Here, in the shadow of the Hofburg, many patricians built their
handsome mansions. Walking through Dorotheergasse you pass Café
Hawelka, a legendary Viennese coffee-house. In the hotel opposite,
the melancholy author Franz Kafka found accomodation in the 1920s. It
remains uncertain whether he frequented the café. The Dorotheum,once
a simple pawnshop, is now a successful auction house. Between
Dorotheergasse and Spiegelgasse lies Vienna’s ‘antiques quarter’.
Displayed in its shop windows lie precious objects in all imaginable
styles and from all imaginable periods. Exclusively for well-heeled
visitors…
The monumental Donnerbrunnen (fountain) from 1739 on Neuer
Markt is regarded as the most important work of the great baroque
sculptor Georg Raphael Donner.The central figure of the marble basin is
Providentia
(Providence), surrounded by allegorical figures representing
the rivers Enns, March, Traun and Ybbs. Only a stroke of luck rescued
the four unclothed figures, because they were a thorn in the eye of a
prudish Maria Theresia who ordered them removed. Now one can admire them
in the Baroque Museum in the Unteren Belvedere. The figures
now gracing the fountain are bronze copies.
Around the corner, on Neuer Markt, lies the entrance to the Kapuzinergruft.
Ever since 1633, the foremost members of the Habsburg dynasty were
buried here. The hearts of the Habsburg emperors, empresses and
archbishops are preserved in the Augustinerkirche, their entrails in the
Stephansdom, and their bodies repose in monumental sarcophagi in this
tomb. The church owes its name to the Capuchins, who established
themselves in the city in 1612 and founded a nunnery for Empress Anna in
1618. The Capuchins were royalists and made a name for themselves by
their bravery in the course of battles against the Turkish enemy. The
concept of the building is based on simplicity as prescribed by Capuchin
(a branch of the Franciscan order) rules. Its sole decoration is the
fresco on the façade, painted as late as 1936. In the Kaiserkapelle
(Emperor’s Chapel) stand wooden statues of several emperors, in the
Kreuzkapelle (Holy Cross Chapel) an altar and a poignantly beautiful
pietà. In the crypt repose 138 members of the imperial dynasty. On
view, a bust of the last emperor, Charles I, and the tomb of the last
empress, Zita.
We continue southwards towards Albertinaplatz. Here the sculptor
Alfred Hrdlicka erected the Denkmal gegen Krieg und Faschismus,
the Monument Against War and Fascism.
We now come to the most famous building in Ringstrasse: the Wiener
Staatsoper (State Opera House). This building in Renaissance style
was constructed between 1861 and 1869 by Edward van de Nüll and August
von Siccardburg. After being badly damaged during the war it opened its
doors again in 1955. It is an exploit indeed to get hold of a ticket for
a performance in this, Austria’s most famed, cultural temple. The
State Opera is a true bastion of great art, even in these times of
rapidly progressing cultural desuetude. The influence of the Vienna
State Opera on other European opera houses is considerable, and the
Viennese are justly proud of the institution. Its outer walls, however,
did not escape comment. The architects had to swallow so much criticism
that one of them (van de Nüll) committed suicide, while the other
succumbed to a heart infarct soon after. Both were hurt to the core in
particular when Emperor Franz Joseph, during the inauguration, made
condescending remarks about what the couple had created.
When you return to our stroll’s point of departure, the
Stephansdom, do traverse Vienna’s most lively boulevard: the
pedestrian mall Kärntner Strasse. It is a traditional
shopping-street with elegant businesses and noble shop windows and
façades. Cheap department stores and fast-food outlets have also lately
opened their doors here, but the worldly flair of the street with its
many benches inviting you to take a breather, has remained. The Steffl
Department Store with its modern interior forms a seamless
continuation to the baroque splendour, and the glass façade of the Haas-Haus,
designed by Hans Hollein, mirrors the Stephansdom’s multicolored roof.
