Schönau im Mühlkreis lies at 635 m above sea level in the Mühlviertel area of Upper Austria.

During the Middle Ages, the town was a stopping point for pilgrims from Poland following the Way of St. James, on their way to Santiago de Compostella in Spain.

The Thirty Years' War and the Second Turkish Siege of Vienna both spared Schönau, which remained relatively untouched.

Until 1848 the community was part of other surrounding entities, including the domaines of Prandegg, Zellhof Castle, Schwertberg and Ruttenstein.

The village released its own emergency currency in 1920, to help lessen the economic hardship of the area, following the end of World War I.

In 1991 the community contained 1823 residents, though according to the 2001 census, only 1818 people were located within the village, representing a 0.3% decrease.

A further 5.4% had completed a Matura (the Austrian equivalent of the Abitur), while 46% had attended an Apprenticeship or berufsbildende mittlere Schule (a kind of vocational training program).

Another 46.6% of all Schönau residents had completed only the minimum level required by the compulsory education laws of Austria.

[7] The town council election of 2009 had a voter turnout of 87.8% and resulted in the following: The mayor of the community is Herbert Haunschmied of the ÖVP.

The community's coat of arms depicts two crossed, black burning branches above a red shell and on a gold field.

The burning branches come from the coat of arms of the previously-prominent Pranter family, which built the nearby Prandegg Castle.

The red shell is a reference to James, son of Zebedee (Jakobus der Ältere), who is the patron saint of the local church.

Though the walls of the nave date to the Romanesque period, the low, squat bell tower was constructed sometime in the 13th or 14th century.

The modern additions are asymmetrically attached to the nave and include the Chancel, the baptistry, sacristy and the new organ loft.