Vienna. Spanish Riding School

The Spanish Riding School and its world-famous Lipizzaners offers the highest standard of horse-riding art in the Baroque ambience of the Imperial Palace.

  

The Spanish Riding School in Vienna is the only institution in the world where the classic equestrian skills (haute école) has been preserved and is still practiced in its original form. Many years of training fuse horse and rider into an inseparable unit. The audience is treated to an unforgettable experience by the precision of movement of the Lipizzan horses in perfect harmony with the music.

In the course of gala performances, visitors experience unique presentations of the Lipizzans in the most beautiful riding hall in the world, which was impressively outfitted by baroque architect Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach between 1729 and 1735. It was originally built to provide aristocratic youths with the opportunity to take riding instruction. Since December 2015, the horsemanship of the Spanish Riding School has been classified as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO.

Morning training with music gives a good impression into the training program of the White Stallions; the guided tours include visits to the stables.

A Tribute to Vienna

The Vienna Boys' Choir are once again set to collaborate with the Spanish Riding School in 2019: In "A Tribute to Vienna”, Lipizzaners and choir boys perform alternately with highlights of their program.

  

Vienna. Schönbrunn Zoo: Europe's best zoo

Schönbrunn Zoo in Vienna has been voted Europe's best zoo for the fifth time. Each year, more than two million visitors come to see panda babies, newborn elephants and many other rare animals in the world's oldest zoo still in existence.

  

In the summer of 1752, Emperor Franz I. Stephan von Lothringen, Maria Theresia's husband, took his royal guests to the newly constructed menagerie in the park at Schönbrunn Palace for the first time. Ever since then, the world's oldest zoo has been operating in Vienna.

In 1906, Schönbrunn was the site of a sensational event: This zoo in Vienna was the first place worldwide to see the birth of an African elephant conceived in human care. The next world premiere followed in 2007: For the first time ever, a panda baby that was naturally conceived in a zoo by the name of Fu Long was born in Schönbrunn. In August 2010 the second bear cub was born, in August 2013 the third. The twins Fu Feng and Fu Ban were finally born in 2016.

  

Modern enclosures

Today the Zoo at Schönbrunn is considered one of the best and most modern zoos in the world. In autumn 2018, it was voted Europe's best zoo for the fifth time: Schönbrunn Zoo therefore beat 126 scientifically managed zoos in 29 European countries to take first place. The animal compounds have a particularly generous and natural design. More than 700 kinds of animal live here - from the Siberian tiger to koalas and rhinoceros. Highlights are the giant rainforest house, the large South American enclosure and the ORANG.erie, home to Vienna's orangutans. The Nature Experience Trail was opened in spring 2010. May 2014 witnessed the return of polar bears to the zoo: The enclosure, called "Franz Josef Land", covers 1,700 m² and provides the white giants with enough space to romp around in. The bears can also be watched diving for the first time.

The new giraffe park was opened in May 2017: A gallery in the winter enclosure means that visitors can now meet the giraffes face to face. In the new East Africa Building next door, dwarf mongoose, Von der Decken’s hornbills and ground hornbills can be found bustling about. The latter share the 1,770 m² outdoor area with the giraffes. And the new, spacious hippopotamus bathing pond, which opened in summer 2018, makes it possible to watch the animals splashing around outdoors. New and extensive enclosures and animal houses are added each year. But the zoo's historic charm is always preserved. The zoo is part of the Schönbrunn UNESCO world heritage site.

Special tours and workshops provide information about the animal kingdom. And the zoo is directly adjacent to the Desert House, where the flora and fauna of the driest regions on earth can be explored.

  

  

Vienna. Modern architecture

   Starting in the 1960s, Viennese post-war architecture has set new accents in the city. In the 1980s and 1990s, revolutionary residential buildings were proposed. And in the first decade of the 21st century, new architectural landmarks arose in Vienna, such as the MuseumsQuartier and Danube City.

   

In the 1960s, the visionary designs of architects and artists caused great excitement and were known as the "Austrian Phenomenon".  However, most of the revolutionary ideas of Hans Hollein and Coop Himmelb(l)au remained just projects and installations. Implementation was limited to businesses or pubs, such as Hollein's flagship store "Retti" on Kohlmarkt. Hollein, inspired by the moon landing, implemented his vision of a space capsule on an area of just 14 square meters.

