Vienna's Ringstraße – Epitome of a Zeitgeist

On this walking tour, we’ll explore Vienna’s urban expansion in the 19th century, which became the greatest Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art) in Viennese architectural history – a superlative in almost every respect: what was then the largest German-speaking city in the world turned into one giant construction site for more than 50 years. Unimaginable, too, was the economic leverage: the construction of the Ringstraße financed Vienna’s municipal housing projects for a full 100 years afterwards.

We’ll explore the most important monumental buildings, such as the State Opera, Parliament, the museums, City Hall, the Burgtheater and the University. Also, what the story behind the tea chest is and

why there is a man standing atop City Hall.

We’ll hear the life stories of the builders and their families, told through their private palaces. Aristocrats, magnates, artists, speculators – in the salons of Vienna’s Ringstraße, the avant-garde of the time thought, governed, lived and loved, with repercussions that were felt throughout the 20th century.

We will also take a closer look at the most important monuments and the personalities immortalised there: Why is the literary giant Goethe sitting in a comfortable armchair, while poor Schiller has to stand? Come along on an excursion into a piece of architectural and world history.