Leopoldsberg

The Leopoldsberg (Austrian German pronunciation: [ˈleːopɔldsˌbɛrɡ] ⓘ; 425 metres [1,394 ft]) is perhaps Vienna’s most famous hill, towering over the Danube and the city.

Construction of the Leopoldsberg church, dedicated to Saint Leopold, began in 1679; an expansion following a design by Antonio Beduzzi was undertaken 1718–30.

Across the square from the church, on what used to be a tower of the fortification system, a memorial to those Austrians who returned home from captivity after World War II was created in 1948.

Unlike most of the mountains of the flysch zone (Upper Cretaceous and Tertiary periods), the Leopoldsberg has steep slopes due to the erosive power of the river Danube on one side and of a small creek on the other.

It belonged to the Celtic kingdom of Noricum, but the Emperor Augustus (through his general Tiberius) added the oppidum to Pannonia, which became a formal province during the second half of the reign of Claudius (41-54 BC).