In preparation for my family's move, my family and Jake decided to visit Vienna for the first time in 2016 to acquaint ourselves with the city. Half of our trip was devoted to time for my parents to meet their mission team and visit churches, but the other half Jake and I spent exploring the historic city.
There is so much to take in that I wanted to provide a little bit of info and highlights from my first trip there.
Vienna, Austria has been voted "Most Liveable City" and was previously only second the Melbourne, Australia. The city is known for it's high quality of life, culture, and infrastructure. It's no wonder why Vienna is one of the most popular spots for tourism, business, and conventions.
Stephansplatz
The first destination we visited when we arrived in Vienna was Stephansplatz, the central hub of the city. The Stephansplatz square is home to many shops and restaurants situated within some of the most beautiful architecture I've ever seen.
This section of the city features baroque style buildings and palaces like St. Stephen's Cathedral (Stephansdom), The Winter Palace, The Spanish Riding School, Palais Pallavicini, and several other museums.
Vienna's architecture is a source of controversy due to the erection of modern buildings and high rise buildings. The Haas House adjacent to St. Stephen's Cathedral, provides a great example of a juxtaposition of the modern architecture with the original baroque style. Vienna actually has restrictions to building height and style now to preserve the visuals and culture of the city.
Jake and I are always in search of the best food experiences wherever we go, so one of our favorite spots in the heart of Vienna is Café Central. It was well worth the long wait to snag a seat in the center of the beautiful, historic café.
Not only is Café Central a delicious stop for some of Vienna's most tasty pastries and drinks, it is actually a famously historic Viennese landmark.
Some of the cafe's most famous and notorious guests include Sigmund Freud, Peter Altenberg, Leon Trotsky, Joseph Stalin, and Adolf Hitler!
Café Central is also known as the "Chess University" because of the frequent chess games played on the first floor.
The food at Café Central ranges from gourmet starters to larger dinner plates, but for the average tourist, there is a portion of the menu dedicated to Viennese specialties (Weiner Schnitzel at the top of the list.)
This cafe date with Jake is still one of our favorite dates. We sipped our Irish coffees and shared a classic apple strudel with not a care in the world, just enjoying each other's company.
Other note worthy sites within walking distance of Vienna's center is The Winter Palace, The Natural History Museum, and the Opera House (Wiener Staatsoper.)
There are so many different gift shops, museums, and monuments sprinkled throughout the city that exploring Stephansplatz is definitely one of the best things to do if you are only visiting Vienna for a short time.
Schönbrunn Palace
Schönbrunn, the summer palace, is a magnificent structure preserved since the Habsburg's reign from 1569 to 1918. The palace has 1,441 rooms and the grounds make up over 400 acres.
The Summer Palace has such a rich history as it used to be the home of Austria's longest serving empress and celebrity, Elisabeth "Sisi", it was the place Mozart performed his first concert at age six, and in 1996 the palace was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list.
The attractions other than the tour of the palace and gardens include a café (the Gloriette), the Palm House, a maze and labyrinth, Roman ruins, a kids museum and playground, and even a zoo!
Because Schönbrunn is so enormous and full of monuments and history, you could easily spend an entire day exploring (which is what I recommend.)
When I visited, my favorite part of the trip to the palace was climbing to the top to the Gloriette to see the amazing view over Vienna and then stopping for a coffee and croissant.
Also, if you are a bit of a history nerd, definitely take some time to learn about the monarchy that occupied Schönbrunn. Sisi is a cult icon due to her beauty and her tragic assassination in 1898, but the whole family tree has some interesting figures.
Schönbrunn is a must-see when traveling to Austria. It is hard to put into words how incredible it feels to walk the grounds and through the enormous and ornate rooms of the once royal home. My pictures really can't do it justice!
Art Museums
Jake and I have been visiting museums ever since our first date (aw cute), so naturally we marched right over to the spectacular fine art museum, Kunsthistorisches Museum Wein. I don't have that many pictures from it, but it is HUGE.
This classic museum is home to thousands of famous pieces like the Tower of Babel by Pieter Brueghel the Elder, The Four Seasons by Giuseppe Archimboldo, The Art of Painting by Johannes Vermeer, and The Crowning with Thorns by Caravaggio. Not only are there breathtaking portraits, there are plenty of sculptures and artifacts to admire as well. This museum was created from the Habsburg family's own collection of art.
The Belvedere is another popular museum and palace to visit. The most notable piece of art that most tourists know the Belvedere for is Gustav Klimt's The Kiss.
Similar to Schönbrunn, the Belvedere is crazy beautiful and has plenty of grounds and gardens to explore. There are actually two parts, the Upper Belvedere and the Lower Belvedere. This museum has the greatest collection of Austrian art in the world.
One of the days of our trip to Austria, we stopped at the Mumok. This modern art museum was definitely a very different experience than the other museum we visited.
Instead of the intricacies of the Baroque styles, this museum was simple, modern, and definitely more abstract.
It did feature artists like Andy Warhol and Pablo Picasso, but this type of experience isn't as desirable when learning about the history of the Habsburgs and marveling at historic Viennese sites.
WWII History
On the day that we first visited Heldenplatz, it was dreary out which made the setting even more ominous. This was the place that Hitler gave his announcement of the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany on March 12, 1938.
While it is possible to see the historic Nazi sites we mostly heard of through history books and films, it is more important to recognize the memorials honoring those who lost their lives to Hitler's Nazi fascism.
Judenplatz Holocaust Memorial, or the "Nameless Library", is located in the first district of Vienna. Hard to miss, it is a large stone square.
The memorial, created in 2000 by Rachel Whiteread, is dedicated to the 65,000 Austrian Jews murdered by the Nazis.
There are inscriptions on the memorial in English, German, and Hebrew of all the concentration camps during WWII.
The concept of the "Nameless Library" is that it is made up of inverted books, meaning their spines are facing the other direction so that each book remains unknown. Perhaps it is because we don't know all the names of the victims, or maybe it is because of them all sharing a similar unimaginable story.
The memorial's mysterious design is intentional to provoke thought and personal interpretation.
City Pictures
Vienna is such an amazing city and I know there's so much that I missed. I hoped to give a little bit of an overview for a first time traveler to the city.
Since my family lives here now, I can't wait to go back over to experience even more!
I know one thing I'm looking forward to is going on the oldest operating ferris wheel in the world! I also want to try out more coffee shops, of course.
Thanks for reading and happy travels!
-KB