Vienna International Airport (Austria)

Vienna International Airport

Our 11-day France-Austria tour was now at an end and it was now time to return to Manila. Grace cousins Popong and Freddie Flores picked us up at Azimut Vienna Delta Hotel and brought all of us to Vienna International Airport (German: Flughafen Wien-Schwechat, Slovak: Letisko Viedeň-Schwechat; IATA: VIE, ICAO: LOWW) where we were to depart on our 10:40 PM Emirates Airlines flight (EK-126).

Check out “Hotel and Inn Review: Azimut Vienna Delta Hotel

This international airport, located in Schwechat, 18 kms. (11 mi.) southeast of central Vienna and 57 kms. (35 mi.) west of Bratislava. is the country’s largest airport and serves as the hub for Austrian Airlines and Eurowings Europe as well as a base for low-cost carriers LaudaLevel and Wizz Air.

The airport, featuring a dense network of European destinations as well as long-haul flights to AsiaNorth America and Africa, is capable of handling wide-body aircraft up to the Airbus A380. In 2018, it handled 27 million passengers (a 10.8% increase compared to 2017).

Our three-hour long stay at the airport wasn’t tedious as we were seated, while waiting for our flight, on comfortable chairs with plugs plus there was free and good internet connection without time limit. The airport also had 70 duty free shops in a shopping area located just after ticket control counters.  However, we need to check in before getting to shops, not pass security check nor passport control.

There were also a number of food and beverage outlets, of various standards and available both airside and landside, ranging from McDonald’s and Burger King to concessions run by Vienna’s famous delicatessen and restaurants. Though the burger places had the same prices as in the outside world, their upscale restaurants were pricier than in the city. For those on a tight budget, there were supermarkets such as Billa (a general grocery store, at check-in area 1, with Austrian Mozartkugeln and small snacks) and Spar (supermarket at arrival area) were you can buy food for normal supermarket prices.

A food and beverage outlet inside the airport

Here is the historical timeline of the airport:

  • In 1938, it was built as a military airport
  • During World War II, the airport was used as the Heinkel-Süd facility, Heinkelfirm’s southern military aircraft design and production complex.
  • In 1945, it was taken over by the British and became RAF Schwechat under the occupation of the country.
  • In 1954, the Betriebsgesellschaft was founded and the airport replaced Aspernas Vienna’s (and Austria’s) principal aerodrome. There was just one runway
  • In 1959, the runway was expanded to measure 3,000 m. (9,843 ft.) and the erection of the new airport building was started.
  • In 1972, another runway was built.
  • In 1982, the airport was connected to the national motorway network (Ostautobahn).
  • In 1986, the enlarged arrivals hall was opened
  • In 1988, Pier East, with 8 jet bridges, was opened.
  • On December 27, 1985, the El Alticket counter was attacked by Abu Nidal, a Palestinian terrorist organization that simultaneously conducted a terrorist attack at Fiumicino Airport in Rome.
  • In 1992, the new Terminal 1 was opened
  • In 1993, the shopping area around the plaza in the transit area of the B, C and D gates was opened.
  • In 1996, Pier West, with 12 jet bridges, started operating.
  • In 2006, the 109 m. (358 ft.) tall control tower started operating and a VIP- and general aviation-terminal, including a separated apron, opened.
  • From 2004–2007, an Office Park was erected.
  • On June 5, 2012, the new Austrian Star Alliance Terminal (Terminal 3, named Skylink during its construction) was opened, which enables the airport to handle up to 30 million passengers per year.
  • In January 2013, Terminal 1 underwent refurbishment.
  • In July 2019, the refurbishment of Terminal 2 started (planned to reopen in the end of 2020).

 

L-R: Grace, Cheska and Freddie

The airport has four terminal buildings.  Terminal 1 (mainly used by some One World and SkyTeam airlines), Terminal 2 (currently closed, pending refurbishment) and Terminal 3 (Austrian Star Alliance Terminal, the airport’s newest facility), which all connect to the five concourses, are directly built against each other.

The additional Terminal 1A, hosting check-in facilities for a number of low-cost carriers, is located in a stand alone building opposite Terminal 1. The central arrivals hall for all terminal areas is located in Terminal 3. Terminal 3, with its adjoining Concourses F and G,  is used by the Austrian Airlines Group, most Star Alliance members, and a number of other carriers including EmiratesEl AlKorean AirRoyal Jordanian and Qatar Airways.

Duty-free shopping area

Concourse B, in the basement of Concourse C, features Gates B31–B42 (boarding by buses) for Schengen destinations. Concourse C (Pier West), for Schengen destinations, features Gates C31–C42 (jetbridges), C71–C75 (buses, Schengen only). Concourse D (Pier East, formerly Concourse A, is for non-Schengen destinations with shared passport control at the entrance of Pier East.  It features Gates D21–D29 (boarding via jetbridges), D31–D37 (boarding via buses), and D61–D70 (buses).

Concourse D, to be refurbished as part of the refurbishment program announced in March 2016, will be equipped to handle the Airbus A380. Concourse F, at Level 1 of Pier North, is used for Schengen destinations and consists of Gates F01-F37 (jetbridges and buses).  Concourse G, at Level 3 and basement of Pier North, is for non-Schengen destinations.  Shared passport control, at the entrance of Level 3, features Gates G01-G37 (jetbridges and busgates) and G61-67 (boarding via buses).

L-R: Cheska and Kyle

Its control tower allows a free overview of the entire airport area and offers a night laser show, which should welcome the passengers even from the aircraft. Its Office Park offers 69,000 sq. m. (740,000 sq. ft.) of rentable space.

Vienna International Airport: 1300 Schwechat, Austria.  Tel: +43 1 70070.  Website: www.viennaairport.com.

The Original Sachertorte (Austria)

There are three Cs most closely associated with Vienna – Classical music, coffee and cake.  For the latter, the No.1 in the cake rankings is the Sachertorte, a chocolate cake (or torte) of Austrian origin which is, denser than your usual sponge cake, with one or more layers of jam (usually apricot) and coated in dark chocolate icing on the top and sides.

The original Sachertorte

One of the most famous Viennese culinary specialties, it was originally invented by Franz Sacher, supposedly in 1832 for Prince Metternich, Austria’s top diplomat, in Vienna.  The court of the prince had requested an especially delicious dessert for a special occasion but, as the maître Chambellier was ill at the time, 16-year-old apprentice Franz Sacher filled in and the cake he created could not have been more delicious so much so that Metternich was said to have remarked “Oh, that he may not discredit me tonight!” Franz’s son, Eduard, who opened Hotel Sacher Wien in 1876, fine-tuned the recipe.

Today, Sachertorte’s fame has gone global, with Franz Sacher, on his 200th birthday in 2016, getting a Google Doodle. In the USA, December 5 is National Sachertorte Day.

A slice of sachertorte at the airport

This classic, world-famous cake is pretty much available as a staple food, in many variations on a common theme, in Viennese coffee housesKonditoreien (confectioneries), patisseries and many restaurants (where it lurks innocently in the cake vitrine) but the two most traditional sources are Hotel Sacher Wien and Demel.  The “original” Sacher Torte, of Hotel Sacher Wien, has two layers of apricot jam between the outer layer of chocolate icing and the sponge base. Demel’s “Eduard-Sacher-Torte,” on the other hand, has only one layer and is denser and smoother.

The cake’s wooden box

I tried a slice of this cake, prior to our departure back to Manila, at an F&B outlet at the Vienna International Airport.  Plus, inside my luggage is a wooden box, with four golden corners, the inside of the lid with the wood engraving of the Hotel Sacher Wien as well as “Das Original” and “Hotel Sacher Wien” in writing and Bordeaux red wrapping paper, with a Biedermeier motif, enclosing the Piccolo size (12 cm. diameter,0.4 kg.) of the “original” version of Sachertorte, a take home gift from Marivic “Vicky” Dionela, our Vienna host and Grace’s first cousin. Vienna’s Hotel Sacher was opened by Franz Sacher’s son Eduard in 1876

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The still hand-made, original Sachertorte, still using Franz Sacher’s original, closely guarded recipe to this day, is a refined, elegant combination of chocolate flavors with a simple apricot jam filling (which becomes absorbed into the cake and forms a slightly sweet moist layer in the center), a decadent bittersweet glaze complemented by a compulsory mound of Schlag.

Hotel’s Sacher’s logo at the box’s lid

Every bit of Sachertorte is supposed to be dipped with a dollop of traditional unsweetened whipped cream which is an important part of the picture as it moistens the frankly firm cake layers.  Their icing is said to consist of three special types of chocolate which, for this sole purpose, are exclusively produced by different manufacturers. Sacher Hotel obtains these products from Lübeck in Germany and from Belgium. It is sold at Hotel Sacher in Vienna and Salzburg, at Cafe Sacher branches in Innsbruck and Graz, at the Sacher Shop in Bolzano, in the Duty Free area of Vienna airport, and via the Hotel Sacher’s online shop.

This chocolate cake, both light and rich at the same time was, quite simply, delicious though the layer of icing overdoes the sweetness.

Hotel Sacher: Philharmoniker Str. 4, 1010 Vienna, Austria. Tel: +43 1 514560.  Website: www.sacher.com › original-sacher-torte.

Seegrotte (Hinterbrühl, Austria)

Seegrotte

Seegrotte

We were now on our final day of our Europe Tour and, prior to our evening departure from Vienna for Manila, Grace’s cousins Popong and Freddie organized one final morning tour, this time to Seegrotte, one of the most spectacular natural monuments in the world today.  After breakfast at the hotel, we again met up with Popong and Freddie at the hotel lobby and again boarded the same hired van we used for touring yesterday.

