Autor: Michael Würzelberger

Near the Henikstein Villa in Obersteinergassse in Oberdöbling on the so-called Hirschenbergl, there are 2 monuments commemorating the „greatest Hungarian“ Count István Széchenyi, who died there on April 8, 1860. Széchenyi skilfully represented Hungary’s interests in the Habsburg Monarchy and, as an entrepreneur and highly influential member of the Imperial Diet, initiated a number of economic reforms.

Accordingly, his image not only adorns the 5000 forint banknote, but a number of institutions and buildings throughout Hungary also bear his name. His father had already contributed his collection to the National Museum in Budapest, which he founded in the 19th century as a reflection of Hungarian nationality.

The palatial country house with surrounding park, which has housed the Döbling District Court since 1991, commemorates the banker, wholesaler and music lover Adam Ritter von Henikstein, who had a private villa built there at the end of the 18th century. From 1830 a private psychiatric clinic was established there under the direction of Bruno Görgen.

One of the best-known buildings on the WU campus in Leopoldstadt in the Prater is WU’s central administration building (D3 AD) by Arch. Peter Cook & CRAB Studio of London, also known in Austria as the designers of the Kunsthaus in Graz.

The organically shaped, colorful building, graded with horizontal stripes, is especially notable for its rough wooden slats for shading. These probably represent a reference to the surrounding Prater with its wooded area. And the color and structure of the facade, which changes over time, probably represents the liveliness of the educational campus.

The idea of student life and thus Peter Cook’s program is also significant: „University has to be jolly good fun“.

The centerpiece of the Parliament, which was completed in 1871 (and has now been completely renovated) is the main work of the outstanding architect Theophil Hansen, is the monumental portico. In the style of an ancient peristyle with a glass gabled roof, supported by 24 monolithic columns of Salzburg marble, this space was also intended to function as the social center of the building. A meeting place for exchanges between the different chambers of the Imperial Council of the time.

The renovated floor of Karst marble slabs covers 40×23 meters. In the course of WWII there was severe damages after which 2 columns were replaced. The frescoes, which were painted by the Austrian painter Eduard Lebiedzki in a historicist style, are only preserved in fragments.

You can also see the pediment groups „Vaterlandsliebe“ (Patriotism) by Hugo Haerdtl and „Einigkeit“ (Unity) by Karl Sterre and between the columns there are figures of Roman statesmen.

Attentive walkers along the Danube in Vienna know the boats with fishing nets mounted on cranes from spring/summer, the so-called Daubeln. This is a fishing method that dates back to a decree of Maria Theresia in the 18th century, in which approx. 5x5m nets are lowered to the bottom of the water with cranks or cranes.

After a few minutes, the net is pulled up, hoping to catch a fish that is swimming above the net. This allows for gentle fishing, where fish that are too small or species that are in closed season can be released back into the water unharmed.

Daubel huts are usually passed down from generation to generation, and places are scarce. Walleye, catfish, carp, pike, tolstolob and amur are fished. In addition to the Danube, this type of fishing is also common in Austria on the Thaya and March rivers.

The Carmelite monastery in Döbling in exposed brick construction with neo-Romanesque style forms with its neighboring Roman Catholic basilica from 1900 was designed by Viennese architect Richard Jordan, who was specialized in church buildings.

In addition to the rich picturesque decoration of the three-bayed nave and the pulpit with the Latin Fathers of the Church, the altar of grace with the oil painting „Mary with the Inclined Head“, which according to legend was discovered in 1609 near the first Carmelite monastery in a district of Rome in the rubble, is particularly noteworthy. Already since Emperor Ferdinand II. in the 17th century, the image was worshipped by the Habsburgs. During WWI it was carried in processions through Vienna to St. Stephen’s Cathedral to pray for peace.

Also worth mentioning are the Bourbons (including the French King Charles X) from the Kostanjevica Monastery, who were transferred to the Order’s crypt until 1932. In the middle of the Battle of the Isonzo in 1917, at the request of Empress Zita, wife of the last Emperor Charles I and related to the French royal family, the Bourbons were laboriously buried in the crypt.

As part of the current exhibition „The Fest“ at the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK), a form of courtly merrymaking and representation that has been popular since the Middle Ages is shown in the form of „schlittage“.

