Around Austria in 8 Days

Dr. Marco Pongratz-Lippitt is a knowl­edge­able city guide who brings Vienna's history and present to life with light-footed and profound humour.

For six centuries, from the 13th century to 1918, the Vienna Hofburg was the resi­dence of the Habsburgs. The Hofburg grew with the rise of the noble family from a small country nobility to Europe's leading dynasty. In the beginning there was a small castle. In the end, it had 2,500 rooms. In addi­tion there is the Winter Riding School, where the Lipizzaner horses train, the National Library with a magnif­i­cent domed hall, the Museum of Art History and the seat of the Federal Pres­i­dent. A large part of the Hofburg is open to the public.

In 1857, Emperor Franz ordered the old fortifica­tions to be razed. In its place, a magnif­i­cent boul­evard was built around historic Vienna, which leads to the Danube at both ends. The almost 5 km long road is lined by public and private build­ings, which try to surpass each other in splendor, pomp and pathos. The build­ings imitate earlier style epochs, from Greek antiq­uity to Gothic cathedrals and the Renais­sance. The ring road was inau­gu­rated in 1865. Today it is regarded as a complete work of art, which is unique in the world.

The museum is located at Berggasse 19, where Sigmund Freud lived and worked for 47 years. In his study he wrote the majority of his writ­ings, which are an integral part of the intel­lectual history of the 20th century. When the family moved in in 1891, the house was a new building. After the transfer of power to the Nazis in 1939, the seri­ously cancer-ill founder of psycho­anal­ysis had to emigrate to London. Orig­inal pieces from Freud's posses­sion can be seen in the museum as well as the waiting room of the practice and some pieces from Freud's exten­sive collec­tion of antique works of art, mainly small statues. Most of the earlier furni­ture with the famous couch, however, is in today's Freud Museum in London, where Anna Freud lived until her death in 1982.

Chinese archi­tects found the picturesque town on Lake Hallstatt so enchanting that they built a replica of it in the People's Republic. The settle­ment here owes its origin to salt. Mighty Salt chambers were discov­ered here more than 4,000 years ago. Even today the “white gold” is still mined in the oldest salt mine in the world above Hallstatt. Traces of a rich past can be discov­ered everywhere: The Celtic grave sites, the salt mine, the prehistoric museum, the houses nested in confined space one above the other, the churches, the ceme­tery with the ossuary and the “oldest pipe­line in the world”.

The fortress from the 11th century towers high above the city. It is the landmark of Salzburg and with an area of over 7,000 square metres one of the largest castles in Europe. The loca­tion on a rock above the Salzach was ideal for monitoring a wide surrounding area. Even today you have the best views of Salzburg from there. The inte­rior of the fortress is also worth seeing. Concerts take place regu­larly in the Golden Hall. If the ascent to the castle is too diffi­cult for you, you can take the fortress railway.

The Salzach River, which divides the old town into two parts, flows right through Salzburg. To the left, i.e. west of it, lies the actual core of the city. There are the historic churches, the monas­teries and ceme­teries, the Salzburg Cathedral and the Getrei­degasse with Mozart's birthplace. The Festspielhaus and the Resi­den­zplatz also belong to the left Old Town. The old town on the right is younger, but is also a UNESCO World Heritage site due to the many valu­able town houses and the worth seeing Mira­bell Castle. Those who want to stroll through the old town should therefore visit both sides of the river.

Although the Archbishop of Salzburg lived in celibacy qua office, this did not prevent him from taking the beau­tiful Salome Alt as his lover. And since he was a generous man, he had a palace built for them and their 15 chil­dren, which he named after her “Schloss Altenau”. When he had to exchange his pretty resi­dence for a prison cell in Hohensalzburg in 1612 because of this scandal, the glory came to an end. His successor as archbishop was his virtuous nephew, who expelled the illus­trious family and renamed the castle. It's called Mira­bell ever since. A master­piece of archi­tectural history is the magnif­i­cent staircase from the ground floor to the second floor. The wall niches contain marble sculp­tures inspired by Greek mythology.

If you want to escape the hustle and bustle of the old town, you can hike to one of the surrounding mountains. Espe­cially recom­mend­able is the legendary Unter­sberg in the south of the city. The massif between Bercht­esgaden and Salzburg is full of myste­r­ious caves, including the Schel­lenberger Ice Cave and the Riesending Shaft Cave. Both can be visited. From St. Leonhart, the Unter­sbergbahn takes you up to the ridge in ten minutes and overcomes 1,300 metres in alti­tude. From the mountain station you can hike to the Große Mittagss­charte. (round trip: 2 hours, 4.5 kilome­ters, up and down: 260 meters)

Krems, the oldest city in Lower Austria, is surrounded by vine­yards and is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Cultural Landscape of Wachau. The town is famous for its medieval gate called the “Steiner Tor.” A Capuchin monastery called “Kloster Und” is located in front of the gates. Today, the monastery houses wine cellars, confer­ence rooms and museums devoted to art and carica­ture. The old town of Stein, where hardly anything has changed for centuries, is only a short walk from here.