DSC07100

Seegrotte, in southern Lower Austria, near Hinterbrühl, is a 26 km. (40-min.) drive, via the A23, from Vienna.  It is an underground cave system with a large grotto located under a former gypsum mine. From 1848 to 1912, red and grey gypsum, used by farmers as fertilizer, was mined in the mountain inside the Wagner Kogels by G. Plankenbichler. However, in 1912, an underground blasting operation in the mine went awry, opening a water pocket and causing 20 million liters of water to gush forth from behind the rock and flood the lower level galleries and adits of the mine, creating the largest subterranean (60 m. below ground) lake in Europe but causing the mine’s closure.

Listening to our guide

Listening to our guide

As a consequence, the mine remained closed for years until the 1930s when an international team of cave explorers rediscovered the unique natural spectacle and, with great enthusiasm, they opened this curiosity to the general public as a show mine in 1932.

Miners represented at work at the pause chamber of miners

Miners represented at work at the pause chamber of miners

However, during World War II, Seegrotte was requisitioned by the German military due to the fact that the subterranean site offered the best protection against bombing raids in Nazi Germany‘s “second Ruhr.” It was permanently pumped dry and inside the far flung tunnels, Heinkel Werke built an underground aircraft factory and employed over 2,000 World War II prisoners-of-war and concentration camp prisoners (1,800 forced laborers and 300 skilled workers) to produce the air frames (a total of 198 were produced) of the Heinkel He 162 Salamander, one of the first jet fighters of the world and a secret weapon of the German Luftwaffe. At the end of the war, the German armed forces destroyed the pumps that prevented the mine from filling with water.

The Three Musketeers

The Three Musketeers

After the war, a major clean-up was undertaken and Seegrotte was reopened, in the spring of 1949, as a tourist attraction of the first order. Since its reopening more than 10 million visitors from around the world have visited this former mine, 250 000 of them just last year alone. The complex also served as a location for some of the scenes from the 1993 Disney movie “The Three Musketeers,” and some of the set dressing is still in place (prison walls, and a boat in the underground lake).

The author beside the spooky gilded boat of the Three Musketeers

The author beside the spooky gilded boat of the Three Musketeers

Prison set for The Three Musketeers

Prison set for The Three Musketeers

Upon arrival and payment of admission at Seegrotte, we waited outside the entrance for the previous tour group to finish and return before entering. Above the gateway is a sign with the words “Gluck auf,” the old German miner’s greeting literally translated as “Luck up” or “Luck open.” We were forewarned that it is very cold inside (a constant 9° C, the temperature in summer and winter alike) and, as we didn’t bring a shawl, stole or jacket, we rented a blanket for €0.50. The 35-min. tour took us to 5 lighted caves depicting various activities within the mine as well as the underground lake.

The narrow tunneling adit

Popong making his way through the narrow tunneling adit

The narrow tunneling adit we passed through (anyone over 6′ would have to stoop), single file, was about 400 to 450 m. long and took us 15 mins. to traverse, a compelling recognition of the dismal workday environment of the miners as, in the past, 80 miners brought 2-3 wagons of gypsum daily to the surface through this adit.

Horse stable

Horse stable

Down the hole, we first stopped at a pause chamber, with miners represented at work, and then the former gypsum mine’s own horse stable. The horses, which pulled the heavy wagons loaded with gypsum to the surface as well as turned the horse mill, stayed up to 20 years inside the mine without going up, going blind in the process.

The 85-step stairway leading to the Blue Lake

The 85-step stairway leading to the Blue Lake

Next stop, down an easily negotiated (there’s no wheelchair access though) 85-step stairway, is the very picturesque Blue Lake whose water surface area is about 300 sq. m.  A part of the bigger lake is located 14 m. below this small lake. It is about 1.2-3 m. deep and its water temperature is about 8° C.  The eerily lovely lake’s still, lifeless (without oxygen, there is no aquatic life at all) but very clear waters glow deep blue under artificial lights.  Nearby is the spooky gilded boat and the set for D’Artagnan‘s prison.

The Blue Lake

The Blue Lake

The lake is fed by 7 underground springs but has no natural drainage. The water depth is maintained constant at around 1.2 m. by pumping out 50-60 thousand liters of water daily every night.

Boat ride along the Blue Lake

Boat ride along the Blue Lake

Here, we were to make a short (10-min.) and nondescript, electric motor-powered boat ride. Manny, Popong, Grace, Cheska and Kyle boarded ahead of me and Freddie and we had to wait for their return before boarding. The boat ride  took us through cave openings that look so beautiful, especially when reflected on the crystal clear water.

Shrine to St. Barbara

Shrine to St. Barbara

After our boat ride, we again went up the stairs and proceeded to the Chapel of St. Barbara, built 25 m, below the surface by the miners in 1864 for their dead and injured comrades and consecrated to their patron, St. Barbara. Again, the two letters G + A stand for the miner greeting “Gluck auf” (“Good luck”). Every four years, the St. Barbara Celebration takes place at the Chapel of St. Barbara on the first Sunday in December.  On that day, a senior chaplain celebrates Mass in honor of the miners. At one time, the Cardinal of Vienna attended, accompanied by the Vienna Boys Choir.

A display of a scaled model and few original airplane parts of the Heinkel He 162

A display of a scaled model and few original airplane parts of the Heinkel He 162 Salamander

Mining equipment exhibit

Mining equipment exhibit

Final stops are a display of a scaled model and few original airplane parts of the Heinkel He 162 and a museum exhibiting mine lamps and former mining tools (miner’s lamps, etc.) which were used in the past gypsum mine. This was supposed to be the end of the tour, but we still had time to explore, on our own and up a flight of stairs, to the Festsaal, the ballroom of the Berwerkes where feasts were celebrated.

Door leading to the Festsaal

Door leading to the Festsaal

The Festsaal

The Festsaal

If you have half a day to spare, Seegrotte is an interesting place to visit if you are around Vienna. It is not typical cave, so if you are looking for rock formation or typical dripstones such as stalactites and stalagmites, you will be disappointed. It is simply a huge underground space with an interesting history and an underground lake as its main attraction.

L-R- Freddie, Manny, Jandy, Kyle, Cheska, Grace and the author at the Festsaal

L-R: Freddie, Manny, Jandy, Kyle, Cheska, Grace and the author.  In the background is the fireplace of the Festsaal

During our visit, it was the perfect getaway from the heat of the Viennese summer. The tour is not recommended for people who have difficulty walking or are claustrophobic. Wear sensible footwear as the mine floor can be slippery. Beside the entrance is the nice Romerquelle cafe offering cakes, doughnuts and apple strudel. The toilets/WC are PAY only and situated about 50 m. from the attraction.

Romerquelle Cafe

Romerquelle Cafe

Seegrotte: Grutschgasse 2a, 2371 Hinterbrühl, Austria.  Tel: +43 2236 26364. Website: www.seegrotte.at.  E-mail: office@seegrotte.at. Admission: adults (€10), children (from 4 to 14 years, €7), Family Card (2 adults + 2 children, €27).

How to Get There: Seegrotte is a train and a bus journey away from Vienna. Take the S-Bahn S2 train (running every 15-20 mins.) from Meilding to Modling then, from outside the station, take Bus no. 364 or 365 (25-min. drive) and get down at Seegrotte stop. From there, it is 2-3 walk. The return bus stop is 200 m. towards Modling station.

Melk Abbey – Stiftskirche (Melk, Austria)

Facade of Stiftskirche (Abbey Church)

Facade of Stiftskirche (Abbey Church)

The highlight and end of our Melk Abbey tour, though, is certainly the full-on Baroque  Stiftskirche (Abbey Church) with its 200-ft. tall dome, symmetrical towers and astonishing number of windows.

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Dome

The 200 ft. tall dome with frescoes of the heavens opening

This grand finale, resplendent in a golden hue, is richly embellished with marble and altar paintings and frescoes by Johann Michael Rottmayr, with help from Paul Troger.

Pulpit

Pulpit of Giusseppe Galli-Bibiena

Jakob Prandtauer and, after his death, by his nephew Joseph Munggenast were the leading architects.  For the interior design and sketches for the frescoes, Antonio Beduzzi definitely was involved in the planning.

Interior of church

Ceiling frescoes by Johann Michael Rottmayr

Together with other prominent artists and masters in their fields such as Giuseppe Galli-Bibiena (designs for the pulpit and high altar), Lorenzo Mattielli (design for the sculptures), Peter Widerin (sculptures) and many others, they created a synthesis of the arts to the glory of God, an unparalleled, indisputably classic example of Baroque.

High Altar

High Altar

The inscription (from 2 Timothy 2,5), on the high altar, reads “non coronabitur nisi legitime certaverit” (“Without a legitimate battle there is no victory”). The left side altar (Coloman Altar), in the transept, contains, in a sarcophagus, the skeleton of St. Coloman of Stockerau.

St. Coloman's Altar

St. Coloman’s Altar

St. Benedict's Altar

St. Benedict’s Altar flanked by statues of St. Scholastica and St. Berthold of Garsten

The altar to the right is dedicated to St. Benedict.  It cenotaph (empty sarcophagus) bears the inscription “erit sepulchrum eius gloriosum” (“his grave will be glorious”). To the right of the altar is the statue of St. Scholastica (Benedict’s sister) while on the left is St. Berthold of Garsten.

St. Michael's Altar

St. Michael’s Altar

Glass sarcophagus of St. Clemens

Glass sarcophagus of St. Clemens

The St. Michael Altar has a glass sarcophagus with the skeleton of a so-called catacomb saint, given to the monastery in 1722 by Viennese nuncio Cardinal Alessandro Crivelli, and given the name Clemens.

St. John the Baptist Altar

St. John the Baptist Altar

Glass sarcophagus of Friedrich

Glass sarcophagus of Friedrich

Opposite is the St. John the Baptist Altar, also with a glass sarcophagus of a catacomb saint given as a gift to the monastery by Maria Theresa and displayed here in 1762. The unknown saint received the name Friedrich.

