17-Mar-2001 -- It began began with a tiny little notice in a German computer magazine about the "degree confluence project". My first thoughts were: what a crazy idea! But I couldn't get it out of my mind. I checked the website and found out that there was a confluence not yet visited in the region of Austria where I was born - the "Wood Quarter". That confluence point is located in the most northern part of Austria, directly at the border to the Czech Republic.
I told my family about it. They were skeptical at first but agreed to come with me. My next problem was that I had no GPS! I asked a friend of mine, Mario, who owns one. He was a little bit - lets say - astonished, but finally I convinced him and his girlfriend Regina to support our "expedition".
On March 17th, 2001, a sunny Saturday morning, we started our expedition from Vienna, the
capital of Austria, 140 km south-east of the confluence. The further we came, the worse and worse the weather got. The sun had disappeared, the sky was clouded and when we arrived at
Litschau, 7 km linear distance form the confluence, it was even foggy.
We took a little street to the village of Kainraths, continuing on to a place called
Josefsthal (picture 2) and from there we went in direction to Haugschlag. After 1.5 km we
turned left on a little road and after approx. 100 meters we stopped and left the car. We
took the GPS and began to search our way through the forest. It was a little bit tricky
because the rays of the GPS-satellites were shielded by the trees (almost completely). Again
and again we saw the for this region typical granite stones (picture 3). They were lying
there in all shapes and sizes. Finally we reached the confluence (picture 4). It is actually
located at an area in the middle of the forest called "Rottaler Forst". Looking west
(picture 1) the Czech Republic's border is just a few meters away. In case you are standing
on the banks of the little lake called "Stankauer Teich" you might have missed already one
of the signs announcing the border! So be careful when walking here.
After searching the area to find the exact position, I finally had a chance to take a photo
of our crew (picture 5). My little daughter, Julia, even put up a sign indicating our position.
The panoramic photo was made exactly from the confluence. It was a little bit dark there in
the forest, therefore it is not as sharp as it could have been otherwise. But I think it
gives a quite good impression of that place in the most northern part of Austria's "Wood
Quarter".