Vienna Things to Do Tips by TheWanderingCamel

How could you come to Vienna and not pay tribute to Mozart?

The "Figaro" house is the only survivor of the eleven places the composer is known to have lived in at various times in Vienna, and he only occupied an apartment in the building at that, but the years between 1784 and 1787 that he spent there were known to be among the happiest of his short life, and it was here that he wrote the sublime "Marriage of Figaro".

Apart from the music, there's little that is tangible left of Mozart's life, so don't expect to find much here that belonged to the genius. The whole museum is really a piece of smoke and mirrors, using clever effects and a few prints, copies of scores and other odds and ends to tell the story. It won't be enough for some people, but for others just to walk through the rooms, to gaze at the elaborate ceiling of his and Constanza's bedroom, to hear the strains of the immortal music, is enough to conjure up the ghost.

Leave a Comment

Address: Domgasse 5
Directions: The museum is open 9-8, every day
Metro: Stephansplatz

The entrance is in Domgasse, though the plaque on the house is in Schulerstrasse, next to the Hotel Konig von Ungarn

.
Website: http://www.wienmuseum.at/english/frameset.asp?submenu=3&page=http://www.wienmuseum.at/english/1380.htm

The names of classical music's stars are laid out in a parade that lines the pedestrianised Kartnerstrasse in a Viennese version of Hollywood's Walk of Fame. Just about all the great and the good - composers, conductors, performers - with some connection to Vienna are named here - a real music buff will probably be able to identify them all, though even she or he may have run out of steam after checking out the first twenty or so.

Leave a Comment

Address: Kartnerstrasse

Johann Strauss II was the undisputed Waltz King of Vienna in the latter half of the 19th century. His music and the city are inextricably linked still, and the number of tourists who leave without having visited and photographed his gilded statue in the Stadtpark is probably very small indeed.

The inevitable Johann Strauss Museum is to be found in a house he lived in from 1863 to 1878. and where he composed his most famous Waltz, "The Blue Danube". The house contains his baby grand piano and harmonium and some period furniture and costumes and some memorabilia. With so many other amazing museums in Vienna, this one is really only for the true afficionados.

Leave a Comment

Address: Stadtpark
Directions: Statue : U - Stadtpark (Line 4) Trams 1 or 2

Museum : Praterstrasse 54
Tuesday to Thursday, 2-6pm Friday to Sunday and some holidays, 10 -1
Closed: New Year's Day, May Day and Christmas Day and all Monday holidays
U - Nestroyplatz (Line 1)

The lives of Franz Schubert and Anton Bruckner could hardly have been more different, and the same is true of their music. Schubert live in Vienna all his life and was Viennese through and through, Bruckner spent his last 28 years there and was never truly at home. Both are honoured with statues in Vienna's Stadtpark - though Schubert's is by far the grander.

Schubert's short life (he died aged 31, probably of typhus, though he was suffering the terminal stages of syphilis at the time of his death) produced a huge body of work, most notably hundreds of Lieder (songs) together with chamber and symphonic works the beauty of which places him among the truly great. True to the image of ill-fated and unacknowledged youthful genius, he was largely unrecognised during his lifetime though it was only to be 30-odd years after his death before he was deemed to warrant such a grand memorial as the statue that graces the Stadtpark today.

Bruckner, on the other hand, had a long apprenticeship as a composer - he was still studying at the age of 40 and his compositions did not find real acceptance until he was in his 60s. He did however, live long enough to see his work acknowledged. He will never be considered the genius that Schubert was, but there is both beauty and truth in much of his work and he has earned his place in the pantheon.

Leave a Comment

Address: Stadtpark
Directions: U - Stadtpark or Trams 1 or 2

If your feet will stand it, and you're not all statued-out, a short walk from the shady gardens of the Stadtpark, will bring you to Beethoven. Just as Strauss's golden memorial is as light and as frivolous as his music, and Schubert's conveys somehow the unhappiness of a life cut short, Beethoven's statue is as imposing and splendid as the music, with its base of classical figures and the genius's brooding presence overlooking all.

Although born in Germany, Beethoven lived virtually all his adult life in Vienna, and there are markers all over the city to tell the story - he is known to have lived in at least 30 different houses, many of which are still standing. I wouldn't for a moment suggest you try to track them all down but you're bound to notice some as you explore the city.

Leave a Comment

Address: Beethovenplatz, Vienna
Directions: 2 blocks south west of the Stadtpark

For over 800 years now, the jewel in Vienna's eccliastical crown has been the magnificent cathedral known as the Stephansdom. Nothing remains of the original 12th cathedral but, as it stands today, the building is a glorious combination of mostly Romanesque and Gothic styles with some later Baroque elements.

The oldest section is the west door (known as the Giant's Doorway) which is flanked by two steepled towers (known as either the Heathen Towers, for the pagan shrine that once stood on this site, or, alternatively, the Roman Towers) - dating from the 13th century. Almost all the rest - nave, choir and side chapels and steeple - was built through the years of the 14th and 15th centuries in High Gothic style, while the north tower with its pretty ogee-roof is an as-yet-unfinished 16th century Baroque addition that houses the mighty Pummerin bell, made from the melted-down cannons of the defeated Turks .
The absolute crowning glory of the cathedral is its steep-pitched roof, the tiles (over a quarter of a million of them) laid out in dazzling diaper and chevron patterns with two huge panels featuring the double headed eagles of the Hapsburgs and the Austrian coat of arms.

