Some places appear in literature long before they show up on tourist maps. Pöchlarn is one of them: under the name of Bechelaren, the small Danube town appears in the Nibelungenlied, the medieval German epic, as the fief of Margrave Rüdiger, generous host to the heroes on their way to their fate. Riverboats sailing down the Austrian Danube stop here in the Nibelungengau, the section of the valley that precedes the Wachau and its terraced vineyards.

A stop on a human scale

The landing stage opens almost directly onto the centre, and that is one of the place's charms: no shuttles, no waiting; you step ashore and the visit begins. Pöchlarn is organized around its main square and its parish church, in a web of lanes where pastel Baroque façades alternate with carefully maintained townhouses. An hour is enough to see it all; it is afterward that the port call reveals its two real reasons for being.

Oskar Kokoschka's birthplace

On March 1, 1886, one of the great names of European Expressionism was born here. Oskar Kokoschka, a portraitist with a feverish touch, playwright and tireless traveller, gave his hometown the chance for a remarkable museum: his birthplace, transformed into a documentation centre. You follow his career through works, documents and photographs, and temporary exhibitions set his legacy alongside the work of his most notable students. For a town this size, receiving such a collection is a privilege, and the visit can be savoured without the crowds of Vienna's major museums.

On the trail of the Nibelungs

Near the river, a memorial recalls that the epic partly took place here, at least in the imagination of the anonymous 13th-century poet. The text describes Bechelaren as a hospitable court where the Burgundians stop along the way; local scholars like to point out that the tradition of hospitality has endured. Every year in June, the solstice festival brings residents together by the water, with music, fireworks and generous tables, right beside the monument.

The Danube as a common thread

The riverside promenade invites you to walk for a while along the current, facing the wooded hills of the opposite bank. Upstream awaits Melk and the golden vessel of its Benedictine abbey, downstream open the orchards and vineyards of the Wachau: Pöchlarn occupies the intermission between two famous settings, and this discreet role suits it well. Cyclists on the Danube bike path, which runs through town, gladly stop here for a coffee on a terrace; boat passengers enjoy exactly the same pleasure, without the kilometres of pedalling.

Austrian sweets

The bakeries and cafés downtown serve the best of provincial Austria: still-warm apple strudel, cream cakes and Melange coffee served on a silver tray. A pastry enjoyed facing the Danube ranks among the simple pleasures of river cruising, and this stop lends itself to it wholeheartedly.

Picking up the river's thread

It takes only a few hours to get to know Pöchlarn, and that is precisely its strength: the port call leaves you feeling you have seen everything without rushing. When the boat continues on toward the more famous landscapes of the Wachau, you take with you the memory of a master painter born in a quiet house, and that of a warlike epic that chose, for the space of a canto, to celebrate hospitality. Few towns can say as much in so few streets.