St. Sebastian's Altar

St. Sebastian’s Altar

The Epiphany Altar

The Epiphany Altar

The altar painting at St. Leopold’s Altar, painted on a lead plate in 1650 by Georg Bachmann, is from the old abbey church.  It shows a depiction of the history of the foundation on the Melk monastery. Other side altars are dedicated to the Epiphany, St. Nicolas  and St. Sebastian.

St. Nicolas Altar

St. Nicolas Altar

St. Leopold's Altar

St. Leopold’s Altar

St. Benedict’s battle for virtue, the theme most strongly expressed by the nave’s fresco, depicts victory in this battle as portrayed, on the one hand, by the large victory crown on the high altar and the dome frescoes, in which the heavens open and, on the other hand, by the victor’s laurels over the monk, who has achieved spiritual fulfillment.

Melk Abbey:  Abt-Berthold-Dietmayr-Straße 1, 3390 Melk, Austria. Tel: +43 2752 5550.  Open 9 AM – 6 PM. Website: www.stiftmelk.at. Admission (abbey park and the bastion): Adults: (€4,00), Students (€ 3,00), Children (6-16  years) (€ 1,00).

Melk Abbey (Melk, Austria)

Melk Abbey

Melk Abbey

After our tour of Mathausen Memorial, we again boarded our van for the 86.8-km. (1-hour) trip, via the A1, to huge Melk Abbey (German: Stift Melk), one of Europe’s great sights located on a rock-strewn outcrop overlooking the banks of the Danube River.  Adjoining the Wachau Valley between Salzburg and Vienna, it is a Benedictine abbey above the town of Melk in Lower Austria. 

Inner (Prelates) Courtyard

Inner (Prelates) Courtyard

The 497-room (with 1,365 windows) abbey, founded in 1089 when Leopold II, Margrave of Austria gave one of his castles to Benedictine monks from Lambach Abbey (who turned it into a fortified abbey), contains the tomb of St. Coloman of Stockerau and the remains of several members of the House of Babenberg, Austria’s first ruling dynasty who ruled Austria from 976 until the House of Hapsburg took over.

Abbey gate

Abbey gate

A monastic school, the Stiftsgymnasium Melk, was founded in the 12th century and the abbey’s influence and reputation as a center of learning and culture spread throughout Austria.  The Name of the RoseUmberto Eco‘s popular novel, was researched by Eco in the abbey’s monastic library which is renowned for its extensive manuscript collection (the monastery’s scriptorium was a major site for the production of manuscripts).

Main Entrance with statues of Apostles Peter & Paul designed by Lorenzo Mattielli

Main Entrance with statues of Apostles Peter & Paul designed by Lorenzo Mattielli

As a tribute to the abbey and its famous library, he named the apprentice, one of the protagonists, as “Adson von Melk.” Members of the Melk monastic community have achieved significant success in the fields of natural science and the arts and among its alumni was the 19th-century Austrian dramatist and short-story writer, Friedrich Halm.

L-R: the author, Grace, Kyle, Cheska and Jandy

L-R: the author, Grace, Kyle, Cheska and Jandy

Since 1625 the abbey has been a member of the Austrian Congregation, now within the Benedictine Confederation. During the Reformation and the 1683 Turkish invasion, Melk Abbey suffered damage but it was spared direct attack when the Ottoman armies were halted just outside Vienna.  In 1701, a Baroquization of the abbey church was planned but, after 1701, at Abbot Berthold Dietmayr’s instigation, a complete reconstruction of the church took place, following plans by architect Jakob Prandtauer, and completed in 1736.

Kaisergang (Emperors' Gallery)

Kaisergang (Emperors’ Gallery)

Between 1780 and 1790, under Emperor Joseph II, many Austrian abbeys were seized and dissolved but, due to its fame and academic stature, Melk managed to escape dissolution. The abbey also managed to survive the Napoleonic Wars and the period following the Anschluss in 1938, when the school and a large part of the abbey were confiscated by the state. After the Second World War, the school was returned to the abbey and now caters for nearly 900 pupils, of both sexes, in secondary and preparatory school. Today, the institution survives, funded by agriculture and tourist visits.

Rule of St. Benedict at Room 1 - Listen with Your Heart

Rule of St. Benedict at Room 1 – Listen with Your Heart

In 1947, the abbey church was damaged by fire but, after a 10-year long restoration, financed with help from the state and federal government, was finished in 1987. To celebrate the 1,000th anniversary of the first reference to a country named Österreich (Austria), another grand restoration project,  financed in part by the sale of the abbey’s Gutenberg Bible to Harvard University (which was later donated to Yale University), was completed by 1996.

Room 2 - A House for God and Man

Room 2 – A House for God and Man

Room 3 - The Ups and Downs of History

Room 3 – The Ups and Downs of History

Upon arrival, we entered Benedict Hall, above which is a leitmotif with the Latin words “absit gloriari nisi incruce” (“Glory is found only in the cross”) and a huge copy of the Melk Cross, one of the abbey’s greatest treasures (the original is hidden in the treasury, viewable only with special permission).

Room 4 - The Word of Life

Room 4 – The Word of Life

We first visited the imperial rooms with its restored inlaid wood floors, currently home to the most modern abbey museum in Austria, passing through the art-lined Kaisergang (Emperors’ Gallery) which stretches for 197 m. (644 ft.) and is decorated with portraits of Austrian royalty.

Room 5 -Now we are seeing a dim reflection in a mirror … (1 Cor. 13,12)

Room 5 -Now we are seeing a dim reflection in a mirror … (1 Cor. 13,12)

The museum’s current exhibition, entitled “The Path from Yesterday to Today – Melk Abbey in its Past and Present,” was designed by architect Hans Hoffer, also the designer of the “Klangtheater Ganzohr” in Vienna and the director of the “Linzer Klangwolke” several times.   The exhibits chronicle the ages of the abbey, and each room is lit up with a symbolic color.

Reusable coffin at Room 7 - In the Name of Reason

Reusable coffin at Room 7 – In the Name of Reason

Room 9 - The Path to the Future

Room 9 – The Path to the Future

They are divided into the blue-colored “Listen with Your Heart,” the green-colored “A House for God and Man,” “The Ups and Downs of History,” “The Word of Life,” “Now we are seeing a dim reflection in a mirror … (1 Cor. 13,12),” “Heaven on Earth,” “In the Name of Reason,” “The Whole Person,” “The Path to the Future,” “To Glorify God in Everything and The City on the Mountain” and “Motion Is a Sign of Life.”

Room 10 - a very complicated lock box that operated with a single key

Room 10 – a very complicated lock box that operated with a single key

Model of the 497-room Melk Abbey at Room 11 - Motion Is a Sign of Life

Model of the 497-room Melk Abbey at Room 11 – Motion Is a Sign of Life

The Prelate’s Hall, with its Baroque painting gallery, is one of the most beautiful rooms in the monastery. Though not open to the public, it is used by the abbot for representative purposes.

The Marble Hall

The Marble Hall

From the museum, we proceeded to the Marmorsaal (Marble Hall), the gorgeous room that served as a dining hall for the imperial family and other distinguished guests, as well as a festival hall. Containing pilasters coated in red marble and walls of stucco marble, it has impressive allegorical painted ceiling frescos, by Tirolean Paul Troger (1731), and an optical illusion framing it. The architectural painting, done by Gaetano Fanti, gives the impression that the ceiling rises up and curves higher than it does but is, in fact, flat.

Marble Hall (6)

It shows, in the middle, Pallas Athena on a chariot drawn by lions as a symbol of wisdom and moderation. To her left is Hercules who symbolizes the force necessary to conquer Cerberus (the three-headed hound of hell), night and sin. Both Pallas Athena and Hercules allude to Emperor Karl VI, who liked to be celebrated as a successor to the Roman emperors in the Hercules legend. In effect, it shows the essence of the House of Habsburg – the ruler brings the people from darkness to light, from evil to good.

The ceiling frescoes

The ceiling frescoes of Paul Troger depicting Pallas Athena and Hercules

The doors, with frames  made of genuine marble from Adnet and Untersberg (in the province of Salzburg), are inscribed with quotes from the Rule of St. Benedict, indicating the purpose of the room – “Hospites tamquam Christus suscipiantur” (“Guests should be received as Christ would be”) and “Et omnibus congruus honor exhibeatur” (“And to each the honor given which is his due”).

The abbey terrace

The abbey terrace connecting the Marble Hall with the library

From the Marble Hall, we went out into the abbey’s terrace, a balcony connecting the Marble Hall and the library. Napoleon probably used it as a lookout when he used Melk as his headquarters for his campaign against Austria. From here, we had a wonderful view of the Danube River, the western facade of the abbey church, the scenery of the Wachau Valley and the town of Melk.

View of the town of Melk from the terrace

View of the town of Melk and Danube River from the terrace

From the terrace, we entered the 12-room library  which rises two floors. Second only to the church in the order of importance of the rooms in the Benedictine monastery, the library houses around 80,000 volumes of priceless medieval manuscripts  including a famed collection of musical manuscripts,  750 incunabula (printed works before 1500), 1,700 works from the 16th century, 4,500 from the 17th century and 18,000 from the 18th century.  Together with the newer books, it totals approximately 100,000 volumes with about 16,000 of these found in this library room. They are organized by topics: beginning with editions of the Bible in Row I, theology (Rows II to VII), jurisprudence (Row VIII), geography and astronomy (Row VIIII), history (Rows X to XV) and ending with the Baroque lexica  in Row XVI.