In the 1980s, new housing developments and residential buildings were built - often in the post-modern style. In the middle of the 1980s, Vienna had a true architecture scandal: Hans Hollein's design for a modern, glass building across from the time-honored St. Stephen's Cathedral caused a furor. The Haas House was built nonetheless (and opened in 1990), and contemporary architecture in Vienna thus drew increased attention. Another contributing factor this was a roof extension by Coop Himmelb(l)au, completed in 1988 in the first district (Falkestraße) and known about beyond the borders of Austria.

Friedrich Hundertwasser also generated excitement; he created his best-known buildings in Vienna in the 1980s: the Hundertwasser House, Vienna's most bizarre apartment building, and the Kunst Haus Wien as well as the Spittelau garbage incinerator facility. For all of his buildings, Hundertwasser demanded creative freedom and harmony with nature. Sooner laughed at by architects, his colorful designs are very popular with the Viennese and tourists alike.

The construction of new apartments has enjoyed a renewed boom since the 1990s. Numerous architects are implementing innovative ideas: Casket Factory, Wienerberg-City with the Twin Towersby Massimiliano Fuksas, the North Train Station municipal development area, Kabelwerk, Zaha Hadid's residential building near the Spittelau city rail arches, and the Gasometer according to designs by Jean Nouvel, Coop Himmelb(l)au, Manfred Wehdorn, and Wilhelm Holzbauer ignited an international furor.

The MuseumsQuartier will become one of the largest architectural projects of the decade at the beginning of the 21st century. And the Danube City has already been the largest municipal development project in Vienna since 1996. The skyline on the other side of the Danube is growing constantly. Numerous towers of more than 100 meters in height have been built there in recent years. The DC Tower 1 by star architect Dominique Perrault became the tallest building in Austria at the end of 2013, at 220 meters. In May 2014, the skyscraper was voted into second place in the renowned architecture prize "Emporis Skycraper Award”.

Other architectural hotspots of the capital city are the landing stage of the Twin City Liner on the Danube Canal (by Fasch & Fuchs) and the luxury hotel built by Jean Nouvel diagonally opposite. The WU Campus, which opened in 2013 with structures by Zaha Hadid, BUSarchitektur and Sir Peter Cook, is the new center of student life at the Prater. And in the lakeside district of Aspern, on the edge of Vienna, homes and offices for 40,000 people are currently being constructed on a site of 2.4 million square meters. The newly built main station on the site of the former Südbahnhof train station and the adjacent Sonnwendviertel district are extremely exciting in an architectural sense.

  

New Year’s Eve 2018/19 in Vienna

  

At the change of year, the whole of Vienna is given over to partying and dancing. The New Year’s Eve Trail in the Old City is the highlight. A great ambience can be enjoyed as much at a gala dinner or festive ball as it can at a concert, the opera, in a hip club or a sophisticated bar.

Superb exhibitions and a dazzling array of events, concerts, operas, operettas and the hit musicals "Bodyguard" and "I am from Austria" promise a New Year's Eve program brimming with excitement throughout the day and night.

On December 31, Vienna's old city center transforms into a giant party zone: From 2 p.m. in the afternoon to 2 a.m. the following morning, top entertainment is guaranteed by the New Year's Eve Trail in the city center, at City Hall Square and in the Prater. Along the New Year's Eve Trail, dozens of gastronomes serve you punch and culinary treats. Numerous areas provided entertainment with show programs, waltzes, operetta, rock, pop, DJ lines and hit music. The classical area on Graben is a popular fixture. Vienna's dance schools offer crash waltz dancing courses here during the afternoon and transform Graben into an idyllic open-air ballroom. A large firework display will be held on City Hall Square and in the Prater at midnight.

A unique New Year's atmosphere can also be enjoyed on a boat trip along the Danube, at the New Year’s Eve Ball at the Hofburg Vienna (Imperial Palace) and at New Year galas held in City Hall and the city's leading hotels. The "Majestic Imperator", a a luxurious imperial, invites everyone to go on an exclusive ride into the new year, while "Die Fledermaus" by Johann Strauss is performed in time-honored tradition at the Vienna State Opera and also broadcast live on the outdoor screen.

