About the City
The capital of Austria, Vienna is a city of music, writers, philosophy, cafes, imperial architecture and extravagance. It consistently tops lists for quality of life and boasts many internationally renowned attractions. It’s also a city brimming with history, once the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and before that, the Austrian Empire, for centuries being the home of Habsburgs. Away from the major attractions there are little explored museums, intriguing reminders of a dark past and the incredibly odd.
The city is famed for its food scene, and notably its cafes, so we’ve written special guides to the food scene here and the cafés here.
Brief History of the City
Vienna has a long history spanning from 500 BC, originally a Celtic settlement by the Danube. By 15 BC, it was brought into the Roman fold on the border with the Germanic tribes to the north. After the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of the Holy Roman Empire, it became the capital of the Duchy of Austria, before becoming the defacto capital of the Holy Roman Empire until 1806. During this time, it was at the forefront of the arts, science, cuisine and music, having a colossal impact on the development of Europe as a whole.
War has never been a stranger to the city, twice being the turning point in the fight against Ottoman expansion and fighting intensely during the Napoleonic Wars that eventually brought an end to the Holy Roman Empire and the start of the Austrian Empire. Vienna continued to grow and in 1867, it remained the capital of a new Austro-Hungarian Empire that witnessed great artists like Klimt and musicians like Richard Strauss. The empire expanded and Vienna with it, becoming a hotbed of new ideas, and in 1913 alone Adolf Hitler, Leon Trotsky, Joseph Tito, Sigmund Freud and Joseph Stalin all lived within a few miles of each other in central Vienna.
In 1914, the city and the Austro-Hungarian Empire were plunged into the First World War that saw the breakup of the empire, colossal suffering in the city, and political unrest that saw unification with Germany in 1938 and then the Second World War. The city was damaged massively during the Vienna Offensive of 1945, when it fell to the Allies, being divided into zones between the Soviets, Americans, British and French much like Berlin and Germany were. This, interestingly, was the period when The Third Man was made. In the 1950s, Austria declared its neutrality in the Cold War, with Vienna developing as the capital city of a new, independent Austrian state.
What to Do in Vienna
Aside from the aforementioned food culture, Vienna is a great place to explore for the atmosphere of the place in general: a mix of the opulent, bizarre and dark with the sound of horses clopping around its very tidy streets.
Opulent
Be sure to visit the Hofburg, the former imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty and today the official residence and workplace of the President of Austria. The grounds are beautiful to walk through, with museums and places to visit like the Schmetterlinghaus (a butterfly house that’s expensive for what it is, it’s nice to just see from the outside), the Spanish Riding School, the Albertina and the stables. Very reasonably priced museums are the Esperanto Museum and the Globe Museum, which are two for the price of one not far from Hofburg, celebrating the international language of Esperanto and the history of globes in stunning Baroque surroundings, including globes prior to Columbus.
Not too far from the Hofburg is the Museumsquartier, filled with interesting museums and art galleries like the Leopald Museum and National History Museum. These are quite pricy, and the area is just pleasant to explore in general. If you want a great view, head to the Ministry of Justice building for the Justizcafe and enjoy the free-to-visit terrace overlooking the city centre.
Vienna is also famous for its grand churches, most notably St Stephen’s Cathedral in the city centre – a large, gothic cathedral and a symbol of the city. There are many other notable churches, including the beautiful Votive Church, Karlskirche with its incredible Trajan’s column inspired obelisks, St Michael’s Church near the Hofburg with ancient murals and the Jesuit Church – be sure to take a look at the roof, with a dome painted on top.
Venture away from the Hofburg in the centre and you’ll find that Vienna has a whole host of palaces to reflect its opulent past. The Belvedere, for example, features two palaces facing each other with an enormous palatial garden between them. The Schonnburn palace is another must visit, being the winter palace of the Habsburgs and a former hunting grounds for the royal family, with great views over the city, beautiful gardens, incredible architecture and even the world’s longest running zoo – having opened in the 18th century.
Other grand places of interest include the Secession Building, built as a base for the Austrian Secession artists including Klimt, the Rathaus (Vienna City Hall) and the many cafes. Of course, watching an opera at the Vienna State Opera or watching a performance at the Burgtheater are very popular attractions in the city, even just visiting the buildings gives you a sense of the city’s majesty.
Unusual
With such a history of art and culture in the city it’s no surprise that it has its fair share of unusual attractions, most notable perhaps being the Prater amusement park and its renowned Giant Ferris Wheel, built in 1897 and standing at 65 metres tall. The park contains a wide range of rides, a surprising adrenaline rush in the city centre. Also in the park, keep your eyes peeled for the micronation of the Republic of Kugelmugel, which declared independence in 1976, after disputes between artist Edwin Lipburger and Austrian authorities over building permits for a ball-shaped house. It officially has 650 non-resident citizens.
Also worth a visit is the unique Hundertwasserhaus, an apartment built inspired by a concept developed by the Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. Similar Hundertwasser designs can be seen throughout the city, such as the Kunst Haus and Spittelau waste incineration plant. Gasometer Town is a similar architectural marvel, featuring apartment complexes built into huge repurposed natural gas tanks. When visiting Hundertwasserhaus, also pay a visit to the Museum of Art Fakes – an incredibly interesting small museum cum art gallery dedicated to the most fascinating art frauds in history.
Keep an eye out near the Jesuit Church for a mural of a cow playing backgammon, dating back to the middle ages, as well as the Ankhor Ruhr clock and the so-called Devil’s Tree near St Stephen’s Cathedral, a tree covered in nails that is supposedly from the forest that was originally in the area.
Dark
Considering Vienna’s history, it’s no surprise that there are quite a few mementoes of its dark past, often right under your nose. A good example is the vast crypt in St Stephen’s Cathedral, which holds the skeletal remains of some 11,000 people dating back to a plague in 1735, not to mention the intestines of royalty like Maria Theresa. It can only be accessed via tour, but is something for the dark tourists among us.
The Hapsburg Royal Crypt is also something of a dark tourism destination, home to the incredibly intricate sarcophagi of the Hapsburgs. For a small price, you can wander the crypt and marvel at the tombs of Maria Teresa, not to mention Franz Joseph II (emperor during the outbreak of the First World War) and the last ever Hapsburg, Karl, who died in 1922. This seems to still be something of a pilgrimage spot for Austrian royalists. Note a memorial to Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose assassination sparked the First World War. Another memento of the First World War is the Nail Man near Rathaus, a wooden knight that locals would hammer nails into in an effort to raise money for the city’s many war orphans and widows.
If you wander throughout Vienna, such as to Augarten, you can still see flak towers built by the Nazis to defend Vienna during the Second World War. Some of these have been repurposed, but others are crumbling reminders of a time when Europe was divided. Also keep an eye out for the Soviet War Memorial, dedicated to the Red Army soldiers who fought against the Nazis in the city, one of the few reminders of that period.
For those with an exceptionally strong stomach, pay a visit to the Criminal Museum, which holds dark reminders of the city’s past, such as murder weapons, early photos of crime scenes and even executed criminals’ heads. Lastly, keep an eye out for the Bathory House opposite the Augustinian Monastery in the city centre, once home to one of the most notorious serial killers of all time, whose crimes were so noticeable the monks opposite pelted pottery at her house to get her to be quiet.
In short, Vienna is a unique mix of class and imperial opulence that holds very surprising discoveries if you scratch a little below the surface.
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