Half a dozen times each day, the 827 bus leaves Stockerau in the Danube Valley and makes the half-hour journey north to Großmugl, a village which takes its name from an ancient and unusually large burial mound located there. In daylight hours, it is this remarkable piece of prehistoric archaeology which pulls the visitors.

By night, it’s something very different which draws outsiders to this community of 1,500 people in Austria’s Weinviertel. Although Vienna is just 30 kilometres away to the south-east, the rural area around Großmugl is sparsely populated and has little industry. It is the region’s dark skies which have put Großmugl on the map of stargazers. The village’s Sternenweg (star walk) opened four years ago and on clear nights attracts visitors from Vienna and much further afield.