Laa an der Thaya: Location and Significance
Laa an der Thaya is a little town in northern Lower Austria. It’s located about 80 kilometers north of Vienna, directly on the Czech border. It’s location on a borderline without any traffic has coined the area for decades after World War II. It is the main reason for its loss of importance. Before the war Laa had been an important trading point.
Three medieval sights point at the old history of the town: the castle, the Catholic church and the remains of the city walls, Generally one can say that the town kept its appearance in the center (so it looks almost the same as 100 years ago) and that it still offers a high living-quality to its inhabitants. Due to its many schools the town remains an important point on the map. Still it is Laa that has the only high school in the area, but other towns – particularly Mistelbach have grown much faster in the last decades and also catch up regarding their school system.
City Center (photos: privately owned)
The old and round shape of the town shows that it always has been a town though. Other towns of the area, which are big today, have kept their old and long shape. That’s one of the big advantages for pedestrians in Laa: You can get real easy from one side of the town to the other.
Today Laa lies again in the center of Europe. The newest spa in Austria has made the town rather well known in the last years. Several thousand visitors came there every year.
