Vienna: Grand city of Imperial Nostalgia
Written: Jan 19 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: The Austrian culture, architecture, baroque churches and sheer elegance
Cons: Maybe a little quiet for some - not as rocking as London or Madrid
The Bottom Line: If you want to experience Europe with all it's idiosyncrasies and beauty - the head to Vienna. It is still a world-class city after all these many centuries.
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| actonsteve's Full Review: Vienna |
Vienna is one of the legendary cities of the world. It was the centre of one of the greatest and longest living empire's that Europe has ever seen. And reminders of this past greatness are on every street corner and also it is a city poised to take advantage of the new Europe and very much at the centre of things. Whether its the tourist Vienna of horse-drawn fiacres drawn by bowlerhatted drivers or the modern Vienna with the all-night nightlife of 'the Bermuda Triangle' - then you will be able to find both. The city has some of the most glorious architecture in Europe and you can spend weeks lapping it up.
It is easy to be seduced by the Viennese way of life of sipping coffee with delicious cakes or enjoying a weiswein and apfel strudel in a pavement cafe. The place is so charming as to be almost cloying and the manners and ways of old Europe may still be discernable in this city. You may agree with me after your visit and think that there are not many cities which stay in your mind as much as Vienna...
In actual fact, Vienna isn't that big. The Wienerwald (Vienna woods) can be seen in the distance and the Innere Stadt (Inner City) can be crossed in twenty minutes. It is this Aldstadt which is the focus of Vienna and for hundreds of years was all of the city, protected from the marauding Turk by strong city walls. This is a lovely area of courtyards, squares and churches and is ringed by the appropriately named Ringstrasse. This imperial boulevard is one of Europe's grandest and houses most of the great sights such as the Opera and Hofburg. Places such as the Imperial summer residence such as Schonbrunn need public transport to get to. But even the ordinary buildings are an attraction and look so delicate as to be translucent. Often pastel coloured, they feature frescoes or statues above their doors along with balconies and mansard roof's. Vienna has the most romantic streetnames I have seen in a city. Strasse means street, and gasse, lane. Making street names such as Marialiferstrasse, Dorothergasse and my favourite Grumperdorferstrass a pleasure to roll off your tongue.
Getting Around
Vienna probably has the best public transport in the world. Nowhere else, not even London or Amsterdam, has got everything so wonderfully aligned. You can step off a plane, then onto a bus, then onto a tram without pause. Everything is clean, safe and more surprisingly uncrowded making travelling around the city a pleasure.
Flughafen Schwechat is a marble-designed wonder of an airport, and the great stations of Westbahnhof and Sudbahnhof are near the centre of tram, train and bus routes. Of course the great pleasure of Vienna are the trams (or bims as they are known). There is no greater way to experience the city than sitting back in a clanging bim as you clank around the Ringstrasse. The Ring-Kai-Ring tram circumnavigates the whole boulevard. Or there are the horse-drawn fiacres which are the familiar tourist image of Vienna. But at 400 Euros a ride, maybe the tram is best.
The Sights of Vienna
Innere Stadt and Stephansdom
To begin a tour of the Aldstadt the best place to start is at the symbol of Vienna - the Stephansdom. The nearest tramstop is probably on Schwedenplatz but the U-bahn stop of Stephansplatz lets you alight right outside the Cathedral/Dom. As you climb out the subway the Dom will soar above you with its steffl (spire) reaching hundreds of feet into the air. It's sides are streaked with age and the nave roof is covered in tiles depicting twin-headed imperial eagle of Austria. As you get closer you can pick out the details and gothic lines, it is a very dark medieval cathedral and the main entrance is flanked by carved demons and gargoyles. Inside is gigantic with hundreds of pews interspersed by soaring gothic columns. The transept and altar were high baroque but what really surprised me was the pulpit. It was carved with a swirl of leering demons and monsters. Indeed the whole church evoked damnation and devine retribution. What a monstrous influence the Stephensdom must have had in narrow superstitious medieval Vienna.
Once you are back on Stephansplatz, avoiding the smell of manure from the fiakers, you can take a good look at the square. Most of the architecture is turn-of-the-century and where it turns a corner you can continue down the shopping mecca of Kartnerstrasse or turn north into Graben. This is pedestrianised and stretches hundreds of yards lined by neoclassical apartment blocks, exclusive shops and high profile restaurants. In the centre of Graben is the Pestsaule - a swirling, boiling amorphorous statue with an angel piercing a hag, all topped by gold. It was built in 1679 to say thank you for deliverance from the plague (and the Turks). Turning left at the top of Graben is a fantastic vista. This elegant street has the Hofburg at its far end and the blue baroque dome of the Michaeltor looms above everything. The strasse is called Kohlmarkt and is the most exclusive in Vienna, those with KK embossed on their shops means they have the imperial warrant and you can stick your own nose in the air to admire the jewellers, courtierers, antique shops and the royal confectioners, Demel.
The Emperors Residence - the Hofburg
To reach it is easy. From every which way it is spectacular - it is difficult to recommend which is best. From Stephansplatz the walk up Kohlmarkt to the Michaeltor will take you to the baroque Michaelplatz. From the north the walk down Herrengasse from its U-bahn station takes you past the palaces of the old nobility. But the best way is probably from the Ringstrasse. Here you can enter through the Burgtor to the immmense Heldenplatz. This great square flanks the spectacular facade of the Neue Berg (see photo)and is Vienna at its most impressive. The Neue Berg is colossal and the neo-renaissance facade is about 300 long and about as high. Great steps lead up to a gigantic entrance surmounted by statues coloured a dull ivory and surrounded by a vast colonnade stretching from either side. This is where Hitler addressed ecstatic crowds during the anschluss of 1938. The Viennese have mixed feelings about the Neue Berg.