The Library

The Library (photo: www.stiftmelk.at)

The monks had a high regard for their library as seen from the valuable artistic decoration.  The ceiling fresco, also by Paul Troger (1731 to 1732), shows, in contrast to the secular scenery of the Marble Hall, a symbolic depiction of Faith. In the center is a recognizable female figure, the allegory of Faith. She is surrounded by four groups of angels, who stand for the four Cardinal Virtues: Wisdom, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance. The four wooden sculptures are depictions of the four faculties – Theology, Philosophy, Medicine and Jurisprudence.

Spiral Staircase

Spiral Staircase

The Small Library room contains mainly historical works from the 19th century onwards. The spiral staircase, with Rococo grate, leads to the two upper floor reading rooms of the library, which are not open to the public. Its ceiling fresco, by Paul Troger, shows an allegorical portrayal of Scientia (Science), while the architectural painting on the ceiling fresco was done by Gaetano Fanti. From the library, we proceeded to explore the Stiftskirche (Abbey Church)

Check out “Stiftskirche

Abbey Garden

Abbey Garden

Just outside is the abbey’s park, designed as a baroque park in 1750 and, in 1822, replanted as an English landscape garden.  It has a picturesque Baroque garden pavilion, built like a small belvedere by Franz Mungenast in 1748.  It houses some fine frescoes exotic animals and plants, jungles and native people created by Johann Wenzel Bergl in 1764.

Baroque Garden Pavilion

Baroque Garden Pavilion

It was renovated from 1998-1999 and, since 2000, has been opened to the public. The pavilion was once situated above the Danube River which was once much wider, reaching as far as the rock below the gardens.  Within the pavilion is a self-service café. Murals, in the courtyard, are modern additions that blend in well with the look of the place. Each is a representation of the four virtues: Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance.

Self-service cafe at Baroque Garden Pavilion

Self-service cafe at Baroque Garden Pavilion

Before leaving, we dropped by the Stiftsrestaurant Melk, the abbey restaurant located near the entrance. It serves hot meals and monastery wine in beautiful Baroque and outdoor surroundings. Here, we had some ice cream sundae.

Stiftsrestaurant Melk

Stiftsrestaurant Melk

Melk Abbey:  Abt-Berthold-Dietmayr-Straße 1, 3390 Melk, Austria. Tel: +43 2752 5550.  Open 9 AM – 6 PM. Website: www.stiftmelk.at. Admission (abbey park and the bastion): Adults: (€4,00), Students (€ 3,00), Children (6-16  years) (€ 1,00).

Mauthausen Memorial (Mauthausen, Austria)

Mauthausen Memorial

Mauthausen Memorial

Come morning, after breakfast at our hotel, Grace, Manny, Jandy, Cheska, Kyle and I were met by my wife’s cousins Popong and Freddie at the hotel lobby.  Once assembled, we boarded the rented van driven by Freddie that would take us on our 88.7-km.  journey to Mauthausen Memorial, site of the first concentration camp established by the Nazis in in Upper Austria after their annexation of country in March 1938 and one of the last remaining concentration camps from World War II in Europe.

Mauthausen

The idyllic Mauthausen countryside today

On our way out, we also picked up Vicky, another of Grace’s cousins, and her husband Isko who were to join us on our trip. Our journey took us a little over an hour, with a short stopover for snacks and a toilet break.  Upon arrival, Freddie parked the van at a big parking area just outside the complex. Upon alighting, we first walked to the new, raw gray concrete visitor’s center, just outside the site’s walls.

The modern Visitors Center

The modern Visitors Center

Designed by architects Herwig MayerChristoph Schwarz, and Karl Peyrer-Heimstätt, the center was inaugurated in 2003.  It  covers an area of 2,845 sq. m. (30,620 sq. ft.). and has a book shop, information desk, workshop, toilets and a cinema. There is also a cafe but it has different opening hours depending on the time of year.

Inside the Visitors Center

Vicky, Freddie, Grace, Manny and Popong inside the Visitors Center

The camp, situated on a 265 m. (869 ft.) rise of above Mauthausen town (2014 population: 4,913),  on the Gusen River that flows into the Danube River, presently has a serene setting that belies its sordid past as, during World War II, Mauthausen was a labor camp designed to kill its inmates. The main camp of Mauthausen consisted of 32 barracks surrounded by an electrified barbed wire, high stone walls and watch towers.

Barracks and guard watchtower

Barracks and guard watchtower

From its beginnings, in August 8, 1938 (when prisoners from the Dachau concentration camp were sent to Mauthausen to begin the camp construction), to its liberation by the US 11th Armored Division, 3rd US Army on May 3, 1945, the concentration camp, one of the largest labor camp complexes in the Third Reich, worked people to death mining granite to build the granite fortress-prison of the main camp, pave the streets of Vienna and build Adolf Hitler‘s grandiose architectural projects. About 190,000 people from all over Europe were imprisoned in Mauthausen.

Czechoslovakia Monument

Czechoslovakia Monument

They included non-Germanic people groups (Jews, Slavs, Soviet prisoners, Czech and Polish intelligentsia, Roma, gypsies, etc.) who didn’t fit the Nazi ideal of racial superiority, perceived social threats (homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc.), and political dissenters (Social Democrats, Communists, anarchists, etc.). Mauthausen’s most famous inmate was Simon Wiesenthal who created the Simon Wiesenthal Center after the war to locate fugitive Nazi war criminals.

Poland Monument

Poland Monument

Inmates here were literally worked to death at the rock quarry (known as the “Wiener Graben”) and their daily diet was only half the calories necessary for subsistence.  Certain groups were simply summarily executed (including via a gas chamber) by the Nazi regime.

Soviet Union Monument

Soviet Union Monument

Over 100,000 people died. In 1949, it was declared a national memorial site and, on May 3, 1975, 30 years after the camp’s liberation, Bruno Kreisky, the Chancellor of Austria officially opened the Mauthausen Museum . The Mauthausen site remains largely intact, but much of what constituted the sub-camps of Gusen I, II and III is now covered by residential areas built after the war. Today, Mauthausen Memorial stands as a reminder of the darkest days of Austria’s history.

Mongol Gate

Mongol Gate

We entered the camp via the main entrance that former prisoners referred to as the Mongol (or Mongolian) Gate. The two identical guard watchtowers towers above the gate give the appearance of Chinese architecture. As there was a ready supply of granite, there was extensive use of this stone, making Mauthausen as the most ornate concentration camp during the war. The camp’s stone construction also made the camp look the same as when it was built in 1938.

Courtyard of SS Garage

Courtyard of SS Garage

There was once a metal eagle and swastika above the gate but it was removed when the camp was liberated in 1945. The stairs on the right lead down to the S.S. Garagenhof (garage yard) which was used  for S.S. celebrations and as an assembly area for inmates during delousing actions. Overlooking the garage is the balcony where camp commandant S.S. Col. Franz Ziereis would give speeches to his S.S. guards and inmates.

Roll Call Square

Roll Call Square

Once inside the camp, we stood on a wide open courtyard called “Roll Call Square” located in front of the hospital and gas chamber. Each day, there were 3 roll calls held in this courtyard (reduced to 2 after 1943) and inmates were assembled to hear speeches and instructions from Ziereis. The prisoner’s working day started at 4.45 AM in the summer and 5.15 AM in the winter. The day ended at 7 PM.  A number of memorials to the victims of Mauthausen are located in the roll call area.

Sarkophag Memorial

Sarkophag Memorial

Straight ahead is the “Klagemauer” (“Wailing Wall”). When prisoners first arrived here, they had to pass an initiation ritual which included passing hours and, sometimes days, standing facing “The Wailing Wall” while chained to iron rings set in the wall.

Memorial plaques at Wailing Wall

Memorial plaques at Wailing Wall

They were also interrogated and brutally beaten.  Today, the “Wailing Wall” and the wall on the left now have numerous personal memorial tablets placed there by families of the victims and a wide range of countries. There’s also a memorial to Pope John Paul II‘s visit to Mauthausen Memorial on June 24, 1988.

John Paul II Visit Memorial

John Paul II Visit Memorial

Behind the granite wall, on the right, is the quarantine camp while the building on the left, with 2 chimneys, is the hospital which contained a gas chamber in the basement. In the former kitchen is a Catholic church. The majority of the prisoners sent to Mauthausen were Catholics.

Catholic chapel

Catholic chapel

To the left of the Mongol Gate are some of the remaining wooden prisoner barracks that have been restored using the same materials used during the camp construction. These barracks were overcrowded and the sanitary conditions deplorable.

Barrack interior

Barrack interior

Each barrack had two bedrooms and two living rooms located on the left and right sides of the entrance. The prisoners were not allowed to spend much time in the living room, being forced to stay in the bedrooms, with two or three in the same bed. In front of the entrance, in the middle of the barrack, was the bathroom.

Barracks bathroom

Barracks bathroom

At the ground floor of the old infirmary is a very well explained (they also have an English translation) museum, opened in May 2013, covering the history of Mauthausen, from its inception in 1938 to the liberation of the camp on May 3, 1945.

Exhibits (8)

Museum exhibits

Museum exhibits

On display are samples of letters, clothes (the prisoners were forced to wear colored triangles in order to identify the category to which they belong – Gypsy, gay, Jewish, political prisoners, etc.) and other artifacts seen inside the camp.  This kept us occupied for quite a long time.

Typical striped concentration camp inmate clothes

Typical striped concentration camp inmate clothes

Next, we went down the basement where we followed the scene of the crime and the murder of prisoners. The gas chamber, refrigeration room, dissection room and crematorium complex, the very disturbing sections of the camp, are definitely not for the squeamish or for children.

