Sights in Austria
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Tiergarten
Founded in 1752 as a menagerie by Franz Stephan, the Schönbrunn Tiergarten is the oldest zoo in the world. It houses some 750 animals of all shapes and sizes, including giant pandas that arrived in 2003. A batch of emus, armadillos and baby Siberian tigers joined them in 2006. Thankfully most of the original cramped cages have been updated and improved. The zoo’s layout is reminiscent of a bicycle wheel, with pathways as spokes and an octagonal pavilion at its centre. The pavilion dates from 1759 and was used as the imperial breakfast room. Feeding times are staggered throughout the day – maps on display tell you who’s dining when.
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Museumsquartier
The MuseumsQuartier is a remarkable ensemble of museums, cafés, restaurants and bars inside former imperial stables designed by Fischer von Erlach. This breeding ground of Viennese cultural life is the perfect place to hang out and watch or meet people on warm evenings. With over 60,000 sq metres of exhibition space, the complex is one of the world’s most ambitious cultural spaces. Of the combined tickets on offer, the MQ Kombi Ticket (€25) includes entry into every museum (Zoom only has a reduction) and a 30% discount on performances in the TanzQuartier Wien; MQ Art Ticket (€21.50) gives admission into the Leopold Museum, MUMOK, Kunsthalle and reduced entry into Zoom, pl…
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Schloss Schönbrunn Gardens
The beautifully tended formal gardens of the palace, arranged in the French style, are a symphony of colour in the summer and a combination of greys and browns in winter; all seasons are appealing in their own right. The grounds were opened to the public by Joseph II in 1779.
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Eisriesenwelt
Billed as the world’s largest accessible ice caves, Eisriesenwelt is a glittering ice empire that spans 30,000 sq m and comprises 42km of narrow passages burrowing deep into the glacial heart of the mountains. It may feel warm outside, but temperatures plummet to subzero as soon as you enter the crevice in the cliffs; similar to the blast of cold air that hits you upon opening the freezer. Be sure to pack sturdy footwear and warm layers.
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Leopold Museum
This museum is named after Rudolf Leopold, a Viennese ophthalmologist who, on buying his first Egon Schiele (1890–1918) for a song as a young student in 1950, started to amass a huge private collection of mainly 19th-century and modernist Austrian artworks. In 1994 he sold the lot – 5266 paintings – to the Austrian government for €160 million (sold individually, the paintings would have made him €574 million), and the Leopold Museum was born. The building has a white, limestone exterior, open space (the 21m-high glass-covered atrium is lovely) and natural light flooding most rooms. Considering Rudolf Leopold’s love of Schiele, it’s no surprise the museum contains the larg…
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MUMOK
The dark basalt edifice and sharp corners of the Museum moderner Kunst (Museum of Modern Art) are a complete contrast to the MuseumsQuartier’s historical sleeve. Inside, MUMOK is crawling with Vienna’s finest collection of 20th-century art, centred on fluxus, nouveau realism, pop art and photo-realism. The best of expressionism, cubism, minimal art and Viennese Actionism is represented in a collection of 9000 works that are rotated and exhibited by theme – but take note that sometimes all this Actionism is packed away to make room for temporary exhibitions. On any visit you might glimpse: wearily slumped attendant (not part of any exhibit), photos of horribly deformed bab…
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Mozarthaus Vienna
Mozarthaus Vienna, the residence where the great composer spent two and a half happy and productive years, is now the city’s premiere Mozart attraction. The museum was revamped a few years ago and is well worth a visit for an insight into the life and times of Mozart in Vienna (a total of 10 years). One floor deals with the society of the late 18th century, providing asides into prominent figures in the court and Mozart’s life, such as the Freemasons to whom he dedicated a number of pieces. Mozart’s vices – his womanising, gambling and ability to waste excessive amounts of money – lend a spicy edge (you can look through some peepholes). Another floor concentrates on Mozar…
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Otto Wagner Buildings
Something of a problem zone due to flooding, the Wien River needed regulating in the late 19th century. It would be more accurate to say that its last semblance of being a natural river was utterly and completely obliterated. At the same time, Otto Wagner had visions of turning the area between Karlsplatz and Schönbrunn into a magnificent boulevard. The vision blurred and the reality is a gushing, concrete-bottomed creek (a shocking eyesore designed by Wagner) and a couple of attractive Wagner houses on the Linke Wienzeile. Majolika-Haus at No 40 (1899) is the prettiest as it’s completely covered in glazed ceramic to create flowing floral motifs on the facade. The second…
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Nationalbibliothek
The Nationalbibliothek (National Library) was once the imperial library and is now the largest library in Vienna. The real reason to visit these esteemed halls of knowledge is to gaze on the Prunksaal (Grand Hall). Commissioned by Charles VI, this baroque hall was the brainchild of Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, who died the year the first brick was laid, and finished by his son Joseph in 1735. Leather-bound scholarly tomes line the walls, and the upper storey of shelves is flanked by an elegantly curving wood balcony. Rare ancient volumes (mostly 15th century) are stored within glass cabinets, with pages opened to beautifully illustrated passages of text. A statue o…
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Schatzkammer
The Schatzkammer (Imperial Treasury) contains secular and ecclesiastical treasures of priceless value and splendour – the sheer wealth of this collection of crown jewels is staggering. As you walk through the rooms you see magnificent treasures such as a golden rose, diamond studded Turkish sabres, a 2680-carat Colombian emerald and, the highlight of the treasury, the imperial crown. The wood-panelled Sacred Treasury has a collection of rare religious relics, some of which can be taken with a grain of salt: fragments of the True Cross, one of the nails from the Crucifixion, a thorn from Christ’s crown and a piece of tablecloth from the Last Supper. Audio guides in German,…
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Swarovski Kristallwelten
Swarovski Kristallwelten tops the list of Austria’s most-visited attractions. Call them kitsch or classy, there is no doubting the popularity of these crystals, displayed in all their glory at this fantastical playground. A giant’s head spewing water into a pond greets you in the park. Inside you’ll find Alexander McQueen’s crystal tree, zebras drifting past on ruby slippers in a twinkling theatre, and the world’s biggest crystal, weighing in at 62kg. Terence Conran’s shop by the exit is where, depending on your budget, you can buy a bejewelled pen for €1.30 or splurge on a €14,800 crystal-studded iguana. Decisions, decisions…
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Schloss Hellbrunn
An archbishop with a wicked sense of humour, Markus Sittikus built the yellow-painted Schloss Hellbrunn in the 17th century as a pleasure palace and an escape vault from his functions at Residenz. The Italianate villa became a wild retreat for rulers of state who flocked here to eat, drink and generally be merry. It was a Garden of Eden to all who beheld its exotic fauna, citrus trees and trick fountains – designed to sober up quaffing clerics without dampening their spirits. Domenico Gisberti, poet to the court of Munich, once penned: ‘I see the epitome of Venice in these waters, Rome reduced to a brief outline.’
