The 168-step aluminium-clad staircase was commissioned as part of a project to mark sites along the European Green belt. The structure curls back on itself at the top, forming a double spiral so that visitors on the way up pass those on the way down. It's entirely steel jointed with aliuminium-clad stair balustrades and bevelled aluminium boards, simultaneously contrasting and reflecting the dense forest around.
Architects Klaus K. Loenhart and Christoph Mayr took inspiration from a design of castle from 1499 by Fredrich III of Hapsburg. They felt that the journey and experience of climbing the stairs to the top of the observation tower is as important and valuable as the achievement and satisfaction of reaching the pinnacle.
The tower was originally commissioned by the German nature & biodiversity conservation union, but the stair has become something of a pilgrimage for local architecture enthusiasts and a real landmark for Styria. Beatrice Galilee
