Recycling on a grand scale and other Vienna, Austria Off The Beaten Path Tips

For nearly one hundred years, four huge gasometers loomed high over Vienna's Simmering district. Times change - the gasometers became obsolete as natural gas replaced manufactured town gas, and the industrial area around them slipped into decline as industry moved further out of the city. So, what do you do with four huge redbrick cylinders that are protected because of their historical merit as industrial architecture?

The answer in Vienna was to turn them into high quality subsidised housing, an innovative solution very much in keeping with the city's commitment to preserving all aspects of its history. The result is an fantastic development that has seen external appearance of the gasometers change very little, but the interior changed completely. Four groups of architects were allocated a gasometer each to design the refurbishments, with four very different solutions. As well as housing there is a two-level shopping mall linked through all four buildings, large areas of office space and the city's archives are also housed here.

Anyone with an interest in urban rehabilitation and/or historic industrial architecture really should make the short trip out to these castles of 19th century industry and innovation. Tours are available.

U- Gasometer

Leave a Comment

Website: http://www.wiener-gasometer.at/en/

Travel 75 minutes by boat down the Danube to Bratislava and you not only enter another country (Slovakia), you find almost a parallel universe. Like its big neighbor, Vienna, up the river the city has a grand town hall, lovely squares lined with Baroque palaces, musical connections, statues aplenty, but where are the crowds? and the lines of tour buses? and how much was that beer?

Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and a day trip here from Vienna is both easy and enjoyable. The city sits on both banks of the Danube, joined by a new and very modern bridge but it's the historic centre on the north bank that is the drawcard. It's all very compact and easy to walk around, though the climb up to the castle is pretty steep (your reward is the spendid views - the castle itself was derelict for many years and what you see now is virtually a complete reconstruction). The Kings of Hungary came here to be crowned in St Martin's Cathedral and Naploleon came here to the Primates Palace after his victory at the Battle of Austerlitz to sign the Peace Treaty that changed much of the face of Europe.

You'll be able to see most of the city's attractions (abeit briefly) in a day and still have time to sample some substantial Slovak fare for lunch - the food here is fairly pork- and potato-oriented, heavy but tasty though pizzas and pasta are also popular and readily available if you're looking for something lighter - and a glass or two of excellent Slovakian beer at one of the numerous cafes around the town.

Leave a Comment

There's lots of Kodak moments around Bratislava -

Copper domes and pretty churches abound - as well as the main Cathedral of St Martin, there are some notable churches built by the many Catholic monastic orders - the Franciscan Church is the city's oldest; the peach-coloured Trinitarian Church's main altar shows Christian slaves being freed from the Turk; Jesuits, Capuchins, Ursulines, they're all here. You could certainly fill your whole day visiting them.

The climb to the castle will take you a while, and you'll need to stop to get your breath once you get there. Formal gardens and wonderful views make the climb worthwhile. The little church halfway up the hill is used by Bratislava's Russian Orthodox community.

Back in town, the Mirror Hall of the Prelate's Palace is where Napoleon and the Austrian Emperor signed the Treaty of Pressburg (the old name for Bratislava) following Napoleon's sweeping victory at Austerlitz. This was where we met the face of the old regime of Soviet Slovakia - we'd been struck by the friendly openess we'd met everywhere up to this point, but the dragon on the desk here had definitely done her training at the Rosa Krebs School of Charm - our response was to take the photos we were sternly told were "od forbid".

Leave a Comment