Torture Museum - Foltermuseum and other Vienna, Austria Things to Do Tips

It wasn't easy living in the Middle-Ages. Well, to have your head chopped off by guillotine was routine back then.
But if you were a woman and were seen patting a cat... you were considered to be a witch and they would burn you alive. You could get trapped in a cage and they would hang you above some town square for folks to see as a bad example, someone who didn't behave. The dark sides of human history can be seen at this museum. After the visit you will be happy to live in the 21st century!
See the link below for more pictures.

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Phone: 595 45 93
Address: 6., Fritz-Grünbaum-Platz 1
Directions: U3, bus 13A, 14A: Neubaugasse, 57A: Haus des Meeres
Website: http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/7c1fd/#TL

After seeing Hofburg, Schonbrunn and all the places connected to Habsburgs, it might seem that these guys are eternal and their ghosts still live in Vienna. But after visiting the Kaisergruft, the 17th century burial vault in Kapuzinerkirche you will see what really happened to them, they died just like everybody, but were buried with lots of style. Here are the tombs and sarcophagi of some 140 Habsburgs. Maria Theresa and her husband Francois de Lorraine have a double casket. Sarcophagi of Franz Joseph and Sissi are still covered with fresh flowers and candles and we saw some young girls crying beside Sissi's casket. The most recent burial was in 1989, of Zita, wife of the last emperor, Karl I (who abdicated in 1918 and is buried in Madeira).

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Address: the tombs of all austrian emperors
Directions: Off Karntnerstrasse on Neuer Markt

Maria Theresa prefered to handle the state affairs in Schonbrunn. She sure had style! Her favourite architect Nikolaus Pacasi made the decorative rococo interiors and the gardens are another work of art. This is your chance to see where Napoleon slept on his way to victory at Austerlitz. Many people go to visit Schonbrunn and so did we. We did so on Sunday morning just after it had opened and could hardly move among all the tourist groups. When we left we saw many tourist buses arriving and could sigh with relief that we made it just in time. I read that this is the most visited place in Austira. Not to be missed while in Vienna. It is forbidden to photograph inside the castle.

Interesting facts:
When we were on the plane back home mr haiamisa, a great Habsburg fan and a hobby Habsburg historian, was quite shocked that the girl sitting next to us hadn't visited Schonbrunn and Hofburg! (Well... the young generation...)

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Address: the summer-residence of the emperor

Habsburgs are gone but the palaces are there for you to admire. Hofburg in the southwest corner of the Innere Stadt is most imposing. It was the home of Austria's rulers since the 13th century. Today, the palaces's museum's exhibit most of the huge personal fortune of the Habsburg's. Visit the imperial appartments, the Sissi museum, the Imperial Silver collection and the Schatzkammer (treasury) in The Schweizerhof, the oldest part of the Hofburg.

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Address: The winter palace of the emperor

It is a well known fact that I prefer my tea from a glass and not from a mug or cup. Habsburg's would have been shocked. Their cup of tea was definitely fine china with addition of gold and Habsburg emblems. Admire the thousands of Habsburg dishes at the Imperial Silver Collection at Hofburg.

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This is in the oldest part of Hofburg and on display are the insignia of the old Holy Roman Empire. The highlight being the Imperial Crown of pure unalloyed gold set with pearls and unpolished emeralds, sapphires and rubies. See it in the picture.

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St Stephen's Cathedral is right at the heart of Vienna. I am not specially fond of churches , but this one is great architecture and interesting to see for its size, style and specially the roof. Don't miss the beautiful roof of the cathedral!

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Address: St.Stephens cathedral

The old Jewish Quarter lies north of Stephensplatz and the Graben. Its medieval center was Judenplatz (Jews' Square) until the progrom of 1421 when the synagogue was dismanted and its stones carted off to build an extension to the alte Universitat. The remains of the synagogue have been escaveated and now form part of the new Judenplatz Museum Wien. On the square is Rachel Whiteread's Memorial of the Victims of the Holocaust. The memorial which commemorates more than 6500 Austrian Jews who were killed by the Nazis between 1938-1945, is designed so as to resemble a library turned inside out, so shelves of closed books face inwards. Around the base are the names of the camps to which Austria's Jewish population was deported.

You can see San Sabba written on one of the pictures. We visited San Sabba in 2003.

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Address: sights and places of Jewish life in Vienna

Judenplatz museum functions as an annexe to the Judisches Museum on Dorotheergasse.

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Address: sights and places of Jewish life in Vienna

This is the only synagogue out of the city's 24 that survived the Nazi's 1938 Kristallnacht pogrom. You can enter only on guided tours. Bring your passport for the security check.

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Address: Seitenstettengasse 4