Disinfection Room

Disinfection Room

The gas chamber, completed and used by the spring of 1942, could murder 120 people at one time and it is estimated that around 10,200 prisoners were gassed in this room. However, its construction was inefficient and the prisoners often died of suffocation rather than the gas. The Judas Opening, a hole in the door of the gas chamber, allowed the curious or, better said, the sadists, to see what is happening inside the chamber.

Crematorium

Crematorium

The dissection room was were, after a person was gassed, they were taken to have their gold fillings removed. The box on the right was for the collection of the fillings.  After their fillings were removed, their bodies were stored in the refrigeration room before being taken to the crematorium.

Portion of the high-voltage electric fence

Portion of the high-voltage electric fence

The dissection room was also used for cruel medical experiments and for taking organs from living people. The organs were bottled and stored on shelves.  The crematorium ovens was the final procedure in the murder process of tens of thousands of inmates of Mauthausen.

Crematorium Memorial Room

Crematorium Memorial Room

Then there is the Room of Names which displays and lists the etched names of 81,000 known victims (the names are also available to view via the internet) onto various horizontally placed black glass plates.  We then left the building and walk a short distance before returning to an older part of the museum.

Room of Names

Room of Names

On a green field at the entrance in the concentration camp, between the main camp and the quarry steps, is the Memorial Garden, originally the site of the S.S. administrative barracks.

Hungary Monument

Hungary Monument

Jewish Memorial

Jewish Memorial

In 1949, the site was turned into a memorial garden with the first memorial being donated by France. Today, there are now 22 monuments and more than 30 inscribed plaques, donated by numerous nations subjugated by Germany during the World War II, to remember their prisoners from Mauthausen.

Bulgaria Monument

Bulgaria Monument

Monument to Women

Monument to Women

Also inside the camp are many graves of different nationalities. Barracks 21–24 and Camp II, formerly used as quarantine camps after 1944, now house remains of the inmates from the “American cemeteries” which were transferred here in 1961.

Camp II (Quarantine Camp)

Camp II (Quarantine Camp)

Just past the Memorial Garden Prisoners is the “Todesstiege” (“Stairs of Death”), were Jewish inmates were forced to run up the 186 steps carrying huge packs with 25 kgs. of blocks of granite on their backs from  the Wiener Graben. The weight was gradually increased and, as the prisoners tired, they would fall backwards striking other prisoners, some of them being killed by the blocks that fell, and causing a domino effect, with the S.S. guards placing bets on who would fall.

Remembering the dead at Barracks 21-24

Remembering the dead at Barracks 21-24

For their sick entertainment, the sadistic S.S. guards would frequently take those that survived that fate to the top of the quarry and often forced them to jump or push them, over the narrow ledge of the quarry, to their deaths in a procedure called the “parachute jump,” cynically referring to them as “Fallschirmspringer” (“parachutists”). Today, the ledge is now overgrown with trees and bushes but, from an observation point, we can see the valley below.

Stairs of Death

Stairs of Death

Our visit to this concentration camp was educational, making us see the awful conditions the inmates were forced to live when the world was at war, and also left us speechless as we understood the pain people here experienced at this place.  It was like taking a trip back into time that, even though it is horrific, it is still part of history, a history that, for the sake of the world’s future, none should ever forget or pretend that it doesn’t exist. The Mauthausen Memorial truly deserves a visit, not just for the camp itself, but for the memory of all the people who lost their lives here.

L-R - Isko, Manny, PPopong, the author, Grace, Kyle, Jandy, Vicky and Cheska

L-R:- Isko, Manny, Popong, the author, Grace, Kyle, Jandy, Vicky and Cheska

Mauthausen Memorial: Erinnerungsstraße 1, 4310 Mauthausen, Austria. Tel: +43 7238 22690. Fax: +43 7238 2269 40. Admission: 2 EUR. Open daily, 9 AM – 5:30 PM (March 1 – July 10); Tuesdays – Sundays, 9 AM – 5:30 PM (July 11 – October 31) and Tuesdays – Sundays, 9 AM – 3:45 PM (November 1 – February 28).  Audio guides, in a variety of languages, are available for 3€. There are a number of guided tours available but it is a case of checking the website or phoning the visitor’s centre. During winter, some parts of the camp aren’t accessible for safety reasons (ice). Website: www.mauthausen-memorial.at.

St. Stephen’s Cathedral (Vienna,Austria)

St. Stephen’s Cathedral (Stephansdom)

Our first and only mass in Austria was held in St. Stephen’s Cathedral (Stephansdom)  in the Stephansplatz of Vienna. With its multi-colored tile roof, it is most important religious building in Vienna and one of the city’s most recognizable symbols. St. Stephen’s Cathedral has also borne witness to many important events in Habsburg and Austrian history.

The author at St. Stephen’s Cathedral

Here are some interesting trivia regarding this cathedral:

  • It is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna (Christoph Cardinal SchönbornOP)
  • The cathedral, dedicated to St. Stephen (also the patron of the bishop’s cathedral in Passau), is oriented toward the sunrise on his feast day of December 26, as the position stood in the year that construction began.
  • It is affectionately referred to, by the city’s inhabitants, as “Steffl” (a diminutive form of “Stephen”)
  • The main entrance to the church is named the Giant’s Door (or Riesentor), referring to the thighbone of a mastodon that hung over it for decades after being unearthed in 1443 while digging the foundations for the north tower.
  • Composer Ludwig van Beethoven discovered the totality of his deafness when he saw birds flying out of the bell tower as a result of the bells’ tolling but could not hear the bells.
  • At 20,130 kgs. (44,380 lb), its St. Mary Bell is the largest in Austria and the second largest swinging bell in Europe after the 23,500 kgs. (51,800 lb) Peter in Cologne Cathedral).
  • Stephen’s Cathedral is featured in media including films, video games, and television shows including The Third Man and Burnout 3.
  • The cathedral is also depicted on the Austrian 10 cent euro coins.
  • The South Tower is considered the most beautiful German Gothic tower in Europe thanks to features such as the statues below the richly ornamented canopies on the second floor.
  • In 1741, the funeral of the Italian composer, Antonio Vivaldi occurred in this cathedral.
  • On the packaging of the Manner-Schnitten wafer treat, the Archdiocese of Vienna allowed the Manner company to use the Cathedral as its logo in return for funding the wages of one stonemason doing repair work on the Cathedral.
  • This was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s parish church when he lived at the “Figaro House” and he was married here, two of his children were baptized here, and his funeral was held in the Chapel of the Cross. Shortly before his death, he was appointed an adjunct music director here. A memorial tablet gives a detailed account of his relationship with the cathedral.
  • In 2008,Sarah Brightman performed a concert promoting her latest album, Symphony, which was recorded for a TV broadcast and a further DVD release in late September.
  • Since 2008, the two sabers of theBalint Balassi Memorial Sword Award, founded by Pal Molnar, have been blessed during a Balassi Mass held a few days before the award ceremony. On January 25, 2013, in the presence of some 300 Hungarians, Bishop Laszlo Kiss-Rigo blessed the two swords during a Mass celebrated in the cathedral.
  • Over the centuries, soot and other forms of air pollution accumulating on the church have given it a black color, but recent restoration projects have again returned some portions of the building to its original white.
  • Its roof is so steep that it is sufficiently cleaned by the rain alone and is seldom covered by snow.

Bas relief

Built of limestone, the current Romanesque and Gothic form of the cathedral was largely initiated by Duke Rudolf IV and stands on the ruins of two earlier churches, the first a parish church consecrated in 1147.  It is 107 m. (351 ft.) long, 40 m. (130 ft.) wide and 136 m. (446 ft.) tall at the massive south tower, its highest point and a dominant feature of the Vienna skyline.

Bas relief

The soaring South Tower, built from 1368 to 1433, served as the main observation and command post for the defense of the walled city during the Siege of Vienna in 1529 and again during the Battle of Vienna in 1683.  Until 1955, it contained an apartment for the watchmen who, manned the tower at night and rang the bells if a fire was spotted in the city.  It’s a tough climb up the 343 steps to the Watch Room which has a spectacular view over the city. At the tip stands the double-eagle imperial emblem with the Habsburg-Lorraine coat of arms on its chest, surmounted by a double-armed apostolic cross (which refers to Apostolic Majesty, the imperial style of kings of Hungary). A peal of 11 electrically operated bells, cast in 1960, hangs in the south tower.

The South Tower

The North Tower, standing at 68 m. (223 ft.) tall (roughly half the height of the south tower), was originally intended to mirror the south tower but, considering the era of Gothic cathedrals was nearing its end, its design proved too ambitious and its construction was halted in 1511. However, in 1578, its tower-stump was augmented with a Renaissance cap (nicknamed the “water tower top” by the Viennese).

The ornately patterned and richly colored roof

The glory of St. Stephen’s Cathedral is its 111 m. (364 ft.) long, ornately patterned and richly colored roof which is covered by 230,000 glazed tiles. On the south side of the building, above the choir, the tiles form a mosaic of the double-headed eagle that is symbolic of the empire ruled from Vienna by the Habsburg dynasty. On the north side are depicted the coats of arms of the City of Vienna and of the Republic of Austria.

