The official outdoor tour! Why not take a walk with us around the St. Stephen's Cathedral and discover the most important landmark and symbol of Vienna! This tour was created in cooperation with St. Stephen’s Cathedral.

St. Stephen’s Outdoor Experience

Vienna is full of history! Discover it by walking through the small alleys around the Rotenturmstraße. Every corner and cobblestone will tell you about the genesis of the city. If you are tired, we recommend visiting one of the famous Viennese coffeehouses. 

Explore the Heart of Old Vienna

Vienna is new to you, and you are looking to get a nicely well-rounded overview of the old city center? This tour covers historical highlights, reveals fascinating stories, and takes you down a few cobblestone streets that most visitors never see.

Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Vienna

Discover plants from all around the globe: This audio tour of the Palm House Schönbrunn will enable you to discover more than 4,000 plants from every continent.Note: The Palm House Schönbrunn is not to be confused with the Café Palmenhaus. The café is located in the Burggarten.

The Emperor's Greenhouse: Palm House

Attention! This tour includes saucy details and is not appropriate for all under 18 years.From prostitutes, johns, and mistresses to animal skin condoms, syphilis, and wax noses, to Maria Theresia, Metternich, Napoleon, and many more: the dirty secrets and shady sides of Viennese erotic activities over the years come out of the shadows in this tour. This tour was created in cooperation with wienfuehrung.

Love for Sale in Old Vienna

Naschmarkt not only offers culinary highlights but also architectural ones: the Art Deco and Viennese Modern Age buildings by Otto Wagner. This tour starts at the subway station Kettenbrückengasse and passes through Naschmarkt to Karlsplatz where two pavillons by Otto Wagner can be visited. If there's enough time afterwards, you could take the U4 in either the direction of Heiligenstadt or Hütteldorf and get out at one of the beautiful old Stadtbahn (city railway) station buildings that are still in use today.

Otto Wagner and Naschmarkt

Rent a bike, Segway, or scooter and explore the best Vienna has to offer on wheels. With your wheels, you can cover a lot of ground, meaning you’ll finish this tour with a well-rounded overview of the makeup of this old dame of a city and the stories it has to tell. Attention: Leave your phone in your pocket while driving and don't forget to keep your distance. Stay safe!

Vienna On Wheels: From Schönbrunn Palace to Stubentor

Get yourself a ride and head out on this exciting tour on which you’ll catch many sides of Vienna that most visitors never see. You’ll get started at the magnificent Hundertwasserhaus and end it all in the wine hills with a glass of delicious wine or grape juice in hand and a spectacular view over Vienna. Attention: Leave your phone in your pocket while driving and don't forget to keep your distance. Stay safe!

Vienna On Wheels: From Hundertwasserhaus up to the Wine Hills

Waltz through the city and discover the places that inspired great musicians that have walked Vienna’s streets. Meet Beethoven, Mozart, and the Strausses and find out more about the role Vienna has played in the history of music.

A Music Lover’s Guide to Vienna

We invite you to join us on this city walk to the beginnings of the Secession’s history in turn-of-the-century Vienna. Starting on Wollzeile and strolling down Parkring until we reach the Secession’s home, we will immerse ourselves in the early years of the Secessionist movement in Vienna and experience a history that is very much alive today, encountering the surviving architectonic witnesses to the period and the intervening decades.

 A City Walk  | Culture is now even more accessible

English

Deutsch

This city walk was produced by the Vienna Secession in collaboration with Cultural Places. Text and photos: © Johannes Rips

Publishing information

Hong Kong Island at Its Best – 10 Top Things to Do

The Blue Mosque and Its Surroundings

Mystical Zagreb. The Bewitched Story

Explore the Real Zagreb

Borobudur Temple Tour

Borobudur Walk

Glimpse into Zagreb

Walking Tour Zagreb

Taksim Square and Istiklal Street

Laughing is Contagious

Vienna United

Tour route

Foundation

Location

Planning

Our city walk exploring the birthplace of the Secession starts on Dr.-Karl-Lueger-Platz. Nothing here would seem to recall the history of the Secession, but listen closely and you can still hear echoes of the controversial debates that the Secession’s new style sparked.

Corner of Wollzeile and Ring

1st exhibition

This was where the Imperial and Royal Horticultural Society had its home, in which the Secessionists opened their first exhibition on March 25, 1898. As the negotiations over the construction of a dedicated exhibition building dragged on, the newly founded association’s initial membership of forty artists made plans for an inaugural exhibition. It was held here and became a blockbuster. Once again, few traces now remain of that time.

Parkring 12, k. k. Wiener Gartenbaugesellschaft

Karlsplatz

We’ve reached Karlsplatz, where many strands of history interweave in a scene that has gone through several metamorphoses from the Middle Ages to the present. You can tell that it has seen a lot and now welcomes us as a witness to the centuries.

Künstlerhaus

Today’s Künstlerhaus was built by August Weber in 1868 in the historicist style that you also see in many other buildings on the former glacis. It is where the Austrian Association of Fine Artists, from which the Secessionists seceded in 1897, held and still holds its exhibitions. Since March 2020, the Albertina’s modern gallery has used parts of the freshly renovated building, which also accommodates an arthouse cinema.&nbsp;

Otto Wagner Pavilion

Leaving the Künstlerhaus and crossing the street toward Resselpark, you reach the Otto Wagner Pavilion, formerly a station house of the Wiener Stadtbahn. On April 25, 1894, Otto Wagner was commissioned to oversee all architectural planning and designs for Vienna’s first rail-based public transit system. As part of the enormous project, he designed the Stadtbahn’s station houses, including this pair of pavilions on Karlsplatz.

The Academy

Otto Wagner

Joseph Maria Olbrich

The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna played and still plays an important role in the history of the Secession. Many members of the Secession were recruited from among the Academy’s teaching staff and graduates. Standing in front of the Academy, you can also recognize the architectural continuities between both institutions.

Academy of Fine Arts, Schillerplatz

Groundbreaking ceremony

Design

Inauguration

Our city walk concludes at the Secession’s home. The groundbreaking ceremony in 1898 marked the beginning of a much longer and illustrious history.&nbsp;

Secession, Friedrichstraße 12

Secession

Our city walk exploring the birthplace of the Secession starts on Dr.-Karl-Lueger-Platz. Nothing here would seem to recall the history of the Secession, but listen closely and you can still hear echoes of the controversial debates that the Secession’s new style sparked.

What's included

Preview

1. Corner of Wollzeile ...

2. Parkring 12, k. k. W...

3. Karlsplatz

4. Künstlerhaus

5. Otto Wagner Pavilion

6. Academy of Fine Arts...

7. Secession, Friedrich...

1. Tour route

Tour route

Our city walk exploring the birthplace of the Secession starts on Dr.-Karl-Lueger-Platz. Nothing here would seem to recall the history of the Secession, but listen closely and you can still hear echoes of the controversial debates that the Secession’s new style sparked.

Discover more

See other guides

Hong Kong Island at Its Best – 10 Top Things to Do

The Blue Mosque and Its Surroundings

Mystical Zagreb. The Bewitched Story

Explore the Real Zagreb

Borobudur Temple Tour

Borobudur Walk

Glimpse into Zagreb

Walking Tour Zagreb

Taksim Square and Istiklal Street

Laughing is Contagious

Vienna United