Vienna Day three

Waiting for the trolley that takes you around the Ringstrasse (the boulevard that circles the center city).  It lasted 25 minutes.  

After the tour, we decided to walk some of the Ringstrasse.

With the dismantling of the defensive walls around Vienna during the mid-nineteenth century, wide open space became available right near the city center, which created the opportunity to build a grand boulevard, the Ringstrasse.

By the end of the nineteenth century, when the Ringstrasse was completed, it was lined with grand buildings that housed political and cultural institutions. The boulevard is still as impressive now as it was during the twilight years of the Habsburg Empire

the opera house

The Burggarten.  The Hofburg (court palace) was the seat of of Habsburg power. The Burggarten (court garden), like the Volksgarten, was made after Napoleon's army demolished the defensive structures which previously occupied the land. Designed by Franz Antoine, the court gardener, it served a private royal garden for the Habsburg family, from the time of its design (1818) until the end of the empire in 1918. Kaiser Franz II occasionally worked in the garden himself.

Statue bronze of Emperor Franz Joseph

the Mozart Denkmal, created in 1896 by the Austrian sculptor Viktor Tilgner. The monument, which was originally erected at Augustinerplatz but moved to the Burggarten in 1953 shows Mozart on a pedestal surrounded by putti and musical instruments. Reliefs refer to Mozart's famous opera 'Don Giovanni'.

a lovely Treble Clef made of pansies

A surving remnant of the defensive wall, the Burgtor

Maria Teresa Platz

The Museum of Natural History

The Museum of Art

The monument of Empress Maria Theresa is situated in the middle of Maria-Theresien-Platz. Maria Theresa was the only female ruler of the Habsburg Empire.  

Although she had a difficult start because of being female (she had to fight for her throne in the War of the Austrian Succession), she eventually ruled Austria and many other European regions (including, among others, Bohemia, Hungary, parts of the Balkans, and North Italian regions) for 40 years from 1740 to 1780. She was very religious (Catholic), had 16 children (among them the infamous Marie Antoinette of France), and was quite popular with the people she ruled. Maria Theresa introduced many good reforms in the Empire, especially in finance, education, healthcare, and civil rights. Overall, Maria Theresa has been considered one of the best rulers of the Habsburg dynasty.

Here, she greets the people with her right hand and in the left hand she holds a document roll of the -Pragmatische Sanktion- and a scepter. 

She is surrounded among other things by four horseman statues of her generals. 

The fountains were constructed around 1890

This little fellow stands in front of the Museum of Natural History

The Parliament building was constructed between 1874 and 1884 as the seat of the Reichsrat, the Imperial Parliament representing the Austrian part of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Inside are two large assembly halls which originally housed the two chambers of the Imperial Parliament: the Herrenhaus (upper house) and the Abgeordnetenhaus (lower house).

In 1918, after the fall of the Habsburg Empire, parliamentarians declared the creation of the Republic of Austria. Today the building houses sessions of the Nationalrat (National Council) and the Bundesrat (Federal Council).

The Greek theme is continued with the Athenebrunnen, a monumental fountain in front of the Parliament Building, named after the Greek goddess Pallas Athena - goddess of wisdom - who is portrayed with a colossal statue on top of a fluted column.  

Below her are two female statues, representing the legislative and executive powers of the state. 

We had a really good lunch (our main meal today)

at this nice restaurant, which served nice flavored butters and salts and olive oil flavored with asian lime.  They were very good.  (See Terry's blog for the names as I forgot)

It was too chilly to sit outside, so we got a picture after lunch

As we walked toward Stadt Park, Vienna's walk of fame

A stop at the Imperial Hotel for a look.  Beautiful.

Stadt Park - tthe largest of the parks created.   The park was laid out in English landscape style between 1858 and 1862 at the site of the former glacis, the open, sloping terrain behind the city's fortifications. The following decades the park was adorned with a large number of statues and several fountains.

The largest structure in the Stadtpark is the Kursalon, built in 1867 in a neo-Renaissance style. It was originally intended solely as a spa pavilion, but the building was soon used as a concert venue. Even today Strauss and Mozart concerts are held regularly at the Kursalon.  And.......there were some fellows in the park selling tickets to a concert tonight, so...... we bought tickets, which we will hopefully remember to use this time.

Flower clock

The Stadtpark is popular for its many statues of artists, in particular musicians. Throughout the park you'll find statues and busts of composers such as Franz Schubert and Anton Brückner, but by far the most famous is the Johann Strauss Memorial, created in 1921 by the Austrian sculptor Edmund Hellmer.

The memorial shows a gilded statue of Johann Strauss Junior, the Waltz King, in front of a stone arch decorated with naiads.

Mozart

Franz Schubert

A more recent fountain is the Vogeltränkebrunnen (Birdbath fountain), a small fountain with penguins created in 1953 by Mario Petrucci.

The river Wien, a small branch of the Donau river, cuts through the park. From the pedestrian bridge that connects the two sides of the river you have a nice view over the Wienflussportal, a series of elegant pavilions in Jugendstil style, designed in 1905 by Friedrich Ohmann and Josef Hackhofer. 

Trying to find the Belvedere Palace

Another beautiful fountain on a platz

The Belvedere Palace at last.

Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736), successful general and art connoisseur, built the Belvedere garden palace as his summer residence.

It actually consists of two palaces (Upper and Lower Belvedere) and a stunning baroque garden in between. From the upper Belvedere, you can enjoy stunning views of Vienna’s first district, which give the palace its name. Over the centuries, the palace complex has been home to many important personalities in Austria’s history. Today it houses Austrian art from the Middle Ages to the present day.  

Below is the Upper Palace

Lower Palace

The had a mirror placed so one could take a self portrait in front of the Upper Palace

beautiful gardens

lower palace which we toured

the marble room

and the gilt room

This has been another long day and I didn't take many pictures inside.  Tooooo tired.   We headed back to the hotel to rest, because we HAVE A MUSIC CONCERT TONIGHT!!!!!

After a rest we jumped on the metro back to Stadt Park and the Kursalon, a beautiful building for the concert

The mighty musicians - Conductor and emcee on the left - very personable.  He introduced all the music by mostly Strauss and Mozart 

All were very lively

The Soprano

and the tenor

the dancers of the waltz

I don't know if the concert we missed was any good, but this one was absolutely terrific.  The music of Johan Strauss and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.  What could be a more ftting end to our visit in Vienna.  Tomorrow we leave for Salzburg.