St. Stephen’s Cathedral has 23 bells in total. Some are replacements for other ancient bells lost in the 1945 fire. The north Roman Tower contains six bells, five of which were cast in 1772, that ring for evening prayers and toll for funerals. They are working bells of the cathedral and their names usually recall their original uses. The 1945 fire destroyed the bells that hung in the south Roman Tower. Four bells are used for an ordinary Mass.  The quantity increases to as many as ten for a major holiday Mass; and the eleventh and largest is added when the Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna himself is present. They include:

  • Mary – 20,130 kgs. (44,380 lbs.). Usually called Pummerin (“Boomer”), it hangs in the North Tower and was originally cast in 1711 from cannons captured from the Muslim invaders.  In 1951, it was recast (partly from its original metal) after crashing onto the floor when its wooden cradle burned during the 1945 fire. The new bell has a diameter of 3.14 m. (10.3 ft.) and was a gift from the province of Upper Austria. It sounds on only a few special occasions each year, including the arrival of the New Year. A fast lift takes visitors to a viewing platform.
  • Stephen – 5,700 kgs. (12,600 lbs.)
  • Leopold – 2,300 kgs. (5,100 lbs.)
  • Christopher – 1,350 kgs. (2,980 lbs.)
  • Leonhard – 950 kgs. (2,090 lbs.)
  • Josef – 700 kgs. (1,500 lbs.)
  • Peter Canisius – 400 kgs. (880 lbs.)
  • Pius X – 280 kgs.
  • All Saints – 200 kgs. (440 lbs.)
  • Clement Maria Hofbauer – 120 kgs. (260 lbs.)
  • Speisglocke (“dinner bell”) – North Tower, 240 kgs. (530 lbs.), cast in 1746, no longer in use
  • Zügenglocke (“processions bell”) – North Tower, 65 kgs. (143 lbs.), cast in 1830, no longer in use.
  • Kleine Glocke (“small bell”) – North Tower, 62 kgs. (137 lbs.), cast around 1280, no longer in use
  • Michael – 60 kgs. (130 lbs.)
  • Tarsicius – 35 kgs. (77 lbs.)
  • Primglocke– South Tower, recast in 1772, marks the passing of the hours
  • Uhrschälle– South Tower, cast in 1449, marks the passing of the hours
  • Feuerin (“fire alarm”) – North Roman Tower, cast in 1859, now used as a call to evening prayers
  • Kantnerin – North Roman Tower, used to call the cantors (musicians) to Mass
  • Feringerin – North Roman Tower, used for High Mass on Sundays
  • Bieringerin (“beer ringer”) – North Roman Tower, for last call at taverns
  • Poor Souls – North Roman Tower, the funeral bell
  • Churpötsch – North Roman Tower, donated by the local curia in honor of the Maria Pötsch icon in the cathedral

The Late Romanesque Giant’s Door is notable for its uncommonly rich ornamentation of dragons, birds, lions, monks, and demons. The tympanum above the door depicts Christ Pantocrator, flanked by two winged angels, while on the left and right are the two approximately 65 m. (213 ft.) tall Heathen Towers or Heidentürme (the German word Heiden means “heathens” or “pagans”).  The name is derived from the fact that they were constructed from the rubble of old structures built by the Romans during their occupation of the area. Square at the base and octagonal above the roofline, the Heidentürme originally housed bells.  Those in the South Tower were lost during World War II, but the North Tower remains an operational bell tower. The Giant’s Door, together with the Heathen Towers, are the oldest parts of the church.

The Bishop’s Gate, originally reserved for female visitors, boasts fine figurative sculptures from 1370, along with a number of coats-of-arms, while the Singer Gate,  the entry for male visitors, is notable for its figures of the Apostles and the legend of St. Paul dating from 1378.

Here’s the historical timeline of the cathedral:

  • Following the Treaty of Mautern, it was founded in 1137
  • In 1147, the partially constructed Romanesque church was solemnly dedicated to Saint Stephen in the presence of Conrad III of GermanyBishop Otto of Freising, and other German nobles who were about to embark on the Second Crusade.
  • In 1160, the first structure was completed
  • From 1230 to 1245, the initial Romanesque structure was extended westward. The present-day west wall and Romanesque towers date from this period.
  • In 1258, a great fire destroyed much of the original building.
  • On April 23, 1263, a larger replacement structure, also Romanesque in style and reusing the two towers, was constructed over the ruins of the old church and consecrated. Each year, the anniversary of this second consecration is commemorated by a rare ringing of the Pummerin bell for three minutes in the evening.
  • In 1304,a Gothic three-nave choir east of the church, wide enough to meet the tips of the old transepts, ordered to be constructed by King Albert I.
  • In 1340, the 77th anniversary of the previous consecration, the Albertine choir, whose construction was continued by Duke Albert II, was consecrated.
  • On April 7, 1359, Duke Rudolf IV (1339–1365), Albert II’s son, laid the cornerstone for a westward Gothic extension of the Albertine choir in the vicinity of the present south tower. This expansion would eventually encapsulate the entirety of the old church.
  • In 1365, just six years after beginning the Gothic extension of the Albertine choir, Rudolf IV disregarded St. Stephen’s status as a mere parish church and presumptuously established a chapter of canons befitting a large cathedral. This move was only the first step in fulfilling Vienna’s long-held desire to obtain its own diocese.
  • In 1430, as work progressed on the new cathedral, the edifice of the old church was removed from within.
  • In 1433, the south tower was completed
  • From 1446 to 1474, the vaulting of the nave took place.
  • In 1450, the foundation for a north tower was laid and construction began under master Lorenz Spenning
  • In 1511, its construction was abandoned when major work on the cathedral ceased.
  • In 1469,Emperor Frederick III prevailed upon Pope Paul II to grant Vienna its own bishop, to be appointed by the emperor.
  • On January 18, 1469, despite long-standing resistance by the Bishops of Passau (who did not wish to lose control of the area), the Diocese of Vienna was canonically established with St. Stephen’s Cathedral as its mother church.
  • In 1722, during the reign of Karl VIPope Innocent XIII elevated the see to an archbishopric.
  • During World War II, the cathedral was saved from intentional destruction, at the hands of retreating German forces, when Capt. Gerhard Klinkicht disregarded orders from the city commandant, Josef Dietrich
  • On April 12, 1945, as Soviet Army troops entered the city, the wooden framework of the roof cathedral’s roof was severely damaged by fires lit by civilian looters in nearby shops and carried by the winds, causing it to collapse. Fortunately, protective brick shells built around the pulpit, Frederick III’s tomb, and other treasures, minimized damage to the most valuable artworks. However, the Rollinger choir stalls, carved in 1487, could not be saved. Replicating the original wooden bracing for so large a roof (it rises 38 m. above the floor) would have been cost prohibitive, so over 600 metric tons of steel bracing were used instead.
  • On December 12, 1948, after rebuilding, the cathedral was partially reopened.
  • On April 23, 1950, the cathedral was fully reopened.
  • In 1960, Michael Kauffmann finished a large electric organ with 125 voices and 4 manuals, financed with public donations.
  • In 1991, the Austrian firm of Rieger rebuilt the mechanical choir organ with 56 voices and 4 manuals.
  • As of December 2008, the majority of the restoration on the south tower has been finished, and most scaffolding removed.
  • On March 29, 2014, a 37-year-oldGhanaian asylum seeker vandalized the interior of the cathedral by pushing the statue of  Jude Thaddeus from its marble base.

The three-aisled interior

The spacious three-aisled interior is divided by clustered pillars on which are life-size statues, including one of St. Christopher dating from 1470. The middle nave is largely dedicated to St. Stephen and All Saints while the north and south nave are dedicated to St. Mary and the Apostles respectively.  To the left of the main entrance, embedded in the cathedral wall, is the official Viennese ell length, standards for verifying the measure of different types of cloth sold. At the southwest corner are various memorials from the time the area outside the cathedral was a cemetery and a recently restored 15th-century sundial, on a flying buttress. There’s also a figure of Christ affectionately known to the Viennese as “Christ with a toothache” (from the agonized expression of his face).

The High Altar

The main part of the church contains 18 altars, with more in the various chapels. The distant High Altar, the first focal point of any visitor, is the most famous. Built in the Baroque style from 1641 to 1647 by Tobias Pock at the direction of Vienna’s Bishop Philipp Friedrich Graf Breuner with black marble from PolandStyria and Tyrol, it represents the stoning of the church’s patron St. Stephen. The altar is framed by figures of Saints Leopold, FlorianSebastian and Rochus, all patron saints from the surrounding areas, and surmounted with a statue of St. Mary which draws the beholder’s eye to a glimpse of heaven where Christ waits for Stephen (the first martyr) to ascend from below.

The Wiener Neustädter Altar

The Wiener Neustädter Altar (GermanWiener Neustädter Altar), at the head of the north nave, was ordered in 1447 by Emperor Frederick III (his tomb is located in the opposite direction). On the predella is his famous A.E.I.O.U. device first ordered by Frederick for the Cistercian Viktring Abbey (near Klagenfurt), where it remained until the abbey was closed in 1786 as part of Emperor Joseph II’s anti-clerical reforms. It was then sent to the Cistercian monastery of St. Bernard of Clairvaux (founded by Emperor Frederick III) in the city of Wiener Neustadt and, when the Wiener Neustadt monastery was closed after merging with Heiligenkreuz Abbey, finally sold to St. Stephen’s Cathedral in 1885.

The altar is composed of two triptychs, the upper being four times taller than the lower one. The Gothic grate of the former reliquary depot, above the altar, is revealed when the lower panels are opened. A drab painted scene, involving 72 saints, is displayed when the four panels are closed on weekdays while gilded wooden figures, depicting events in the life of the Virgin Mary, are shown when the panels are opened on Sundays. In 1985, on its 100th anniversary, restoration began. Primarily because its large surface area of 100 sq. m. (1,100 sq. ft.), it took 20 years, 10 art restorers, 40,000 man-hours, and €1.3 million to complete.

The stone pulpit

The 16th century stone pulpit, the most important work of art in the nave and a masterwork of late Gothic sculpture, stands against a pillar out in the nave, instead of in the chancel at the front of the church so that the local language sermon could be better heard by the worshipers in the days before microphones and loud speakers.  Long attributed to Anton Pilgram, today, Niclaes Gerhaert van Leyden is thought more likely to be the carver.

