The Kolschitzky monument from 1885 in the 4th district by the Austrian painter and sculptor Emanuel Pendl shows Georg Franz Kolschitzky, born in (today’s) Ukraine, who played an important role as a scout during the 2nd Vienna Turkish siege of 1683.

Kolschitzky, who could speak Turkish among other languages, ventured through the enemy lines with his servant disguised as a Turk and informed the city commander Count Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg about the approaching rescue by the relief army under the command of the Polish King Jan III Sobieski.

This courageous act, which decisively boosted the morale of the defenders to hold out, earned him, besides the rank of imperial ambassador, among other things, some sacks of green coffee left behind by the Turks and the privilege to establish a coffee house. Whether he actually made use of this privilege is not proven, but he is still considered one of the founding fathers of Viennese coffeehouse culture and the inventor of the Viennese Melange (= espresso with milk and foamed milk topping).

The Theater Ronacher of 1872 was originally planned by Ferdinand Fellner & Sohn for the German theater director Heinrich Laube. After 20 years of successful management of the Burgtheater, Laube was rudely replaced and, together with the publisher of the „Neue Wiener Presse“ Max Friedländer, decided to build a privately financed rival theater to the Burg. This developed into a legendary duel between the houses, which was abruptly interrupted by a fire 12 years later.

The theater entrepreneur Anton Ronacher had the ruins rebuilt by the theater architects Fellner and Helmer in 1888 as the „Konzert- und Ballhaus Ronacher“. The building, which was repeatedly adapted, was used after WWII as an alternative stage for the castle, then later for TV productions and, after 10 years of vacancy, was expanded by the Vereinigen Bühnen Wien as a musical stage with more than 1,000 seats.

After a general renovation, in the 2000s there was still a controversial roof extension of the on 3 sides free-standing theater building in historicism with temple facade by Arch. Günter Domenig.

The 1940 born Austrian Pop Art painter Prof. Christian Ludwig Attersee, who was also active as an author, musician, stage designer and formerly also as a sailor, is responsible for one of the most striking facades on the largest Viennese shopping mile, the Mariahilfer Street in the district of the same name. Completed in 1996, the glass mosaic „Wetterhändler“ on the exterior of an int. textile chain is considered the largest in Europe with its 210sqm and was made by the mosaic artist Elio Macoritto.

Already early picture cycles from the 1960s called „Weather Pictures“ and „Rainbow Anomaly“, his closeness to Viennese Actionism or his „object inventions“ with fantasy names such as „Speisekugel“ or „Attersteck“ show the diversity of the multi-awarded international artist, who is also considered a co-founder of the „New Austrian Painting“.

The Emperor Franz Monument in the Burggarten in classicist forms depicts Franz I Stephen of Lorraine, husband of Maria Theresa and as Franz I Roman-German Emperor from 1745-1765 on horseback. Vienna’s first equestrian statue was begun by Balthasar Ferdinand Moll during the emperor’s lifetime and completed in 1781 in cast lead.

However, the court did not purchase the monument and the sculptor left it to his family. In 1797 it was placed in the Paradeisgartel on the Bastei and in 1819 it was transferred to the former „Kaisergarten“. Moll, who came from Tyrol, is still known today, especially for the production of the 20 or so magnificent coffins in the Capuchin crypt.

Franz Stephan was a financial genius; in 1763 he was entrusted with the supreme management of finances and the reorganization of the national debt. Open to all modern trends (and to women) he invested in industrial settlements and mining), he devoted himself to collecting for his natural history cabinet (which became the Natural History Museum) and to acquiring a large private fortune.

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. He also contributed his collection to the National Museum in Budapest, which was 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!