Lonely Planet describes Vienna as a city without cultural equal, a city where monumental imperial heritage, glorious operas and moving classical music walk the streets like living entities, and I would have to say that I agree totally. Even in just a short visit as we had, the rich cultural history of Vienna cannot help but hit you and as you walk around the city your neck is aching from looking up at the magnificent buildings or you are in a debate about which performance to attend that night or great restaurant to eat at.
While the weather was very cold (-3 to -10 C) we were lucky to have clear, blue skies for the majority of the visit. Particularly on the day we walked around the Ring, when photography was at its most vigorous, the weather was very good to us.
We began our Viennese holiday with a walk into the Innere Stadt, or the old section of the city. I will describe in more detail what you see on the way into the Innere Stadt later, and once there you are in a labyrinth of cobblestone streets lined with modern shops, bars and restaurants. The very inner part of the old town is taken up with the Stephansdom, or St Stephens Cathedral. This cathedral was built on the remains of a 12th century church, and the remains of this church were incorporated into the structure. The church was re-created in gothic style at the behest of Habsburg Duke Rudolf in 1359. It has a number of towers the south tower is 136.7m high and was completed in 75 years in 1433. Inside, the highlights include the stone pulpit finished in 1515, and there are some photos of the stone faces of the four fathers of the church in the photo section. The baroque high altar, finished in 1447 is also worth a look.
Stephansdom probably doesnt compare with Notre Dame in Paris, Cologne Cathedral or St Peters in Rome (photos of all available on this website ), but it is worth a visit and another example of just how powerful the church was in the Middle Ages.
Our first evening we had a meal at the Griechenbeisl, which has been around as an eatery and a bar since 1447. It is said that Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms ate there, and with such illustrious company, who were we to turn it up. We had some very traditional food Sherry had a schnitzel that fell off both sides of her plate, while I sampled venison with black berry sauce and dumplings. Both washed down with local beer and red wine. Ahh, we knew we were back in civilisation.
The Graben is one of the main streets in the Innere Stadt, and it was still brightly lit with Christmas lights. It started life as a protective ditch for the Roman encampment, and is now a pedestrianised shopping street. The Plague Column, located on the Graben, was erected in 1692 to commemorate the end of the plague.
The next morning the plan was to follow the Ringstrasse, or Ring as it is known. The Ring is a wide, tree lined boulevard encircling much of the Innere Stadt and follows the line of the old city walls. Its also where you can find one momentous piece of architecture after another.
Emperor Franz Josef I was responsible for most of the work on the Ring, as in 1857 he had the old city walls torn down and between 1858 and 1865 he planned out what was to be built around the Ring. He never fully realised his plans as WW1 intervened and was the end of the monarchy, but was is there is still amazing.
The first series of buildings we came to was the Natural History Museum, and its twin, the Museum of Art History, which flank Maria Thereseien Platz. Both were built between 1872-1891, and house precious natural history and art treasures respectively. The Art History museum is said to be one of the finest museums in Europe, if not the world, and unfortunately we did not have time to visit either of these museums.
The square that the museums sit on, Maria Thereseien Platz, is named after Maria Theresia, who ruled from 1740-1780. She came to power as her father, Emperor Karl V, had produced no male heirs, so he changed the rules to let his daughter rule the Empire. She fought off would-be rulers in the Wars of Austrian Succession (1740-48) and the Seven Years War (1756-63) and is now regarded as the greatest of all Austrian rulers. She centralised control of the government, reformed the army and the economy, introduced public schools, improved civil rights and numbered houses. Under Maria Theresia and her son, Joseph II the conditions were such in Vienna that a blossoming musical scene was allowed to flourish, and musicians such as Gluck, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert lived and worked there.
After leaving the museums and Maria Thereseien Platz, we crossed the Ring to the Hofburg. This is the Imperial Palace of the Habsburgs, and represents six hundred years of imperial rule (1279 to 1918). Each new emperor wanted to outdo the one before him, so the Hofburg is a mixture of styles and grand ideas. We did not have time to enter the Hofburg, but the pictures from the outside should give an indication of the nature of the building. It now houses the Austrian president and a mix of museums.
Passing through the Hofburg, we came out onto Michaelereplatz, a square ringed with grand sights and centered on Roman ruins uncovered while digging a line for the underground, and now excavated for all to see. There are two unusual types of statues surrounding the Michaelereplatz the ones showing Hercules in various acts of maiming some animal or person, and the very emotive statues depicting the Power of the Land and the Power of the Sea.