The sides of the pulpit, erupting like stylized petals from the stem supporting it, has a stairway handrail ((has fantastic decorations of toads and lizards biting each other, symbolizing the fight of good against evil) that curves its way around the pillar from ground level to the pulpit. A stone puppy, at the top of the stairs, protects the preacher from intruders. The  Gothic petals has relief portraits of the four original Doctors of the Church (St. Augustine of Hippo, St. Ambrose, St. Gregory the Great and St. Jerome), each of them in one of four different temperaments and in one of four different stages of life.

A stone self-portrait of the unknown sculptor gawking (German: gucken) out of a window (German: fenster), famously known as the Fenstergucker, is located beneath the stairs.  One of the most beloved symbols of the cathedral, the chisel in the subject’s hand, and the stonemason‘s signature mark on the shield above the window led to the speculation that it could be a self-portrait of the sculptor.

The Maria Pötsch Icon, a 50 x 70 cm. Byzantine style icon, takes its name from the Hungarian Byzantine Catholic shrine of Máriapócs (pronounced Poach), from where it was transferred to Vienna. The picture shows the Virgin Mary  pointing to the child Jesus (signifying “He is the way”) and the child holding a three-stemmed rose (symbolizing the Holy Trinity) and wearing a prescient cross from his neck. The icon was commissioned from painter István Papp by László Csigri in 1676 upon his release as a prisoner of war from the Turks who were invading Hungary at the time. As Csigri was unable to pay the 6-forint fee, the icon was bought by Lőrinc Hurta who, in turn, donated it to the church of Pócs.

In 1696, after two miraculous incidents with the Virgin Mary in the picture shedding real tears, Emperor Leopold I ordered it brought to St. Stephen’s Cathedral, where it would be safe from the Muslim armies that still controlled much of Hungary. In 1697, after a triumphal five-month journey, the icon arrived in the cathedral and Empress Eleonora Magdalena commissioned the splendid Rosa Mystica oklad and framework (now one of several) for it.  The Emperor personally ordered the icon placed near the High Altar in the front of the church, where it stood prominently from 1697 until 1945. Since then, the icon has been in a different framework, above an altar, under a Medieval stone baldachin near the southwest corner of the nave.  Many burning candles here indicate the extent of its veneration, especially by Hungarians.

Since its arrival, the icon has not been seen weeping again but other miracles and answered prayers have been attributed to it, including Prince Eugene of Savoy‘s victory over the Turks at Zenta, a few weeks after the icon’s installation in the Stephansdom.

Lady’s Altar

There are several formal chapels in St. Stephen’s Cathedral. They include:

  • Barbara’s Chapel, in the base of the north tower, is used for meditation and prayer.
  • Katherine’s Chapel, the baptismal chapel in the base of the south tower, has a 14-sided baptismal font completed in 1481 whose cover was formerly the sound board above the famed pulpit in the main church. Its marble base (plinth) shows the Four Evangelists, while the niches of the basin feature reliefs of the Twelve Apostles, Christ and St. Stephan.
  • Eligius’s Chapel (or Duke’s Chapel), in the southeast corner, with its important 14th-century statues, is open for prayer. The altar is dedicated to St. Valentine whose body (one of three, held by various churches) is in another chapel, upstairs.
  • The recently restored Bartholomew’s Chapel is above St. Eligius’ Chapel.
  • The Chapel of the Cross (or Tirna Chapel), in the northwest corner of the cathedral, is not open to the public. Built in1359, it holds the burial place of Prince Eugene of Savoy, commander of the Imperial forces during the War of the Spanish Succession, in a vault containing 3 coffins and a heart urn, under a massive stone slab with iron rings. The funeral of Mozart occurred here December 6, 1791. Above the altar is a 15th-century crucifix and the beard on the crucified Christ which is made of human hair and, according to legend, is still growing.
  • Valentine’s Chapel, above the Chapel of the Cross, is the current depository of the hundreds of relics belonging to the Stephansdom (including a piece of the tablecloth from the Last Supper). A large chest holds the bones of St. Valentine that were moved here about a century ago, from what is now the Chapter House to the south of the High Altar.

Since its earliest days, it has always been an honor to be buried inside the cathedral, close to the physical presence of the saints whose relics are preserved there, and it has sheltered the bodies of notables and commoners. Those less honored were buried near, but outside the church.

Peter and Paul Altar

Aside from the aforementioned Prince Eugene of Savoy  in the Chapel of The Cross, also inside the cathedral is the tomb of  Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, under whose reign the Diocese of Vienna was canonically erected on January 18, 1469, in the Apostles’ Choir (south choir, southeast corner of the cathedral).

The construction of Emperor Frederick’s tomb, spanning over 45 years, started 25 years before his death. The impressive raised sarcophagus, carved by Dutch artist  Niclaes Gerhaert van Leyden, is made of the unusually dense red marble-like stone found at the Adnet quarry. The tomb lid shows Emperor Frederick in his coronation regalia, surrounded by the coats of arms of all of his dominions. The body of the tomb, a glory of Medieval sculptural art, has 240 statues.

St. Januarius Altar

The basement of the cathedral also hosts the Bishop’s Crypt (completed in 1952) under the south choir, Provost’s Crypt and Ducal Crypt under the chancel. The most recent interment in the Bishop’s crypt was that of 98-year-old Cardinal Franz König in 2004. Provosts of the cathedral are buried in another chamber while other members of the cathedral chapter are now buried in a special section at the Zentralfriedhof.

The Ducal Crypt, ordered built by Duke Rudolf IV (for his remains in the new cathedral he commissioned) before his death in 1365, holds 78 bronze containers with the bodies, hearts, or viscera of 72 members of the Habsburg dynasty.

The small rectangular chamber, overcrowded with 12 sarcophagi and 39 urns by 1754, was expanded with an oval chamber added to the east end of the rectangular one and, in 1956, the two chambers were renovated and their contents rearranged. The sarcophagi of Duke Rudolf IV and his wife were placed upon a pedestal and the 62 urns containing organs were moved from the two rows of shelves around the new chamber to cabinets in the original one.

In 1735, the charnel house and eight cemeteries abutting the cathedral’s side and back walls were closed due to an outbreak of bubonic plague  and the bones within them were moved to the catacombs below the church. In 1783, burials directly in the catacombs were discontinued when a new law forbade most burials within the city. Today, the catacombs, with remains of over 11,000 persons stacked up in tiers, may be toured.

Altar dedicated to St. Padre Pio

Adjacent to the catacomb entrance is the Capistran Chancel.  Its pulpit, now outdoors, was the original cathedral’s main pulpit inside until it was replaced by Niclaes Gerhaert van Leyden’s pulpit in 1515.  Here, St. John Capistrano and Hungarian general John Hunyadi preached a crusade in 1456 to repel Muslim invasions of Christian Europe. The 18th century Baroque statue shows St. Francis under an extravagant sunburst, trampling on a beaten Turk.

The fascinating Cathedral Treasure, located in the West Gallery, houses many of the cathedral’s most important and valuable objects.

St. Stephen’s Cathedral : Stephansplatz 3, 1010 Wien, Austria. Tel: +43 1 515523054. Website: www.stephanskirche.at.

How to Get There: St. Stephen’s Cathedral is within walking distance of Vienna’s city center and its major tourist attractions. By bus, it is well served by Vienna’s bus service (Routes 1A, 2A, or 3A). The nearest U-Bahn subway station is Stephansplatz. No on-site public parking is available.

Graben Street (Vienna, Austria)

Graben Street

The exclusive and pulsating Graben, one of the most famous streets in Vienna‘s first district (the heart of the inner city  centre), is one of the most important promenades and shopping streets in Vienna.

Isko, Cheska and Vicky at Graben

It begins at Stock-im-Eisen-Platz (next to the Palais Equitable) and ends at the junction of Kohlmarkt and Tuchlauben.

It is crossed by Wipplinger Straße by means of the Hohe Brücke, a bridge about 10 m. above street level. The origin of this street dates back to the old Roman encampment of Vindobona.

This shopping street and pedestrian area is surrounded by popular alleys, streets and places such as Stephansplatz, Kohlmarkt, Naglergasse, Tuchlauben and Petersplatz.

Vicky and Cheska

Most of the buildings here, where you can find finest traditional shops with a long tradition and already popular in the times when Austria was ruled by emperors, had origins from the 17th and 18th century.

The Palais Bartolotti-Partenfeld, palace of the Barons Bartolotti von Partenfeld, the only Baroque structure on the Graben that has survived to this day, was first erected between 1794 and 1795 by Peter Mollner and Ernest Koch and was rebuilt in 1831 by Josef Klee.

Formerly the site of Leopold Kozeluch‘s music shop, it was acquired in 1894 by Assicurazione Generali who renovated the facade and added a penthouse. The showroom of Knize (a prominent tailor), occupying the ground floor, was built by Adolf Loos. 

Graben-Hof Building

The Grabenhof (also known as the Thienemannhof), built between 1873 and 1874 by Otto Thienemann and Otto Wagner on the site of the old Arkadenhof, is today owned by Österreichische Beamtenversicherung.   Its roof was rebuilt in 1947 by Alfons Hetmanek and, since 1991, the building has been used as a site for cultural events.

Headquarters of Erste Osterreich Spar-Casse

The present headquarters of the Erste österreichische Sparkasse, designed by architect Alois Pichl, had its origins in 1825 when the bank moved into the house at Graben 21. The bank later purchased three neighboring houses, tore them down and, between 1835 and 1839, had their headquarters built.

H&M (E. Braun & Co. Building)

The E. Braun & Co. building, originally constructed in 1887 for an American insurance company (hence an eagle seen on the top of the building), was originally the flagship store of the clothing company E. Braun & Co. (whose name we can still see on the façade of the building).Today, H&M continues the building’s tradition as hosting a clothing business.