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Sigmund Freud Museum
Sigmund Freud is a bit like the telephone – once it happened, there was no going back. The apartment where he lived and worked from 1891 till his forced departure from Vienna with the arrival of the Nazis in 1938 is now a museum devoted to the father of psychoanalysis. It contains a number of his possessions, and Freud’s obsessions – travelling, smoking and collecting ancient art – are well represented; Egyptian and Buddhist statues are everywhere. Notes (in English) illuminate the offerings and audio guides (€2) are available at the ticket desk.
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Postsparkasse
The celebrated Post Office Savings Bank building is the work of Otto Wagner, who oversaw its construction between 1904 and 1906, and again from 1910 to 1912. The Jugendstil design and choice of materials were innovative for the time, with the grey marble facade held together by 17,000 metal nails, and an interior filled with sci-fi aluminium heating ducts and naked stanchions. The small museum at the back of the main savings hall hosts temporary exhibitions focusing on design – anything from office buildings to nifty kitchenware.
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KZ Mauthausen
Nowadays Mauthausen is an attractive small town on the north bank of the Danube east of Linz, but its status as a quarrying centre prompted the Nazis to site KZ Mauthausen concentration camp here. Prisoners were forced into slave labour in the granite quarry and many died on the so-called Todesstiege (stairway of death) leading from the quarry to the camp. Some 100,000 prisoners died or were executed in the camp between 1938 and 1945.
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Festung Hohensalzburg
Rising like a vision above Salzburg, this mighty 900-year-old fortress is one of the biggest and best-preserved in Europe. It’s easy to spend a half a day up here, roaming the ramparts for far-reaching views over the city’s spires, the Salzach and surrounding Alps. The fortress is a steep 15-minute jaunt from the centre, or a speedy ride in the glass Festungsbahn funicular (included in the ticket price).
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Hitler's Geburtshaus
Not far from the Torturm is Hitler's Geburtshaus; born in 1889, he only spent two years of his life here before moving with his family to Linz. The inscription outside his birth house simply reads Für Frieden Freiheit und Demokratie, nie wieder Faschismus, millionen Tote Mahnen (For peace, freedom and democracy, never again fascism, millions of dead admonish).
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Seeschloss Ort
On the western shore, a pretty nature reserve known as Toscana Park forms a backdrop to Seeschloss Ort. This castle on the lake is believed to have been built on the ruins of a Roman fortress. It dates from 909 or earlier (rebuilt in the 17th century after a fire) and has a picturesque courtyard, a late-Gothic external staircase and sgraffito from 1578.
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Festung Kufstein
For an insight into Kufstein’s turbulent past, head up to the clifftop Festung Kufstein. The castle dates from 1205 (when Kufstein was part of Bavaria) and was a pivotal point of defence for both Bavaria and Tyrol during the struggles. The round Kaiserturm (Emperor’s Tower) was added in 1522.
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Pferdeschwemme
Stroll left to reach Herbert-von-Karajan-Platz and the Pferdeschwemme10, a rather elaborate drinking spot for the archbishops’ mounts. Created in 1700, this is a horse-lover’s delight, with rearing equine pin-ups surrounding Michael Bernhard Mandl’s statue of a horse tamer.
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Mozarts Geburtshaus
Mozarts Geburtshaus is where Mozart spent the first 17 years of his life. In the first room, the holy Wolfgang is shown as a babe beneath a fluorescent blue halo. Other curiosities include the mini-violin that Amadeus played as a toddler, plus a lock of his hair and buttons from his jacket.
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Zammer Lochputz
A rollercoaster of water thrashes limestone cliffs at Zammer Lochputz, a fine specimen of a gorge just outside of Landeck. Cutting a path through pine forest, the trail passes viewpoints and some interesting rock formations – look out for the head of a bull and a nymph.
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Römerhofgasse
The big draw in the centre is the gingerbready Römerhofgasse, a medieval lane that looks like a Disney film set with overhanging arches, lanterns and frescoed façades. Even the obligatory shops full of tourist kitsch detract little from this fairytale-like alleyway.
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Mozart-Wohnhaus
The Mozart-Wohnhaus takes a more hi-tech approach, with an audio guide giving the low-down on the Mozart family and serenading you with opera excerpts.
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Alpine Flower Garden
The serene Alpine Flower Garden, nurtures alpine blooms like arnica, edelweiss and purple bellflowers.
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