New Year's Day in Vienna will be greeted in classic fashion with a morning "hangover cure" brunch - featuring a live broadcast of the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year's Concert on a big screen - in front of City Hall (from 10 a.m.)

 

 

Vienna, the City of Music

Welcome to the world’s music capital! More famous composers have lived here than in any other city – in Vienna, music is literally in the air: Waltzes and operettas have their home here, and so do musicals "made in Vienna," which have conquered international audiences.

The city’s concert halls and stages offer the whole range from classical to progressive sounds with end-to-end festivals the whole year through. Opera fans will meet international stars here and jazz lovers will find a pulsating jazz scene. Pop and rock concerts provide unforgettable live music experiences.

Vienna State Opera

The Vienna State Opera is one of the top opera addresses in the world – where you can enjoy the very best in first-class productions.

This famous stage offers a different program every day, with over 60 operas and ballet works on around 300 days per season.

150 years of the Vienna State Opera

The repertoire of the State Opera ranges from the Baroque to the 21st century, with a focus on the 19th century. The 2018/19 season is marked by a big anniversary: The Vienna State Opera celebrates "150 years of the Opera House on the Ring". On 25 May, 2019 there will be a ceremony and the premiere of Richard Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten (The Woman without a Shadow). This opera premiered here 100 years ago; Camilla Nylund, Nina Stemme, Evelyn Herlitzius, Stephen Gould and Wolfgang Koch now shine in the new production conducted by Christian Thielemann.

On May 26, everyone is invited to join in the celebration - at a festival on the square in front of the Opera House. In addition, there are two exhibitions (at the opera and in the Theatre Museum), streamings and a few other surprises.

Another five opera premieres are highlights of the season:

• Les Troyens / Hector Berlioz
• Die Weiden /Johannes Maria Staud (music), Durs Grünbein (text) – world premiere
• Lucia di Lammermoor / Gaetano Donizetti
• Orest / Manfred Trojahn
• Otello / Giuseppe Verdi

Audience members can individually switch on subtitles – in German, English, Italian, French, Russian and Japanese. The 2,021 displays at the seats also offer information about the cast and contents of the performance (German or English). By the way: The subtitles can be integrated manually by clicking a button, since all performances have different pacing.

Vienna Opera Ball: High point of the ball season

At the Vienna Opera Ball, the Vienna State Opera is transformed into the world’s most famous ballroom. The committee, consisting of approximately 150 pairs of young men and women in white ball gowns and tails, ensures a glamorous opening of the Opera Ball.

Opera live outdoors

In April, May, June, September and December, more than 80 opera and ballet performances will be screened live on Herbert-von-Karajan-Platz in front of the opera building on a 50 m² screen - it's classical enjoyment for free!

Vienna. Ringstrasse boulevard monuments

Numerous monuments along the Ringstrasse boulevard honor historical personalities.

Warlords, rulers, emperors, composers and leading poets line the Ringstrasse. For the great men and women of Austrian and European history, a spot on the most beautiful boulevard in the world was only just good enough. The largest memorial is for Maria Theresia between the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Museum of Natural History. It was unveiled personally by Emperor Franz Joseph in 1888.

The most often photographed memorial is probably the Johann Strauss Monument in the Stadtpark. The two imposing knight’s statues on Heldenplatz are those of Archduke Carl and Prince Eugene of Savoy. Friedrich Schiller and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe are located between the Opera and the Burggarten.

Empress Sisi was immortalized in the Volksgarten, while her husband, Emperor Franz Joseph, was carved in stone in the Burggarten. There is also a statue of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart there. A memorial for General Johann Joseph Wenzel Graf Radetzky was built in front of the former Ministry of War on the Stubenring.

Near the Parliament, there is the Monument of the Republic, which was proclaimed on the Ringstrasse in front of the Parliament in 1918. And Prince Karl Philipp von Schwarzenberg is immortalized on Schwarzenbergplatz. The Heroes’ Monument to the Red Army, also located on Schwarzenbergplatz, commemorates the approximately 17,000 soldiers who fell in the battle of Vienna in 1945.