Autor: Michael Würzelberger

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.

The 23m high Paulinenwarte in Währing, completely in the style of the adjacent cottage quarter of 1888, in the middle of the extensive Türkenschatzpark, is not only popular and well-known as a lookout tower with a panoramic view on the city and the Vienna Woods. The structure, which originally also functioned as a water reservoir, owes its name to the legendary Princess Pauline Metternich, granddaughter of the famous state chancellor and prominent salonniere of her time, who financed most of the exotic plants in the park.

The tower is also known, in particular, for the opening speech of Emperor Franz Josef I, which gave a decisive impetus to the negotiations for the incorporation of the suburbs into Vienna, which would then also be regulated by law in 1890 and become a reality in 1892. Another commemorative plaque is also dedicated to Ehzg. Karl Ludwig, the second younger brother of the Emperor, who also acted as „Protectorate“, i.e. as patron for the Cottage district.

The Paulinenwarte, which was reawakened in the 2000s, has been extensively renovated and is open between April and October, each weekend/month, in fair weather.

The „Vienna Central Station“ in the 10th district was built on the site of the former Südbahnhof and officially opened in October 2014 after being commissioned in stages and almost 20 years of preparatory work. It is now Austria’s largest train station with 16 platform tracks and around 20,000m2 of commercial space, over 1,000 trains with around 270,000 passengers are handled daily.

With the design of an elongated rhombus roof with staggered trapezoidal surfaces, realized by the Swiss architect Theo Hotz and partners, the city has for the first time a centralized transport hub for all long-distance trains with underground and suburban rail connections. A central prerequisite for the station was also the construction of the 9.4km Lainzer Tunnel, which has connected the Westbahn line since 2012.

A large number of new infrastructure facilities were built around the 50-hectare station area and, with the Belvedere Quarter and the Sonnwendviertel, 2 new urban districts.

The Lower Belvedere from 1716 as part of the Baroque palace complex of the Belvedere was built by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt and served Prince Eugene as his actual residence in summer, the Upper Belvedere was usually used only on special occasions.

The center of the complex is the representative two-story marble hall, which shows the achievements of the imperial commander-in-chief Prince Eugene at the beginning of the 18th century. The monumental ceiling fresco by Martino Altomonte with Apollo in the sun chariot and the prince as a naked hero receiving the papal gifts of honor from Mercury was triggered by the victorious battle of Peterwardein against the numerically superior Ottoman Empire.

In addition to the wall division with war trophies, the plaster medallions with scenes from the life of Apollo set in the reddish-brown stucco marble with mock paintings on the walls also indicate the prince’s fine spiritual interests.

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.