The Hofburg is so vast that buses drive through the centre and if you follow them and travel through the passageways you will end up in the baroque courtyard of In de Burg (see photo) which houses the Kaiserappartments. Following through you will hit a barnyard smell and open up into Michaelplatz. This is the eastern entrance to the Hofburg and either side of the passageway are sinewy statues of giants and at the tip of the wings are fountains containing statues from mythology. But the smell of manure will probably draw you to the Stallburg and the famous Spanish Riding School. To see a performance you must book months in advance but to see them practice only costs 25 Euros and you will probably have to queue.
The Opera House and Ringstrasse
To begin a tour of the Ringstrasse it's best to start in the north-east corner and take an anti-clockwise direction. After the Bourse the first major building you will come to is the Voltivkirche. This is a neo-gothic creation with two soaring steeples and a facade that is streaked with grime. Inside is a vaulted ceiling and superb stained glass windows. Several monuments abound inside including one with a pictograph of a stormtrooper. My German is so bad I could not tell whether they were commemorating or condemning the lives of the soldiers. Outside is the green expanse of Sigmund Freud Park which is always full of lounging students from the nearby university. The university itself isn't as sleepy and a demonstration was going on while we were there. Pretty gardens lead to the Rathaus - Vienna's city hall (see photo). This is built in the Flemish gothic style and it's steffl soars above the surrounding buildings. But across the Ringstrasse is the Burgtheater - the royal theatre - with its baroque exterior. It's season of events is excellent, and like the Staatsoper, often puts on productions very cheaply. What astounds me about Vienna is that the majority of the populace know about and enjoy these productions. That does not happen in too many capital cities.
Just south of the Rathaus is the Parliament building with is Doric columns and statuary. During Franz Josef's time it was rather a white elephant, the Emperor himself kept a firm grip on the Empire. And south of this is the stunning Maria-Theresa Platz. When I first saw this from a moving tram I was so amazed I jumped off the tram there and then. Two huge neo-classical buildings overlook a green square full of tinkling fountains, topiary and classical statues. The pride of place goes to the coal black statue of Empress Maria Theresa seated above prostrate courtiers. The whole platz is very photogenic and a visit to the world-class art at the Kunsthistorisches Museum is a must. Just to the south is the exclusive apartments of the nobility. The best of these overlook the most famous building in Vienna, the Staatsoper - the Opera House. Its neoclassical facade is world-famous and even when there isn't a production on you can get a tour of the interior for 7 Euros. It's rather an egalitarian institution and if you are lucky you can get tickets for 2.56 Euros (about £1.00/$1.60).
The Schonbrunn Palace
To reach it is easy. It lies on the Linke Weizelle which follows the old Wien river west out of town. Nowadays it is a motorway and the U-bahn runs underneath it allowing you to get off at Schonbrunn or Hietzing. From there it is a walk west along the Linke Weizelle where you will follow the crowds to the great courtyard of the Schonbrunn palace. Your first view of it will be breathtaking - a grand cobbled space enfoled by the rococco wings of the palace. Statues and fountains tinkle in the centre, offset against the mustard yellow of the palaces' facade. The entrance is in the centre of the courtyard or you can walk around and view the gardens or wagenburg (carriage museum). You can tour the palace yourself but I would recommend a guided tour for only 7 Euros. Get there early as the queue's for the tours can be very long.
The Schonbrunn Palace was in use until the last Habsburg abdicated in 1918. Franz Josef, the most famous Emporer loved it here and he used to visit his platonic mistress Katarina Schratt who lived in Hietzing. His apartments are the first ones that you visit and matched his character with spartan military bed, freugal office and heavy darkwood meeting rooms. His Empress' rooms were more feminine with white walls with gold filigree and mansard windows. But the cream of the rooms belonged to Maria Theresa - including an epic audience chamber with a picture of a thousand carriages and the Chinois room which was decorated from floor to ceiling in blue tiles depicting scenes of the orient. As you wandered around the palace the parquet floor creaked and the guides were so good you expected to see richly embroidered courtiers appear at every corner.
Vienna has many more delights including the Belvedere Palace, the Prater Park and my favourite church in Europe - the Karlskirche. It is worth at least a weekends visit and I think a good place to start or finish a tour of Europe as international connections are so good. If it does have any shortcomings it maybe the fact that it can be very quiet at night (certainly not as riotous as Madrid or London) and if you are yearning for a nightout then the 'Bermuda Triangle' in the Aldstadt is the best place to head for.
But you may find yourself doing what the Viennese do - finding an outside cafe street, ordering a coffee, a slice of cake and sit and watch the world go by.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Families
Best Time to Travel Here: Sep - Nov
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Epinions.com ID:
actonsteve
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Member: Steve Cassidy
Location: Acton, London, United Kingdom
Reviews written: 62
Trusted by: 7 members
About Me:
Completely fanatical writer and Londonophile.Found usually at bar in Vauxhall Tavern supping good ale.
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