Friday, February 28, 2014

Heracles & Calliope

One of the statues in the gardens between the Upper and the Lower Belvedere represents Heracles and Calliope. All statues have been created by Giovanni Stanetti.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Beautiful View

That's what you see if you stand in front of the Upper Belvedere, with the palace in your back: straight ahead is the Lower Belvedere, the spire on the left side is the one of St. Stephen's Cathedral.

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Upper Belvedere

It's not the first time that I show you the Upper Belvedere (for more photos please click here, here, here and here). Today here is finally a closer look at the garden façade of Prince Eugene's summer residence that now houses a part of the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere museum.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Coffee to go

I discovered this blackboard in front of a café in the 4th district. Isn't this a cute way of advertising coffee to go? And don't you also want to eat a croissant right away looking at this drawing?

Monday, February 24, 2014

The Sun is Shining

... in this colourful graffito on a garage door in the 7th district.

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Burgtheater

That's the place the students at the Max Reinhardt Seminar dream of: The Burgtheater is the Austrian National Theatre in Vienna and one of the most important German language theatres in the world. The theatre was created by Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, it opened on 14 March 1741. In 1888 the theatre was moved to a new building (in this photo) designed by Gottfried Semper and Karl Freiherr von Hasenauer.

Friday, February 21, 2014

Max Reinhardt Seminar

The Max Reinhardt Seminar is the School of Drama at the University of Music and Performing Arts. A "Lehrgang für Declamation und Mimik" (Course in Declamation and Mimics) had been in existence in Vienna since 1852. In 1929 Max Reinhardt received a call to the University of Music and Performing Arts to create a drama seminar. Initially, this Seminar was taught at the imperial theatre in the Schönbrunn Palace, in 1940 it moved to the nearby Palais Cumberland. The Seminar offers a four-year course taught by some 40 professors, many of whom are themselves notable actors and directors.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Doorway #6

A beautiful Art Nouveau doorway in the 7th district. By the way, according to the Mercer 2014 Quality of Living Rankings, Vienna has been ranked as the city with the world’s best quality of living for the 5th year in a row. For more information please click here.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Vienna's Smallest House

Vienna's smallest house is located in the 7th district. It was built in 1872 and designed by the architect Josef Durst. Its layout spreads on not more than 14 square meters. From the time it was built until today, the house’s name changed three times: first, it was called “By the white grapes”, then “By the golden lamb” and finally “By the golden deer”.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Cute Little Shop

I have known this cute shop, located close to Schönbrunn Palace, from passing by for several years, but only last week I finally had the opportunity to go there during the opening hours. It's a very girly place, perfect if you are looking for a "special" gift.

Monday, February 17, 2014

Espresso

After I had read about the association "Stadtschrift" that collects, preserves and documents historical storefront signs, I started to pay more attention to old signs and recently fell in love with the signs (characters) of the 1950s and 1960s. This café in the 7th district  has been rehabbed some years ago and now looks inside pretty much as it must have looked originally - at least that's what I read.

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Sunday Flowers #103

"Awake, thou wintry earth -
Fling off thy sadness!
Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth
Your ancient gladness!" - Thomas Blackburn

Saturday, February 15, 2014

The Last Gas Lamp

In the early 20th century, most cities in Europe had gaslit streets. In Vienna 45.000 gas lamps were registered in 1913. Gas lighting for streets soon gave way to electric lighting, although the transition took decades to complete. In Vienna the last gas lamp was extinguished in the 13th district on 27 November 1962 by Mayor Franz Jonas. Now it is located in front of the Hietzing local museum.

Friday, February 14, 2014

Sweets For My Sweet

Today is Valentine's Day! Did you know that it began as a liturgical celebration of one or more early Christian saints named Valentinus? February 14th was first associated with romantic love in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. In 18th-century England it finally evolved into an occasion in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery and sending greeting cards. According to a recent survey Valentine's Day matters to only one out of three Austrians. Anyway, I think these sweet hearts would be an acceptable gift ;-)

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Griechengasse

The name (Griechengasse) of this tiny street in the city center refers to the greek merchants that resided here in the 18th century. There's still a Greek Orthodox church just around the corner.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Waiting For Better Days

These chairs in front of a Spanish restaurant in the city center seem to wait eagerly for better days. They have to be patient until March 1st when the gastronomes are allowed by law to open their outdoor ares.

Monday, February 10, 2014

Broken Fingaz

The Broken Fingaz Crew is an Israeli graffiti crew consisting of four members. The crew was formed in 2001 in Haifa in Northern Israel. Some days ago I discovered one of their scary works in the 7th district. During my research on this piece of street art, I found out that the crew did also this one.

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Sunday Flowers #102

"Flowers are almost perfect; their only flaw is that they are weak;
they can’t protect themselves against the evil!” - Mehmet Murat İldan

Saturday, February 8, 2014

The Vienna Ice Dream

The City Hall currently forms the backdrop for the "Vienna Ice World": The square in front of the building was transformed into a 7.000 sqm ice rink, an ice path snakes through the City Hall Park, and there are also six curling rinks. Hungry sportsmen and spectators can fortify themselves at various outdoor stalls with culinary delicacies and warming drinks. The Vienna Ice World will close on March 9.

Friday, February 7, 2014

Art Gallery

These three chairs seem to admire the paintings in a gallery in the city center.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

UNIQA Tower #4

The façade of the recently mentioned UNIQA Tower was designed as media façade. A matrix of 160.000 individually controllable LED video pixels is attached to profiles in between the double layered glass façade and brings the building to life at night. Please click here to get a better idea of the light installations.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Blue Escalator

Usually I don't take photographs of escalators but the one in a design shopping center in the 2nd district looks really cool.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Reflections #25

Reflections in a design shopping center in the 2nd district.

Monday, February 3, 2014

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Sunday Flowers #101

"Flowers have spoken to me more than I can tell in written words.  They are the hieroglyphics of angels, loved by all men for the beauty of their character, though few can decipher even fragments of their meaning." - Lydia M. Child

Saturday, February 1, 2014

February Theme Day: Entry

That's the entry to a "special" hotel: It was first documented as a tavern in the 17th century. At that time it was located next to a river connected to the Danube, allowing the dinghies of large ships to unload goods fresh from the Orient. Thus the tavern was quickly coined “The Orient”, a name it retained when it became a hostel in 1896. According to time’s aesthetic, the hotel was furnished in purest fin de siècle. The film "The Third Man" was in part shot here; Orson Welles was reputedly often a guest and enjoyed spending post-filming hours here as well. Rooms are mostly rented out by the hour, the Orient is known to be the most exclusive hot-sheet hotel in town.
Click here to view thumbnails of all participants in the theme day.