These were elaborately choreographed sleigh rides in groups, accompanied by music and the ringing of bells, in which horse-drawn sleighs, manned by a cavalier and a lady assigned to him, moved along predetermined serpentine lines and routes.

The sledges were elaborately designed and, if necessary, snow was brought from the surrounding countryside of the city. Events took place partly at night with torches, e.g. at the Hofburg, and partly during the day with a ride to Schönbrunn followed by a banquet or spectacle.

I am happy to offer a guided visit to the exhibition as part of a tour of the highlights of the MAK!

The red marble tomb of Emperor Frederick III in the apostle nave of the Cathedral Church of St. Stephen from 1517 is one of the greatest works of late Gothic sculpture. The top plate, weighing 8 tons and created by the Dutch sculptor Niclas Gerhaert van Leyden, shows the figure of the reclining Frederick; the sides and the surrounding balustrade of the sarcophagus are adorned with coats of arms, statues of princes and apostles, and reliefs of endowments of the first Habsburg to be crowned emperor.

That it is indeed a sarcophagus was clearly proven in an investigation presented in 2019. The ruler, known for his motto A.E.I.O.U., died in 1493 at the biblical age of almost 78 for those times and was reburied after completion.

The extensive figurine program of the sculpture, which can be visited during guided tours, shows among other things grimaces, mythical creatures, animals and skulls, which probably also symbolize the sinfulness in life. Monks and priests pray for his salvation, on the east side in the direction of view is emblazoned with an image of the Risen Christ.

The central marshalling yard Vienna-Kledering in the 10th district, at the back of the Vienna Central Cemetery, was gradually put into operation in 1983 after a 5-year construction period and is the largest transfer station in Austria with its entry group consisting of 15 tracks and 48 tracks for lining up the freight cars.

Freight trains with up to 6,100 wagons are disassembled daily on the 120km-long track network via an unwinding mountain, reassembled and forwarded to their destinations via 10 tracks of the outbound group. After approaching, the wagons are uncoupled and then roll into the directional group as if by magic and only delayed by braking elements integrated in the tracks.

A power converter is also located on the site, which provides around 1/7 of the traction power required throughout Austria.

On Wiedner Gürtel in the 4th district, an art project by Erste Bank is on display. Opposite the Erste Campus, which opened in 2015, the bank invited artists to design the row of houses there near the Belvedere under the motto „The Canaletto View“.

In the end, the „Project 2 for Erste Campus“ by Vienna-based Swiss artist Marcus Geiger prevailed to design the facades in the pastel colors of euro banknotes. The transfer of the colors to architecture is reminiscent of the design of the banknotes themselves, which in turn contain symbolic images of archetypal buildings.

The artist, born in 1957 and a graduate of the Akademie für bildende Künste in the master class stage design, is known for projects in the (semi-)public space, which have already been seen in various exhibitions in Vienna, Zurich, Munich and Ljubljana.

Tip: On 19.02. the World Day of Guides takes place again, where I will also make a tour around the main station from about 12:00h – registration www.guides-in-vienna.at/welttag/fuehrungen/

The garden palace Rasumofsky in the 3rd district of 1806 commemorates Prince Andrei Kirillowitsch Rasumowski, who played an important diplomatic role as Russian envoy at the Viennese court and is considered the most important classicist palace in Vienna. Just as the reorganization of Europe was being negotiated in the course of the Congress of Vienna in 1814/1815, part of the building burned down along with valuable art treasures, and was rebuilt in a simplified form.

About 20 years later, after the death of the art collector, patron of the arts (including Beethoven) and diplomat, the estate was taken over by Prince Alois II Lichtenstein. Then state-owned from 1873, it was used, among other things, as the site of the Federal Geologische Bundesanstalt, later parts of the property were partitioned off and built up, and in the early 2000s it was sold into private ownership and renovated.

Court architect Louis Montoyer, who was also involved in the remodeling of the Albertina and in extensions to the Hofburg, built not only the mighty portico on the garden side with Ionic columns, but also a representative banqueting hall (which is not open to the public) and the formerly extensive farm buildings and stables. In the interwar period, this was also the residence of the important Austrian writer Robert Musil.