Vienna Things to Do Tips by margaretvn

Visit the Figaro House where Mozart lived.W.A. Mozart and his family lived in a flat on the first floor of what is now known as the Figarohaus between 1784 and 1787.
It is said that he was the happiest here, he lived in 11 different houses in Vienna. It was here he composed the Marriage of Figaro, the Haydn quartets and some piano concerti. The museum is quite bare really because Mozart of course died impoverished. There are a few prints, a few documents and photocopies of scores.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg in 1756. His father was Vice Kapellmeister to the Prince Archbishop of Salzburg. Mozart showed exceptional talent even qwhen very young - he played the klavier at the age of 3 and was composing at the age of 5. He had a elder sister who was also very talented and their father took the children to various European courts. They first visited Vienna in 1762. Then in 1763 the family took a longer trip - visiting cities such as Munich, Augsburg, Frankfurt,Brussels, Paris.
Mozart and his patron the Archbishop did not get on well and this resulted in Mozart resigning his post. Mozart went to Vienna and married Constanza Weber in 1782. During the last 9 years of his life were a mixture of money problems and wonderful music. He died on the 5th of December and the circumstances of his death gave rise to many sensational stories but none of them have been proved.
Emperor Joseph II had given orders for people to be buried in mass graves and using "reuseable" coffins This order was only used for 2 years and unfortunately covered the time Mozart died, so we cannot be certain exactly which grave Mozart was buried in.

Leave a Comment

Address: Domgasse 5

This is a quiet street built on to the original bastion of the city walls and it has some lovely 18th century houses on it. The Emperor Franz Joseph nearly met his death on the bastion in 1853 when a tailor attempted to assassinate him. The Beethoven house there is called the Pasqualati House, it is a small but very interesting museum.

Leave a Comment

Address: Sights of Mozart,Beethoven,Strauss...
Directions: U-bahn Schottentor

This is one of 30 houses where Ludwig van Beethoven lived in Vienna. The house is named after its original owner Baron Johann von Pasqualati. Beethoven lived in the house and two different numbers between 1804 and 1808 and between 1810 and 1815. it was here he composed the symphonies 4,5,7,and 8 and the opera Fidelio, the piano Concerto no. 4 and string quartets. The rooms he lived in on the 4th floor are now a museum containing such things as a lock of Beethoven’s hair (I would love that), a photo of the original grave site in Währing, an engraving of his deathbed and early editions of his scores. There are also paintings and busts of the composer and his patron Prince Rasumofsky. It really is a wonderful museum.

Leave a Comment

Address: Molker-Bastei 8

Go and see the statue of my favourite composer Beethoven. It is a geat place to sit and relax afte a bout of sightseeing.
It is just so lovely and for once the designer as managed to get the face of the composer right. So often statues etc of him do not manage to get his features correct.

Leave a Comment

Address: Lothringerstrasse

This is where there are a couple of houses where the composer Beethoven lived for some time. Probably the most important time, and certainly a very tragic and deeply unhappy time in his life was in 1802 when he was there and wrote "The Heiligenstadt Testament". Beethoven was then staying Probusgasse number 6, which is now known as the Heiligenstadt testament House. He was in Heiligenstadt in an attempt to cure his increasing deafness (which he had told no-one about), he wrote a long and despairing letter to his brothers giving a very moving account of his problem. Who could not be moved by the words "O ye men who think or say that I am malevolent, stubborn or misanthropic, how greatly do ye wrong me, you do not know the secret causes of my seeming, from childhood my feelings of good will, I was even ever eager to accomplish great deeds, but reflect now that for six years I have been a hopeless case, aggravated by senseless physician's Oh how harshly was I repulsed by the doubly sad experience of my bad hearing, and yet it was impossible for me to say to men speak louder, shout, for I am deaf." The letter is to for his brothers Carl and Johann. Further along the Probusgasse is house number 26 where Beethoven stayed twice - during the summer of 1817 and in 1824.
The entrance to the museumis low so mind your head going in if you are tall. Koos IS tall and began his first visit with a bump on his head. On our first visit the curator was a little old lady who seemed to know everything about Beethoven, unfortunately she was not there on our last visit, but we remember just how friendly and helpful she was.
Not far from the Heiligenstadt House on Beethoven Ruhe is a beautiful statue of the man himself built in 1863. Behind the statue is a lovely park to wander through.
My copied drawing on the introduction to this is at Heiligenstadt.

Leave a Comment

Other Contact: Open Tuesday – Sunday 9.00 – 12.

Visit the Eroica House where Beethoven wrote the Eroica symphony. It is a small museum but if you like Beethovens music it is worth visiting. There is a the plaque on the house. The interesting houses and museums all have the flag on them, which makes them easy to recognise.

Leave a Comment

Address: Doblinger Hauptstrasse
Directions: with the U bahn to NussdorferStrasse and then a short walk

Look at the Mozart Memorial in the Hofburg Complex. Designed by Viktor Tilgner in 1896, it stands just inside the Ringstrasse entrance.
We were there once and "visited" him only to find he was being cleaned, the last time we visited we were lucky! The music sign at his feet is always done it colourful flowers and add a lovely touch to the park and to the photos. It is a great place to sit quickly and relax for a while during busy days exploring the city. It is a great place to sit and people watch.

Leave a Comment

Joseph Haydn built this house with money he earned during his visits to London in 1791 and 1795 they had been very successful. The house was then in a new suburb of the city. He lived in the house from 1797 until his death in 1809 and it was here he wrote The Creation and The Seasons. One room of the house is dedicated to Johannes Brahms. Once again there are photocopies of letters and scores but there is also a pencil used by Haydn and a piano.It is strange to realise that Haydn's wife disliked music.
The museum is full of personal belongings of the composer, it makes the small museum so much more interesting because you really get the feel of the man himself. It brings it all much more to life. It was good to be able to take photos (without flash, but no film) because we were able to take home memories of the rooms.
Visit the Brahm's room in the Haydn House.
There is no Brahms house only this room in the Haydn House which has been filled with belongings of the composer Brahms. This is his wash table, but really it is so sad that there are not more things kept from this wonderful composer.
Brahms was born in Hamburg 1833, his father wasa player in the hamburg State Theatre. Brahms made his first public performance as a pianist in Hamburg in1848. From the age of 13 he earned his living by teaching and also by playing for dances, at theatres and in taverns. He first visited Vienna in 1862 and lived there for most of the next 35 years. He died in Vienna 1897 and is buried in the Central Graveyard.

Leave a Comment

Address: Haydngasse 19
Directions: U Bahn to Zieglergasse and then a short walk - it is well signposted.

Go and see this beautiful statue of the composer Johannes Brahms, it is a great place to sit and people watch. The statue was built in 1908, by Rudolf Weyr.

Leave a Comment

Address: It is near the Karlskirche, in the Ressel Park.
Directions: U Bahn to Karlsplatz and then a walk through the park

Emperor Karl IV vowed, in 1713 a plague epidemic, that as soon as the city was free from its plight he would build a church. He would dedicate it to St. Charles Borromeo - a former Archbishop of Milan and a patron of the plague. In 1714 he announced a competition to design the church and this was won by the archtitect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach. The resulting church is a richly ornate Baroque masterpiece.

Leave a Comment

Address: Karlsplatz
Directions: U- Bahn to Karlsplatz and then a walk through the park.