can experience the special features of the dark sky in the Gesäuse National Park. You can find more about our events in our Calendar.