An ice skating rink and a club were established in 1896, according to the St. Leonhard Community Journal. Even then, a square was created together with Ruprechtshofen, which strengthened the friendship between the two neighboring cities. With the help of Mühlbach, a natural ice skating surface was created. In the journal, authors Georg Foley, Anton Hinteregger, Karl Havel, Leopold Krammer, and Josef Gruber are named as founders and organizers. How the place developed is not documented.
The artificial ice skating rink in Ruprechtshofen opened on November 28, 1993 at almost the same location. At that time it was considered for the first time in Melk district. About 15 years ago, due to high electricity charges, the railway had to be temporarily shut down. A little later, in 2009, Joseph Modus, president of the leisure group, took over the ice skating rink and looked after a new, more cost-effective machine. Since then, protection against strong winds has been built and “we've bought more elves for our little ones,” says the groundskeeper. Since this year, our own PV system has also provided a solution.
Drinks, snacks and sweets are provided for ice skating enthusiasts. “There are only two groundskeepers,” reports Modus, one of the two. Their work begins in November with machine maintenance, repairs and construction until the square opens to visitors for the first time in early December. They travel from St. Bolton to Gaming to do a few laps on the approximately 1,000 m² ice rink in Leonhofen. The area can also be used for seven curling rings. On December 29th there will be an internal Stockplatten for a good reason. Proceeds benefit the elementary school. “There will be two ice discos again this year,” reports Motusz. To mark the anniversary, an ice disco will be held the following day on December 30. It is sponsored by Volksbank. The next disco will be on January 13 in the new year, this time from Raiffeisenbank. Also, an ice hockey tournament will be held on January 20 and a recreational curling tournament on February 10.
