Vienna History Lesson
Trip Start
Aug 16, 2008
1
3
10
Trip End
Aug 27, 2008
Vienna,
Vienna,
Austria
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
I lifted the following excerpts from Wikipedia and AboutVienna.org.... it explains the layout of the city centre and gives you an idea of most of the ground we covered.
"The 'old town', or city centre, is the first district, with Stephansdom and Stephansplatz at the centre of a bullseye. It is encircled by the Ringstraße [Ring Street], a grand boulevard constructed along the old city walls. Vienna Ring Boulevard is 4 kilometres long and circles the city centre. The construction of the Ring Boulevard was initiated by Emperor Franz Joseph I in December 1857. The magnificent road was errected on the free space, which emerged after tearing down the former city walls, glacis and military enforcements protecting the city center, today's first district ('Innere Stadt'). By this the emperor hoped to overcome the separation of city center and the suburbs, which had officially become part of Vienna in 1850. Ring boulevard was generously planned, leaving sufficient space for a shaded avenue and monumental buildings like Hofburg, Austrian Parliament, State Opera House, Museum of Fine Arts, the first public observatory Urania and Vienna university among others.
Even though most buildings have been planned and build at pretty much the same time, their styles vary strongly.
Museum
This mix of archiectural styles is often referred to as 'Ringstrassenstil' and takes its principles from Historicism. Various styles were copied to underline the function of the buildings: the Museum of Fine Arts and its counterpart the Museum of Natural History were built to resemble Italian Renaissance, so was the Vienna Opera House. Parliament echos Greek classicism as this was the epoch of the birth of democracy. The Ring Boulevard was ceremonously inaugurated on 1st May in 1865 and is one of the biggest and most beautiful boulevards of its kind.
Districts 2-9 are gathered within the Gürtel ('belt') Road, which encircles the Ringstraße like an outer belt. Along this outer 'belt' road, you can find the Prater (amusement) park, the hip quarters of the second district (close to Schwedenplatz), Westbahnhof - a major national & international railway terminus - from which leads the major shopping street Mariahilfer Straße eastwards to the inner city, the Hundertwasserhaus and the Hundertwasser Kunsthaus.
Outside the 'belt' road stand the Donauturm [Danube Tower], the Belvedere Palace, and Schönbrunn Palace, which is the most visited tourist attraction and deservedly so. It was placed on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List in 1996."
Now... in most European countries it is impossible to swing a cat without hitting a church of some sort, and Austria is no different! Stephansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral) is Austria's most famous church. It was constructed in 1147 A.D. and is 137 m at its highest point. Duke Rudolf IV of Habsburg ordered the complete restructuring of the church in Gothic style and in 1359, he laid the cornerstone of the nave with its two aisles. The South Tower, was completed in 1433.
The cathedral has two very impressive features: The gigantic roof, and the tall, lean tower (136,7 metres of hight). One can find only few gothic towers of such height that were finished in the Middle Ages. Inside the Cathedral there are many art treasures like the tomb of Prince Eugene of Savoy (1754), the Altarpiece of Wiener Neustadt, the pulpit by Anton Pilgram (1514-15), the sepulcher of Emperor Frederik III by Niclas Gerhaert (1467-1513), the watchman`s lookout, a self portrait of the sculptor, and the Gothic winged altar.
The sound of the 'Pummerin', the cathedrals big bell, is used to celebrate New Year in Austria. (info from AboutVienna.org)
