Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(St Charles Church;
www.karlskirche.at
; Karlsplatz; adult/child €8/4; 9am-5.30pm Mon-Sat, 11.30am-5.30pm
Sun; Karlsplatz)
Karlskirche rises at the southeast corner of Resselpark and is the finest of
Vienna's baroque churches. This dramatic structure was built between 1716 and 1739,
after a vow by Karl VI at the end of the 1713 plague. It was designed and commenced by
Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach and completed by his son Joseph.
The enormous twin columns at the front are modelled on Trajan's Column in Rome
and show scenes from the life of St Charles Borromeo (who helped plague victims in
Italy), to whom the church is dedicated. The huge oval dome reaches 72m. The admis-
sion price includes entrance to
Museo Borromeo
and a small
museum
with a handful of reli-
gious art and clothing purportedly from the saint, but the highlight is the lift to the
dome
for a close-up view of the intricate frescoes by Johann Michael Rottmayr. The high altar
panel shows the ascension of St Charles Borromeo. In front of the church is a pond, re-
plete with a Henry Moore sculpture from 1978.
MUSEUM
Wien Museum
(
www.wienmuseum.at
;
04, Karlsplatz 8; adult/under 19yr €8/free, 1st Sun of month free; 10am-6pm Tue-Sun;
Karlsplatz)
The Wien Museum presents a fascinating romp through Vienna's history, from
Neolithic times to the mid-20th century, putting the city and its personalities in a mean-
ingful context. Exhibits are spread over three floors, including spaces for two temporary
exhibitions. Top billing goes to the 2nd floor, which zooms in on Vienna's fin de siécle
artistic heyday. On show is the intact modernist living room Adolf Loos designed for his
nearby apartment in 1903, replete with mahogany and marble, alongside stellar Seces-
sionist works such as Klimt's mythology-inspired, gold-encrusted
Pallas Athene
(1898)
and Egon Schiele's
Young Mother
(1914).
VIENNA'S CITY WALLS
The Ringstrasse runs along the line of the former 16th-century city walls. These walls originally had the extra
protection of a ditch or moat, beyond which a wide, sloped clearing allowed defenders to hurl the heavy stuff at
their exposed invaders. Anyone living in the Vorstädte (inner suburbs) outside the fortress was expected to flee
inside it as invading forces approached - or take their chances.
Stadtbahn Pavillons
LANDMARK