The cathedral's vertical lines and narrow perspectives (it sits on a very cramped space for such a massive building) emphasize its height. It towers over the roofs of the Innerstadte and it's quite difficult to get a good look at it from the close confines of the old city. Fortunately, there are several high spots around the city from which you can get a good sighting.

The cathedral was very badly damaged by fire during WWII. A massive restoration effort saw it rise again as the symbol of the city but , as is always the case with such buildings, the need for restoration is constant, ongoing and very expensive. Currently it is the south tower that is shrouded in scaffolding. When that is finished, it will be something else. Please don't begrudge a donation to this work.

Leave a Comment

Address: Stephansplatx
Directions: U - Stephansplatz

Before you make your way inside the Stephansdom, do take some time to have a good look at least some of the sculptures and frescoes that adorn the exterior. Prior to 1735 the area along the side walls and around the back of the cathedral was used as a cemetery and many of the memorials on the outer walls relate to that use. Particularly notable are the newly-restored relief of Christ praying in the Garden of Gethsemane as his Apostles sleep and the pulpit of St Johannes Capistrano with its depiction of the saint triumphing over the defeated Turk in celebration of the victory of the Battle of Belgrade on 1456. There are delicate traceries of stone, statues of saints and worthies, reliefs of Biblical scenes, elaborately carved lintels, a memorial marking the spot where Mozart's corpse was blessed on its way to the grave. The frescoes are somewhat hidden by a protective mesh as work continues on the restoration of the south tower.

Leave a Comment

Address: St.Stephens cathedral

So you've gazed up at the Stephansdom, walked around the building, taking in detail of the exterior, now it's time to look inside. Like all the venerable cathedrals of Europe, the Stephansdom is a wonderful cornucopia of periods and styles. Each succeeding generation has left their mark in the form of the ornamentation of the church, leaving an overall impression of incredible richness. From the Gothic to the Renaissance and on to the Baroque, there are side chapels and tombs, altar screens and statues, beautiful stained glass and acres of gold leaf, exquisite carving in stone and wood, and from about 9am onwards ... hordes of tourists clustered around their guides as this feature or that is pointed out and described in minute detail. You could be forgiven for thinking that this place is simply another museum.

Come earlier, at 8 or so and you will find a very different scene. Calm, quiet dignity. Mass being said to a small group of worshippers in a side chapel. A few people like you, slowly making their way up and down the aisles, sitting a while on a pew in contemplation of some detail of the building around them, gazing with intense absorption at the expression on a saint's face. This is when you really understand what these great edifices mean to their cities and the people who know them and claim them as their own. How master stonemasons and woodcarvers could work for years creating such masterpieces. When you slip out of a side door, you may leave without having seen every last polychromed triptych or gently smiling saint, you may not know what year saw this chapel dedicated or that tomb added, but you will take with you some of the awe, and the succour, they have inspired in people for centuries .. a connection to those mediaeval souls for whom the worship of God was made manifest in their cathedral.

Leave a Comment

Address: Stephansplatz
Directions: The cathedral is first and foremost a place of worship. No flash photography might mean your photos aren't wonderful, but you could always buy a postcard and support the upkeep of the place.

With its ivy-clad tower and simple form, the Ruprechtrskirche looks quite different from the usual run of Vienna's churches. The simplicity carries through into the interior of the church as well - stark whitewashed walls and modern stained glass are a complete contrast to the usual gilded and carved interiors of the city's Gothic and Baroque churches, of which there are plenty. Look more closely though and the church is full of ancient features - architectural and artifacts alike. Two small panels of glass date from 1370, the oldest surviving in Vienna. The statue of St Ruprecht is about the same age. In fact - this is generally held to be Vienna's oldest church, parts of this building dating back to the 11th century, though it is thought there was a church here as long ago as the 8th century.

Dedicated to St Ruprecht (St Rupert), the patron saint of Salzburg and salt merchants, the church stands on a high point of the city's ramparts, overlooking the Danube Canal at the point where a jetty once stood, the unloading point for salt from the mines of Salzburg. This is right in the heart of Roman Vienna - Vindobona. Salt was a vital part of the Roman economy and its importance remained throughout the centuries to come.

Nowadays, the area is best known for its lively bars and music scene, but by day it's a peaceful part of the city, pedestianised and leafy, definitely worth seeking out.

Leave a Comment

Address: Ruprechtzplatz
Directions: U-Bahn: U1 or U4 - Schwedenplatz
Website: http://www.ruprechtskirche.at/guided_tour/tour.htm

The saints were certainly smiling on us as we walked around Vienna with Ursula. The guidebooks say that the beautiful Gothic church of Maria am Gestade, like the even older Ruprechtskirche (q.v.), is usually closed and can only be viewed through the locked entrance, or by appointment. We found both churches open and were able to view them at our leisure.

One of the oldest buildings in Vienna, the seemingly impossibly tall and narrow church dates back to the late 14th/early 15th century, when it replaced an earlier wooden church, beloved of sailors and fishermen who worked on the Danube. The design is a clever solution to the steep, narrow site the older church occupied on the bank of a tributary of the river (Maria am Gestade translates as Mary of the Riverbank). Looking at its delicate stone tracery, remnants of mediaeval glass and gilded Gothic canopies, it's hard to credit that the church was once in such poor repair that it was used as a stable and arsenal by Napoleonic troops. Restoration began in 1812 and today its white stone walls and slender seven-sided 56 metre tower are as exquisite as they ever were.

Leave a Comment

Address: Salvatorgasse 12,
Directions: U-Bahn - Stephansplatz