Following melodies, lookouts, and rare plants

Itinerary

• From the bus stop, head southwest on the K▲ trail, passing the Altdörfer Viktor memorial, the Dalos stone, and the hunting museum.
• At the Károly lookout, we reach the Z▲ trail, which we follow to the Sörházdombi lookout.
• From the lookout, we return to the intersection of the Z▲ and Z+ trails and turn right onto the latter.
• Turning onto the Z trail, we reach the Erzsébet Garden.

Detailed tour description

Up to Károly Hill

From the bus stop, head southwest on the K▲ trail alongside the Hotel Lövér fence. At the second intersection, turn left and begin to climb a slope through mixed forest. We cross the ski slope route and soon arrive at the memorial plaque dedicated in 1941 to Viktor Altdörfer (1860–1940), pianist, erected by his grateful students. He was the former organist and cantor of the Evangelical congregation, having studied at the Sopron Evangelical Lyceum and the Vienna Conservatory. His musical teacher was his father. Despite his successes, he was a modest artist whose knowledge was highly respected during his lifetime. From the benches of the Dalos Hill lodge next to the memorial, there is a view over Sopron and Lake Fertő.

Continuing uphill on the K▲ trail, we reach a cart road where we turn right and shortly see three benches at the roadside. Emerging among the trees is the Dalos stone, erected in 1864. Its marble plaque was donated by the Frohsinn choir from Vienna, and the limestone block was provided by the Sopron Dalfűzér association. The monument commemorates the first Sopron choir meeting held on July 28–29, 1863, attended by 586 singers according to the official list. The event has since been a great tradition in the city.

Continuing, we cross the ski slope again, with a close view of the Dalos Hill TV tower ahead and Lake Fertő visible in the distance in the other direction. From here, after a 400 m gently ascending straight path lined with redwood trees, we reach the 20.6 m high Károly Lookout.

The Károly Lookout and its surroundings

This building, next to the fire tower, has become the second symbol of Sopron and the most visited attraction in the Sopron Park Forest. In 1876, a wooden lookout stood here, built at the expense of Romwalter Károly, a local printer and publisher, on the 398 m high Váris Hill, later donated to the Sopron Beautification Association, of which he was a board member. The hill was renamed Károly Hill in his honor. As the tower deteriorated rapidly, in 1896, on the proposal of Dr. Printz Ferenc, president of the Beautification Association and deputy mayor, a competition was announced for the design of a new stone lookout. Unfortunately, due to the collapse of Építőbank, an important bank in Sopron’s economy, the winning plan could not be realized. Therefore, in 1902, the association built a new wooden lookout. The current stone lookout was only funded in 1933. Among 50 applicants, architect Oszkár Winkler’s design was chosen, and the contractor was Oszkár Füredi. The tower was ceremoniously inaugurated on June 14, 1936. After 1945, it was handed over to the city government and only in 1996 returned to the Sopron Beautification Association, which entrusted its care to the Tanulmányi Forestry Management.

The first floor houses a permanent exhibition known as the “Botanical Shrine,” presenting the works of Pál Kitaibel (1757–1817), Endre Gombocz (1882–1945), and Zoltán Kárpáti (1909–1972), while the second-floor room features the work of Gyula Roth (1873–1961) and István Csapody (1930–2002).

From the two-level rooftop terrace facing northeast, there are views over Sopron and Lake Fertő; in the distance, Bratislava Castle is also visible. To the southeast, Harkai Peak, Kópháza, and Nagycenk are seen. On clear days, one can also admire the Pannonhalma Abbey. To the west and south, the ranges of the Sopron Mountains rise. On clear days, the snowy masses of Rax and Schneeberg can be seen.

Memorial columns surround the lookout, honoring architect Oszkár Winkler, forest engineer and botanist Zoltán Kárpáti, forest engineer Gyula Roth, forest engineer and botanist István Csapody, as well as forest engineer and plant breeder Elemér Barabits. A few meters from here is the Kőhalmy Hunting Museum, opened in 2016 in memory of forest engineer and internationally renowned wildlife biologist Professor Tamás Kőhalmy, along with a forest buffet and an adventure playground. Opposite the lookout is the Endre Gombocz Nature House, welcoming visitors.

Descent to Erzsébet Garden

At the lookout, we switch to the Z▲ trail and start a slow descent through winding paths. At a bench, we turn right and again get a narrow view of the city. After a short steep section, the path flattens and reaches the asphalt road in Brennberg, where we find a memorial to former president Károly Heimler of the Sopron Beautification Association on the left, with a resting place. Crossing the road and after 300 m, we reach the Sörházdombi Lookout.

On Lövér’s 298 m high Sörház Hill, formerly Tulipán Hill, there was a gloriette in 1900, followed by a triangulation tower built in 1939, which collapsed during World War II. In 1970, a new 16.5 m high lookout was built based on plans by Antal Rosenstingl but had to be demolished in the early 1980s. The current architecturally unique tower made of glued laminated timber and screwed wooden structure was erected in 2006 by the city and Tanulmányi Erdőgazdaság Zrt. according to the designs of Péter Szabó and colleagues. Being the closest lookout to the city, it is a very popular hiking destination. Climbing the stairs offers panoramic views of Sopron, Lake Fertő, and the forested slopes of the Sopron Mountains, with views of the Schneeberg and Rax ranges and even wind turbines around Bratislava and Vienna on clear days. Benches and tables next to the building make resting more pleasant.

We return to the intersection of the Z▲ and Z+ trails and turn right onto the latter. After half a kilometer through mixed forest, we reach the houses of Sopron and the Z trail, which we follow to Erzsébet Garden. Originally a private estate in the early 18th century, it was purchased by the city of Sopron in 1763 at auction from the family of the late General Preysing for 6010 Forints, becoming one of the first public parks in Hungary, then called Neuhof. Poet Sándor Petőfi also enjoyed visiting during his military service in 1841. The originally French-style garden began transforming into an English park from 1846, incorporating the gallery forest zone of Rák creek and planting horse chestnut trees. They built a greenhouse for cultivating annual flowers and a music pavilion, introduced the Deák well water, and a small chapel further adorned the then popular Neuhof. Since 1898, after Queen Elisabeth's death, it has been called Erzsébet Garden. Bombings in 1944–45 almost completely destroyed the park. The area has since been revived with several exotic plants, including a huge California sequoia, one of the first specimens introduced to Hungary.

The bus stop marking the tour’s end is located in front of the park.