Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
tenants” as well as human tenants. His buildings are spritzed with a forest and topped with
dirt and grassy little parks—close to nature and good for the soul.
Floors and sidewalks are irregular—to “stimulate the brain” (although current residents
complain it just causes wobbly furniture and sprained ankles). Thus 100H 2 O waged a one-
man fight—during the 1950s and 1960s, when concrete and glass ruled—to save the human
soul from the city. (Hundertwasser claimed that “straight lines are godless.”)
Inside the museum, start with his interesting biography. His fun paintings are half psy-
chedelic Jugendstil and half just kids' stuff. Notice the photographs from his 1950s days
as part of Vienna's bohemian scene. Throughout the museum, keep an eye out for the fun
philosophical quotes from an artist who believed, “If man is creative, he comes nearer to his
creator.”
The Kunst Haus Wien provides by far the best look at Hundertwasser, but for an actual
lived-in apartment complex by the green master, walk 5-10 minutes to the one-with-nature
Hundertwasserhaus Haus (at Löwengasse and Kegelgasse). This complex of 50 apart-
ments, subsidized by the government to provide affordable housing, was built in the 1980s
as a breath of architectural fresh air in a city of boring, blocky apartment complexes. While
not open to visitors, it's worth visiting for its fun and colorful patchwork exterior and the
Hundertwasser festival of shops across the street. Don't miss the view from Kegelgasse to
see the “tree tenants” and the internal winter garden that residents enjoy.
Hundertwasser detractors—of which there are many—remind visitors that 100H 2 O was
a painter, not an architect. They describe the Hundertwasserhaus as a “1950s house built in
the 1980s” that was colorfully painted with no real concern for the environment, communal
living, or even practical comfort. Almost all of the original inhabitants got fed up with the
novelty and moved out.
North of the Ring
Sigmund Freud Museum
Freud enthusiasts enjoy seeing the humble apartment and workplace of the man who funda-
mentally changed our understanding of the human psyche. Dr. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939),
a graduate of Vienna University, established his practice here in 1891. For the next 47 years,
he received troubled patients who hoped to find peace by telling him their dreams, life trau-
mas,andsecreturges.Itwasherethathewrotehisinfluentialworks,includingthelandmark
Interpretation of Dreams (1899).
Cost and Hours: €8 includes audioguide, daily 9:00-18:00, cool shop, half a block
downhill from the Schlickgasse tram #D stop, Berggasse 19, tel. 01/319-1596, www.freud-
museum.at .
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