Autor: Michael Würzelberger

The sculpture „Development of Human History“ by the renowned Iraqi artist Suhail al Hindawi on Wagramer Straße in the 22nd district between the Vienna International Center (UNO-City) and the subway station with the same name from 2016 refers to the history of the Sumerians and the development of writing.

On the one hand symbols of the development history of mankind are shown, such as the sun, water and agriculture, as well as the symbols that reflect the UN Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations and are also authoritative for the „OPEC Fund for International Development“, short OFID. The 40th anniversary of the Fund, which has its headquarters in the former Hoch- und Deutschmeister-Palais on Ringstrasse, was also the occasion for the donation and unveiling of the monument.

The OFID is an example for a number of international organizations which are located in Vienna besides the UN, such as OSCE, OPEC, European Fundamental Rights Agency EFRA, int. Organization for Migration Policy (ICMPD), 3 offices of the World Bank, etc.

The Sigmund Freud Museum at Berggasse 19, which has existed since 1971, is a real highlight – certainly today during the Long Night of Museums! As part of the reconstruction with reopening in mid-2020, the museum area could be significantly enlarged by expanding the premises on the 1st floor and now offers an even better insight into the biography, family and working methods of the founder of psychoanalysis, who lived and worked in these premises for 47 years.

In addition to a library and a research institute (Sigmund Freud Private Foundation), there are also rooms for contemporary art and a well-stocked store.

Tour guide in action – this time in front of the Hohe Warte stadium in Vienna Döbling. The stadium construction was preceded by the founding of the First Vienna FC on 22.8.1894 in the nearby inn „Zur schönen Aussicht“ by Nathaniel Rothschild and the general manager of the their bank. With the registration in the club register, the Vienna was the first and thus oldest soccer club in Austria. The first games took place in the former Rothschild gardens.

In 1921, the Naturarena was opened as the largest and most modern stadium on the continent with the match Vienna vs. Hakoah (2:1). Later, until the opening of the Prater Stadium in 1931, international matches were also held. Even before 1914 there were up to 10,000 spectators, after WWI soccer became a mass phenomenon. Legendary was the match Austria – Italy in 1923 with 85,000 spectators – it ended 0:0. In parallel, the stadium was also used for opera performances and boxing matches.

Between 1931-1955 Vienna was 6x Austrian soccer champion, 1931 there was also a victory in the Mitropa Cup (precursor Champions League). Hand in hand with the lack of success of Vienna from the 1960s, the stadium also fell into disrepair, after urgent renovations, it now has about 5,500 seats.

In the approximately 6000m2 large Ostarrichipark at Otto-Wagner-Platz in the 9th district, the „Memorial for the Jewish Children, Women and Men from Austria Murdered in the Shoah“ was opened in Nov. 2021 for the approximately 65,000 Jewish Austrians who were murdered in the course of the Shoah.

The memorial, initiated about 20 years earlier by the Austrian-Canadian artist Kurt Yakov Tutter, displays lists of names of the victims on 180 light-colored granite slabs, which were provided by the Documentation Archive of the Austrian Resistance. Tutter’s parents were murdered by the Nazi regime in the Auschwitz concentration camp; he himself was able to escape to Canada via Belgium as a child.

The square was created after the demolition of the Alser Barracks, which were located there until 1912, and was built on in a reduced form in 1925 with the neoclassical monumental building, today the seat of the Austrian National Bank. The park name refers to the oldest surviving form of the name in Austria, Ostarrichi.

The interior of the St. Stephen Cathedral in Vienna does not follow the classical style of a Gothic cathedral, the 3-nave hall gets by without a transept and is oriented towards the choir room. Duke Rudolf IV initiated the hall choir (with the laying of the foundation stone in 1359), whereby the previously existing Albertine choir was rebuilt in the form of a shell and thus church services could continue to be held during the almost 100 years of construction work.