Plague Column (Petsaule). The column’s basic message is that the plague and the Ottomans’ Second Siege of Vienna (1683), both of them punishments for sin, were averted or defeated by the piety and intercession of the Emperor Leopold I.

The Plague Column (GermanPestsäule), or Trinity Column (GermanDreifaltigkeitssäule), a Baroque memorial, is one of the most well-known and prominent sculptural pieces of art in the city.This Holy Trinity column was erected by Emperor Leopold I following the Great Plague of Vienna in 1679.

The top of the column

Right next to Graben and just west of the Pestsäule is the Baroque-style Peterskirche (St. Peter’s Church) on Petersplatz, which is largely obscured by the surrounding buildings, and can only be seen clearly from directly in front.The street Jungferngasse cuts through the pedestrian zone and leads directly to the church.

Peterskirche (Peter’s Church)

Begun around 1701 under Gabriele Montani (replaced by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt in 1703), the church was the first domed structure in Baroque Vienna and its design was inspired by the St. Peter’s Basilica of the Vatican in RomeFrancesco Martinelli was the main architect. It was finished in 1733 and consecrated to the Holy Trinity.

Lowenbrunnen (Lion Fountain)

Two fountains are found on the Graben. Josefsbrunnen, the first fountain, in the southwest, has a statue of St. Joseph and was presumably built in 1561. The Löwenbrunnen (lion fountain), standing on the northwestern end of the Graben, has a statue of Leopold and is decorated with the four lion’s heads.

Statue of Emperor Leopold I

The two fountains were rebuilt, at the behest of Leopold I, with sculptures executed by the sculptor Johann Frühwirth and, later, replaced with lead figures by Johann Martin Fischer. Frühwirth’s statues have since been lost.

Segafredo Cafe

The side streets around Graben, including Dorotheergasse, Stallburggasse and Bräunerstrasse are brimming with boutiques selling Baroque armoires, renaissance chests, footwear, fine carpets, magnificent timepieces, paintings, court perfumery (Nägele & Strubell, etc.), porcelain (Augarten, etc.) and antique court jewelry (Heldwein, etc.).

Dior

Top international labels (Hermes, Mont Blanc, H&M, Escada, etc.) and high end retailers have also zeroed in on this exclusive shopping street.

Giorgio Armani

Unlike other similar streets, shoppers can also take, between shopping trips, a quick respite at quite a number of high-end cafes (Segafredo, Hawelka, etc.) and restaurants (Julius Meinl, etc.).

Burberry

Graben: ViennaAustria. Shop opening hours: 10 AM – 7 PM, Mondays – Fridays;  10 AM – 6 PM, Saturdays. Some shops open already at 8 or 9 AM and start to close from 6 PM.

How to Get There:Metro U1 and U3 station Stephansplatz.

Michaelerplatz (Vienna, Austria)

Michaelerplatz

The most common way to enter the Hofburg, one of the world’s biggest palace complexes, is from the extremely irregular, cobblestoned  Michaelerplatz (St. Michael’s Square), a major pick-up point for tours by fiaker  (horse-drawn carriages). An amazing display of the mixed Austrian architectural historical styles, the square (its actually circular) has had its name since around 1850. The square is dominated by the impressive Neo-Baroque Michaelertor (Michael’s Gate), the entrance gate to the Hofburg.

Michaelertor

Here’s the historical timeline of the square:

  • In 1725, the square was redesigned around the plans of Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlachs for the Michaeler wing of the Hofburg
  • In 1729, construction on the left wing began but stagnated during the last years of the reign of Emperor Charles VI. 
  • In autumn 1838, Vienna’s first public gas lighting was installed at the Michaelerplatz via a gas (the gas came from the Roßau gas works via a line)  candelabrum with six flames set up by entrepreneur Georg Pfendler, founder and director of the “Austrian Society for Lighting with Gas.”
  • From 1889 to 1893, the Baroque plans were realized by Austrian architect Ferdinand Kirschner when the old Hoftheater (castle theater), the predecessor of today’s Burgtheater, standing in the middle of the square was demolished in 1888.
  • In 1927, Vienna’s first roundabout was set up at Michaelerplatz.

Palais Herberstein and Looshaus in the background with the Roman Ruins in the foreground

At the center of the square is an open area with the excavated and now exposed ruins of a Roman house as well as some medieval foundations and remains of the former Burgtheater, all seen from street level. A number of remarkable buildings are grouped around the Michaelerplatz.

Check out “Roman Ruins

Michaelertrakt

The Michaelertrakt, with its curving façade and 50 m. high dome,  dominates the façade of the palace which faces the centre of the city. One of the most exuberant wings of the imperial palace, it was completed in 1893 by Ferdinand Kirschner following the original Baroque design of Josef Emanuel Fischer von Erlach von Erlach in the 1720s. At the center of this wing is the monumental Michaelertor gate, leading through the Michaelertrakt, to the Hofburg’s inner courtyard.

Statue of Hercules Fighting Antaeus (Lorenzo Mattielli)

Along the sides of the three entrances are colossal statues of Hercules and on both sides of the doorway are large 19th-century wall fountains with sculpture groups done by artists who were alumni of the Akademie der bildenden Künste (“Academy of Fine Arts”).

Statue of Labor of Hercules (Lorenzo Mattielli)

The fountain on the right, known as the Macht zu Lande (“Power on Land”) was designed in 1897 by Edmund von Hellmer and symbolizes the Austrian army. The fountain on the left, known as the Macht zur See (“Power at Sea”), was sculpted in 1895 by Rudolf Weyr and symbolizes the Austrian naval power.

Power at Sea Fountain (Rudolf Weyr)

Opposite the Michaelertor is the grand Michaelerkirche (St Michael’s Church), the oldest building at Michaelerplatz (which lends its name to the square itself) and considered as one of the most historically and culturally significant church buildings in Vienna.  The former parish church of the Austrian imperial court, it is one of the oldest Baroque churches in the city.

Michaelerkirche (St. Michael’s Church)

Originally built in 1221, it was regularly expanded and modified to such an extent that it now consists of an amalgam of architectural styles and its present Neo-Classic facade originated in 1792. Its Baroque porch is topped by Baroque sculpture group, depicting the Fall of the Angels, created by Lorenzo Mattielli. The still Gothic tower dates from the fourteenth century.

The church’s Baroque porch

The Baroque interior is decorated with 14th-century and Renaissance frescoes.  The magnificent, vividly carved, gilded organ, the largest in Vienna, was built by Johann David Sieber in 1714 and was once played by Joseph Haydn.

Fall of the Angels (Lorenzo Mattielli)

At the crypt (only be accessed in company of a guide, the catacombs entrance is off the north choir), you can viewed, in open coffins, well preserved (made intact due to the consistent climate) bodies of parishioners buried here between the 15th and 18th centuries and clothed in their burial finery.

Looshaus

When walking towards Michaelertrakt, we hardly noticed the Looshaus (Michaelerplatz 3), one of Vienna’s first modern buildings, opposite the Michaelertor. Built from 1911 – 1912, it was designed by Adolf Loos  who was influenced by the nascent skyscraper architecture that he had seen on a trip to the United States He employed a business-like style, with straight lines and little or no decoration.

This building, considered an eye sore back in the day, caused quite a controversy and an outcry due to its modern but rather simple, unadorned façade void of decorations, very unusual in Baroque Vienna, so much so that construction was even temporarily halted and only allowed to continue after Loos promised to decorate the facade with balcony flower boxes. Still, the starkly functional upper facade contrasted dramatically with the nearby fine ornate Baroque architecture.

Raiffeisenbank (Looshaus)

The building caused so much outrage on the part of the Emperor Franz-Joseph I who despised the modern façade of the Looshaus.  Declaring that he would never use the Michaelertor ever again, it is said that the curtains in the wing opposite the Looshaus were always closed so that the emperor wouldn’t have to look at it. Today, the Looshaus is a working bank and is considered a groundbreaking example of modern architecture.  Visitors are only allowed into the lobby to view the elegant, richly clad interior of polished timber, green marble and mirrors.

Palais Herberstein

Sitting just across from the Looshaus, opposite Herrengasse, is the  more conventional Palais Herberstein (Michaelerplatz 2). Built in 1896-1897, it replaced the Palais Dietrichstein-Herberstein, an older structure which was famous for its Café Griensteidl, where a group of young poets, artisans and writers known as Jung-Wien gathered on a regular basis.

Café Griensteidl

The café moved to the nearby Café Central in Palace Ferstel, now the most famous of all cafés in Vienna. In 1990 a new, reconstructed Griensteidl Café opened in Palais Herberstein.

Vicky, Manny, Grace, Jandy, Cheska and Freddie at Michaelerplatz

MichaelerplatzVienna, Austria.

Roman Ruins (Vienna, Austria)

Directly at the entryway to the palace complex of the Hofburg, in the middle of Vienna, on the Michaelerplatz,  is a small excavation site ringed by gorgeous architecture. The cobblestoned Michaelerplatz  “square” (it’s actually circular), bounded by the Spanish Riding School and St. Michael’s Church, is a major pick-up point for tours by fiaker  (horse-drawn carriages).

Check out “Michaelerplatz

The Roman Ruins

Uncovered by archaeologists between 1989 and 1991, here, traces of the structural remains, from different epochs, of a Roman legionary outpost (canabae legionis), the settlement outside the Roman legionary fortress Vindobona, have been found. In this settlement lived the families (i.e. concubines and children) of the legionaries. There were also some inns, shops and brothels. The settlement was probably destroyed between 168 and 180 by Marcomanni.

The 1st century crossroads of two main streets, the “Amber street” from the Aquae region (today Baden south from Vienna) and the street along the limes, have also been found. The final form for public presentation was done by the Austrian architect Hans Hollein.

Roman RuinsMichaelerplatz, Vienna, Austria. Admission: free.