Vienna May 2024

We just returned from a wonderful trip to Vienna.  I love this city. It is clean, friendly, easy to get around, quiet, safe, and historic. This was our second time in Vienna so we were able to focus less on the “top sights to visit” and more on the serendipity and the happenstance treasures on our daily walks.

Historic Palaces and Museums

Kunsthistorisches Museum: The Kunsthistorische Museum was built by Emperor Franz Joseph to house the imperial collection (think of the Paris, Musée du Louvre but on a smaller scale!). There are exhibits from five millennia which include works by Dürer, Raphael, Rembrandt, Rubens, Bruegel. Titan, and Vermeer.

Belvedere (Upper): The Upper Belvedere is the former residence of Prince Eugene of Savoy and the home to the largest collection of Gustav Klimt’s paintings and masterpieces by Schiele, Renoir, Monet, and Van Gogh.

One of the Van Gogh’s, “Plain at Auvers”, was part of the Van Gogh special exhibition that I saw last November at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, so that was fun! I also found my Victor Hugo in the Belvedere as part of a study to a monument to him by Rodin!

Schönbrunn Palace and Gardens: In the 17^th century, Emperor Leopold I commissioned a palatial hunting lodge which later became the summer residence of Maria Theresa. The Grand Tour of the Palace required time slots sell out pretty early each day but one can still visit the grounds and gardens. Early May is planting season so the optimum time to visit these gardens would be after this time!

Albertina: The Albertina is the largest of the former private residences of the Habsburg empire and houses many pieces of modern art. We saw a special exhibit of Roy Lichtenstein’s paintings and sculptures. My favorite part was the iconic works by Dürer which include one of his self-portraits (age 13), “Praying Hands” and “Hare”.

Die Kirchen

Peterskirche/ St. Peter’s Church: Established in the 8^th century by Charlemagne

Stephansdom/ St. Stephen’s Cathedral: This is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna. Initiated by Duke Rudolf IV in 1339,  it is both Romanesque and Gothic and stands on the ruins of a parish church in 1147. My husband and I had a private prayer time and devotion in this remarkable cathedral filled with incense and organ preludes on our first night.

Karlskirche/ Church of St. Charles: a blending of traditions of Western and Islamic culture with replica pillars of Trojan’s Column in Rome.

Votivkirche/ Votive Church: in Sigmund-Freud park neo-Gothic 1853. After the attempted assassination of Emperor Franz Joseph, Archduke Ferdinand Maximillian created this church to thank God for saving the Emperor’s life.

St. Francis of Asissi Church 1898: We walked from the Danube to  Mexikoplatz, St.

Happenstances: There were many serendipities on our daily walks–I’ve listed a few below. One of the best happenstances was meeting a former student from 20 years ago who came from Taiwan to get her Masters in the States. Esther, who lives in Bratslava, Slovakia, happened to be visiting Vienna the same week. It was wonderful to catch up and celebrate a friendship that has lasted two decades, across the world!

Other happenstances:

Danube, Donau City: We spent two afternoons on the beautiful Danube, Copa beach. It is peaceful, family friendly, has a wonderful Greek restaurant and a suspension bridge.

Goethe statue!

Burgviertel: Globe Museum! The only Globe Museum in the World. So cool

Many beautiful parks:

Statdtpark: Mozart statue, Austrian birds— I found several birds indigenous to Austria on my Merlin App: Eurasian Blackbird, Great Tit, Common Chaffinch, Mallard. Volksgarten and Burggarten

And, of course, Viennese cuisine. We ended our trip with a traditional Viennese dinner at Lindenkeller since 1435 Chicken Spritzel and Apple Strudel!