Each of the naves is iconographically related to a theme, documented by the columned saints: the central nave with altar refers to Jesus Christ and St. Stephen, the southern aisle (pictured right) to the apostles, and the northern aisle to the Mother of God. The background of the slight bend in the central choir to the north, possibly caused by the easting, is unclear.

The Gregor Mendel House and main building of the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), founded in 1872 in the 18th and 19th district, was then opened about 25 years later – built in the historistic neo-Renaissance style according to plans by Alois Koch. The 4 allegorical figures above the portal of the building, which was renovated in the 2010s and later connected to the Liebig wing, thematize the focus on soil culture.

The BOKU location Türkenschanze near the park of the same name today comprises a total of 10 buildings, further facilities are located in the Muthgasse, in Tulln and in various outposts in Vienna and Lower Austria and accommodate 15 so-called departments of different fields of study for about 11,000 students. The opposite Linnéplatz with its park and sculptures also commemorates historically important natural scientists.

The construction of the lavishly designed Art Nouveau toilet on Graben in the 1st district of 1905 was preceded by controversial discussions about the location, but finally the public toilet was approved at the Josefsbrunnen, which was also renovated at the same time.

The underground structure, which is a listed building, is characterized by its high-quality choice of materials (teak and oak wood, brass fittings, marble, cut glass, etc.) and was built by the contractor Wilhelm Beetz, who specialized in such facilities. To date, there are more than 30 toilet blocks and urinals in the city from his production.

Currently, there are about 175 public toilets in Vienna (managed by MA 48) and about 40 more in and at stations of the Wiener Linien. The Viennese, by the way, often refer to the toilet as „Heisl“ or „Häusl“, derived from the wooden hut that used to be common in the countryside.

As early as 1823, Joseph Lobmeyr founded a glass manufacturing company and settled in Kärntner Straße in the 1st district. From the 1860s, the manufacturer of cut and engraved glass was then also allowed to bear the seal of quality „k.u.k. Hofglaser und Hofglashändler“ and the family devoted itself to supporting avant-garde artists, who are still omnipresent in the showroom and glass museum of the store.

Participation in world exhibitions, various arts and crafts and museum exhibitions (including the MAK) and also the establishment of a workshop for the production of contemporary lighting fixtures, also brought international attention. The chandeliers in the Metropolitan Opera in New York for example come from the traditional Viennese company, which also operates glass studios in Stoob (Bgld) and Baden (NÖ).

On request, members of the sixth generation of the family also give guided tours of the extensive and exclusive Wiener Werkstätte collection and teach glassmaking techniques, followed by tastings from Lobmayr glasses.

The Danube-Oder Canal on the outskirts of Vienna near the Lobau is an ultimately failed project for the construction of a waterway to connect the Danube with the Oder. Of the 40km long canal originally planned in Austria, only the initial sections – starting from the Vienna tank farm – with a length of about 2.3km were realized in the 1930s and today serve as fishing grounds and bathing lakes for the local residents.

Ideas to build continuous European waterways for the transport of goods emerged as early as the late Middle Ages, and the first concrete plans were made in the 18th and 19th centuries with the advent of industrialization. At the beginning of the 20th century, a decision was made to plan and build the waterway, which was ready for construction from 1910, but was stopped by World War II. Under the Nazis, the construction of a 90m wide harbor basin and 4 canal sections (DOK I-IV) actually began from 1939, most of which are now in Lower Austria.

In the late 20th century, renewed thoughts about further construction were finally discarded for ecological reasons. The evaporation of the surface water leads to a lowering of the groundwater level and for the complete realization massive negative effects on existing nature reserves would have to be feared.

The Augarten Porcelain Manufactory was re-established in 1923 as a continuation of the Imperial and Royal Porcelain Manufactory closed in 1864. Porzellanmanufaktur closed in 1864 and was reestablished in 1923. Today the building houses a store and a museum where the history of porcelain production in Vienna, beginning with a patent granted by Emperor Charles VI in 1718, is shown.

Furthermore, the method of production, the partly historical decorations and outstanding objects of the product range of different style epochs are presented.