Autor: Michael Würzelberger

The „Wehrmann in Eisen“ (Soldier in Iron) from 1914 was erected to attract donations in the course of WWI to support war widows and orphans and is today located in the Rathausarkaden (City Hall Arcades) in Vienna’s Stadtplanungshaus (City Planning Building) directly next to the entrance to the MUSA, a location of the Wien Museum.

In the course of so-called war nailings, those willing to donate could hammer a nail into the limewood figure in the shape of a knight, designed by the avowed National Socialist Josef Müllner. Originally placed at Schwarzenbergplatz, there are about 500,000 nails in the sculpture. During WWII, the action was repeated in favor of the Heroes‘ Memorial in the Outer Burgtor and the base of the figure was nailed.

As a trigger for the idea, the medieval „Stock im Eisen“ (stick in the iron) on the square of the same name near St. Stephen’s Cathedral is considered the oldest surviving nail tree and found in the 20th century a large number of imitators throughout Europe.

The saying above the figure reads:

Der Soldat von Wien erinnert sich der Zeit,
Als unerschöpflich wie des Krieges Leid
Liebe war und Barmherzigkeit“

(The soldier of Vienna remembers the time,
When inexhaustible as the war’s suffering
Love was and mercy)

As early as 1234, during the reign of the Babenbergs, the rectangular Neuer Markt (New Market) was created in the city center in the course of a city expansion. 30 years later a surviving town fire testifies to a dense settlement of around 150 buildings. The square quickly developed into a center for the movement of goods to the south. Later, festivities and tournaments were held in the area, which was also called the Mehlmarkt (Flour market) by the population.

The center – reopened after almost 4 years of construction work – is enthroned by the Thunder Fountain, created in 1739, with allegorical representation of important rivers of the Archduchy of Austria. In addition to a number of historic residential buildings and palaces, the imperial crypt as the central burial place of the Habsburgs is one of the highlights worth visiting.

The so-called Maysederhaus with the store of the renowned jeweler A.E. Köchert with the famous „Sisi stars“ is also well worth a visit.

The Josephinum in the 9th district of 1785, reopened in Sept. 2022 after renovation, was originally an academy for military doctors for the Austrian army, especially in the field of medical surgery and wound care. The reform-minded Emperor Joseph II commissioned his personal surgeon Giovanni Alessandro Brambilla to reform the military medical system and had the Baroque-Classical building erected for this purpose by Isidor Canevale.

The heart of the collection is formed by the almost 1,200 anatomical wax models, which were made for training purposes in Northern Italy, and which can now be admired again in the original showcases after careful restoration. In addition to remarkable whole-body models, among other things, historical instruments and insights into the history of medicine are also on display.

As part of the Medical University of Vienna, the statue of the Greek deity Hygieia in the cour d’honneur still points to a place for exchange, teaching and research.

The freestanding Roman Catholic church at Steinhof from 1907 in Penzing (often called the „Otto Wagner Church“ after the architect) is considered a highlight of Viennese Art Nouveau and was built as an institutional church for mentally ill patients of the sanatorium and nursing home located there. Due to its imposing gilded dome, visible from afar, the site on the Baumgartner Höhe is often called „Limoniberg“, as it is reminiscent of half a lemon.

In addition to the unusual figures (including those of St. Leopold, to whom the church is also dedicated) and decorative elements typical for Wagner, such as laurel wreaths, copper crosses, marble slabs fastened with copper nails and a row of columns facing the main facade, the interior decoration, which is tailored to the caretakers, and the leaded glass windows with figures of saints, designed by Kolomann Moser, are particularly worth seeing.

Recently, the church can now be visited again in winter as part of guided tours by the Wien Museum.

On the site of the historic Lusthaus in Leopoldstadt, on the axis of the Prater Hauptallee next to the Freudenau, there was already a hunting lodge in the mid-16th century, which was rebuilt by Isidore Canevale in 1766 when the Vienna Prater was opened to the public. In the 19th century, the 8-cornered central building became a popular meeting place for Prater visitors. After a bomb hit during WW II, it was rebuilt in a somewhat simplified form in 1949.

The round hall on the ground floor is today used as a cafe-restaurant and shows representations of gods and heroes of Greek mythology. On the first floor there is a richly decorated hunting hall with a Diana cycle.

Isidore Canevale, an Austrian architect of French origin, was also responsible for the (recently reopened) Josephinum, the so-called Narrenturm and the striking entrance gate of the Augarten.

Today a posting in my own business: from now on I offer again the popular Advent tours to Schönbrunn Palace followed by a short visit to the palace gardens and the most beautiful Christmas market in Vienna.

More details and the possibility to register can be found on www.michaelsrootsinvienna.at

The 140m high Marina Tower by Zechner & Zechner in the 2nd district near the Prater Bridge is an example of the residential buildings that have been built in recent years at the juncture between the Inner City and the Danube. The 41 floors with aprox. 500 apartments have leisure facilities, stores, a kindergarten and a subway connection.

Directly opposite, accessible via the publicly accessible marina deck, is the marina yacht harbor, built in 2000, consisting of 2 harbor basins with around 200 boat berths for boats up to around 14m in length and a motorboat driving school, workshops and a restaurant with a view at the Danube.

The 8.5 km long street in between, the Handelskai, along the right bank of the Danube, is one of the longest streets in Vienna. Almost the entire length runs parallel to the Danube embankment railroad, which was built following the regulation of the Danube in 1875 and connects the Franz-Josefs-Bahn with the Ostbahn and the port of Freudenau.

The traditional concert hall Wiener Musikverein (German for ‚Viennese Music Association) with the famous Großer Musikvereinssaal was planned by Theophil Hansen as part of the Ringstrasse city expansion and was ceremoniously opened in 1870. The building, constructed in strict historicism with neo-Renaissance forms, is famous for its outstanding acoustics due to ideal proportions, room volumes, sound-diffusing balconies, sculptures and the „shoebox“ construction.

As the home of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the annual New Year’s Concert with the world’s best conductors and around 50 million spectators, its worldwide popularity is also explained. In addition to the richly decorated Golden Hall, the building today houses 4 other concert halls, some of which were built during renovation work in 2004. The second largest Brahms Hall, known for chamber music, was opened as early as 1937. The so-called „Rieger organ“ was 2011 in the hist. Housing newly installed.

The roof of St. Stephen’s Cathedral is characterized by glazed roof tiles – so-called plain tiles – manufactured in Poštorná near Břeclav in the Czech Republic. The 230.000 tiles with a laid length of 51 km cover 10,000 m2 of roof in 10 colors and are fastened with two copper nails each.

The roof structure with a 600 ton steel framework is 110m long, has 35m span and is 38m high. The 60°-80° inclination ensures effective self-cleaning, even though additional manual cleaning is always required, e.g. to remove plant seeds from between the tiles.

The oriental pattern in zigzag was fashionable in the Gothic period, the Saracen carpet in which the most important donor of the cathedral, Rudolf IV, was buried had a similar pattern.