UNESCO World Heritage
The Wachau is a 36 km long breakthrough valley of the Danube between Emmersdorf and Melk (in the west) and Stein and Krems (in the east). Stein and Krems do the job of seperating the Dunkelsteinerwald from the Waldviertel. In some places it has even buried itself more than 700 m deep into the foothills of the Bohemian Massif.
After information events for the local population were held, the "Europadiplomgebiet Wachau", extended by the old town of Krems and the Göttweig Abbey, was unanimously submitted as a future world heritage by all Wachau communities. On November 30, 2000 the UNESCO Commission in Cairns decided to add the Wachau to the list of World Heritage Sites.