Facing onto the square is the Michaelerkirche, which is the oldest building still standing on the square. It dates from the 13th century. It too has some quite violent statues on top, with angels in various acts of killing (presumably) Gods enemies. The tower is quite pretty and made for some very nice photos.
We followed the streets of the Innere Stadt, passing the National Library (once the Imperial Library) with 200,000 volumes arranged in the Prunksaal (or Grand Hall). Of course, I would have liked to have seen it, but again time was against us. The next building was the Albertina, an extension of the Hofburg which is now home to the greatest collection of graphic art in the world. It has 1 ½ million prints and 50,000 drawings, including 145 Durer, 43 Raphael, 70 Rembrandt and 150 Schiele (if any of that means anything to you, youll know thats impressive!). From the Albertina we walked through a very nice park called the Burggarten, complete with frozen pond and statue of Mozart.
Once back onto the Ring, we passed the Parlament building, with its neoclassical façade and Greek pillars, designed in 1883. Grecian architecture was chosen, as Greece is the home of democracy.
Next was the Rathaus, or City Hall, is one of the most striking buildings on the Ring. It was completed in 1883. Its main spire is 102m high and has some wonderful statues and reliefs on the outside. We wandered through several courtyards and found the Ratskeller, a restaurant in the cellar of the Rathaus. We had lunch here, and the room was very atmospheric, with frescoes dating back to the 16th century showing scenes of Viennese life all over the walls and ceiling. I had possibly the best bacon and potato soup I have ever had there, and Sherry tried another monster schnitzel, washed down of course with red wine and beer.
As the afternoon wore on (it was getting dark around 4pm), we left the ring and headed to the Stephansdom which I have already described. As the sun set over Vienna, we headed back to our hotel.
That night, we attended a Mozart concert at the Orangerie of Schloss Schonbrunn, or Schonbrunn Palace, a palace about 14km from the centre of Vienna. More will follow regarding the palace, as we spent a whole day there.
The Orangerie is where they used to grow a range of citrus trees and other plants year round, as they could regulate the temperature and humidity. The concert was wonderful with a variety of Mozart works.
The next day we were out to the palace for a good look around. Schloss Schonbrunn. Originally built as a pleasure palace in 1637, it was razed by the Turks during their siege of Vienna in 1683. It was rebuilt as a summer palace to rival Versailles and was completed in 1700. In 1740, Maria Theresia chose Schonbrunn rather than the Hofburg as the site of her court, and from 1744 to 1749 the palace was fitted out to meet the needs of the imperial court. Napoleon also resided in the palace during his visits 1805-1809 and the palace was the place where the last Hapsburg, Karl I, abdicated in 1918. It suffered damage during WW2 and was restored commencing in 1955.
We took a grand tour which allowed us to see 40 of the 2000 rooms of the palace. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos inside during the tour. We got to see the private rooms of Franz Josef and his wife Elizabeth, the Hall of Mirrors where Mozart played his first concert aged six, and the Great Gallery complete with gilded scrolls, ceiling frescoes and huge crystal mirrors.
In the gardens, we were able to stroll about as much as the snow and icy paths would allow us. The gardens were arranged between 1750 and 1755 in a grid and star shaped pattern. The impressive Neptune fountain was completed in 1781 and the Gloriette, commemorating the Austrian empire, in 1775. The Gloriette sits high on a hill overlooking Vienna, and the views back down onto the palace and over the city were worth the (sometimes) tricky walk up along the snow covered and icy paths.
Our final night was spent at another Mozart and Haydn concert, this time in wonderfully atmospheric conditions in the vault at the oldest concert hall in Vienna. Mozart lived and worked here in 1781.
The hall is called the Sala Terrana and is situated on the ground floor next to the church and sacristy. The vault was painted in late renaissance style in the late eighteenth century (1764-1786). The scenes are of baroque sensuality with floral scenes and animals accompanying pan and his seduction of beautiful women. Today the Sala Terrana and the church is used by the Teutonic Order, and the vault for musical performances.
The next day the weather turned for the worse, with snow flurries and cold rain. We did get out to see the Russian monument to the liberators of Vienna in WW2, and the Karlskirche, or Church of St Charles Borromeo. This church was built between 1716 and 1739, after the 1713 plague was finished. It combines several architectural styles, including baroque, roman columns in the style of the Trajan columns in Rome, and the 72m tall dome.
Overall, Vienna was a great city which hopefully one day we will get back to. There are many places we did not get to visit or see from the inside, but are well worth a second visit.
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