Ayu was in Vienna for 3 days before we left for Greece together, so I showed her around. Believe it or not, to date, I’m still mesmerized by the beauty of this city -and there’s still so much I haven’t seen!
First things first: Innenstadt and all its glory.
We were fortunate to be there at around 11am on a Saturday because the original Hoch- und Deutschmeister were just starting to march to their regimental music through St. Michael’s Gate (Michaelertor) to the Inner Courtyard of the Hofburg. This is quite a rare sight in Vienna itself, for it only takes place between 19 May and 13 October.
The history of the band, with 35 musicians aged 19-82 years, goes back to the year 1741. One interesting fact is that the instruments used, costing between €3,000 and €4,000 a piece, are all custom-made. They are tuned a semitone higher than usual which means they can be heard from a considerable way off.
At the inner courtyard of the Hofburg, the band performed a 40-minute recital of works by the Strausses, among others.
Shortly after the recital, Ayu and I dashed to the Art Nouveau Ankeruhr (Anker Clock) in Hoher Markt. Here a parade of figures takes place at 12 noon, accompanied by organ music from the appropriate period.
Above are the much-loved Kaiserin Maria Theresia and her husband Kaiser Franz I of Lothringen, accompanied by Mozart’s Menuett.
And that’s Joseph Haydn trundling past to Gott erhalte, an Austrian hymne written by him.
From Hoher Markt, we headed down to Mozarthaus at Domgasse no 5, where Mozart lived from 1784 to 1787. Those were probably the happiest years of his life, for particularly during this period, Mozart was a celebrated composer, had an illustrious circle of friends, and was asked to give countless concerts at the houses of the nobility. It was also here that he penned his best compositions, including what is perhaps his most popular opera, The Marriage of Figaro.
Now, time for some art history lesson: In 1897 a number of artists broke their ties with Künstlerhaus, the association and gallery of Vienna’s art establishment which they considered intolerably conservative, seceded and formed a new art association with the name of Secession and the motto, “To the Age, its Art. To Art, its Freedom.”
Now that’s the Art Nouveau gallery building erected for the new art association in 1898. Pretty, don’t you think? On the basement level, the 112-foot Beethoven Frieze, a virtuoso pictorial interpretation of the 9th Symphony, created by Gustav Klimt for the Beethoven Exhibition of 1902, is on permanent display.
Just a few metres away is the old entrance pavilions to the former Karlsplatz Stadtbahn station, particularly elegant with their marble slabs and gilded ornamentation, designed by the pioneering architect of Vienna’s Art Nouveau era, Otto Wagner.
With the railway station looking as pretty as that, it would be insane not to call Vienna one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, wouldn’t it?
Also a stone’s throw away from Secession is Karlskirche, the last work of the eminent baroque architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach.
The church was built as the result of a vow taken by Emperor Charles VI during a plague epidemic and is consecrated to the patron saint of the Habsburg emperor, Saint Charles Borromeo.
We also headed to Stadtpark, where lawns, flowerbeds, exotic trees and a large pond make a pleasant place to relax in. The park also hosts several monuments, such as one below of Franz Schubert, one of Austria’s celebrated composers.
And here’s a cute garden clock that actually works!
And of course, we just had to take a picture with one of the world’s most photographed monuments, the golden statue of Johann Strauss.
By the way, I’m now officially a fan of Strauss II. I think his delightful polka and nostalgic waltz music is absolutely brilliant! Go listen :)
Done with Innenstadt, we ventured out of the gates of the old city to Schloss Belvedere, the summer residence of Prince Eugene of Savoy -a successful general and art connoiseur.
This baroque architectural jewel consists of two palaces (Upper and Lower Belvedere), which today house Austrian art from the Middle Ages to the present day.
The Upper Belvedere holds the world’s largest Gustav Klimt collections. And oh, if you’re still wondering who in the world Gustav Klimt is, surely you recognize this painting of his:
Yup, that’s the famous Der Kuss (The Kiss). Klimt himself, an Austrian Symbolist painter, is one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Art Nouveau movement.
And since in no other city in the world have so many world-renowned musicians and composers made their home, we decided to pay another composer’s apartment a visit -Beethoven-haus in Heiligenstadt.
This is the house where Ludwig van Beethoven wrote, among other compositions, his Fourth Symphony and his famous “Heiligenstadt Testament,” in which he expressed desperation over his deafness.
That’s us listening intently to Beethoven’s music in the part of the apartment that is now a museum, with a view of a delightful little garden outside the window.
Next up, Ayu’s Vienna Visit Part II!
