panorama path, Puch bei Weiz

Circular hiking trail with beautiful viewpoints

There is a special climate in Apfeldorf. The warm days and cool nights are perfect for fruit growing. Only here do apples develop their intense aroma. That is why there are more apple trees around Puch than anywhere else, with three out of four Styrian apples coming from here. Fruit growers refine many of them into juices, cider, and schnapps. The restaurateurs on the Apple Road conjure up special delicacies from the fruit. For example, all vintages of “Abakus” are walled into the church wall, and this fine brandy is only opened after 100 years.

In Elz, the largest apple in the world stands as an archway, and in Harl, the “Cathedral of the Apple,” the large fruit warehouse, can be found. The rich history of fruit growing begins around the Church of St. Oswald with the “Norican girl” holding an apple. The gravestone of Ignaz Weberhofer, Peter Rosegger's forest schoolmaster, is right next door. When the great poet visited him from the rugged “Waldheimat” in the fertile apple country, it was “a journey to paradise” for him.