Festive Trees

Festively lit trees on Ringstraße...

Academy of Fine Arts

The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna was founded in 1692 as a private academy by the court-painter Peter Strudel. With his death in 1714, the academy temporarily closed. In 1726 the academy was reestablished as Imperial and Royal Court Academy of painters, sculptors and architecture, a public Institution. In 1772 the organisational structure was reformed and all existing art schools were integrated into the Imperial and Royal Unified Academy of Fine Arts. In 1872 Emperor Franz Joseph I approved a statute making the academy the supreme government authority for the arts. A new building, designed by Theophil Hansen, was constructed in the course of the layout of the Ringstraße boulevard. On 3 April 1877, the present-day building on Schillerplatz in the city center was inaugurated.

Christmas Illuminations #2

Christmas lights on Ringstrasse, next to Vienna's biggest christmas market in front of the city hall.

2nd Sunday of Advent

 

"Christmas is not just a day, an event to be observed and speedily forgotten. It is a spirit which should permeate every part of our lives." - William Parks

OFID Conference Room

The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), founded in 1975, is an intergovernmental development finance institution, which works with other less-privileged developing countries to promote their social and economic advancement. The headquarter is located in the impressive Deutschmeister Palais that I visited on the "Day of the Open Memorials". Look at this gorgeous conference room!

Burgtheater

That's the place the students at the Max Reinhardt Seminar dream of: The Burgtheater is the Austrian National Theatre in Vienna and one of the most important German language theatres in the world. The theatre was created by Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, it opened on 14 March 1741. In 1888 the theatre was moved to a new building (in this photo) designed by Gottfried Semper and Karl Freiherr von Hasenauer.

Façade Detail #31

I just can't get enough of  atlantes ;-) Here we have two impressive exemplars on the façade of Palais Sturany in Ringstrasse.

University of Vienna

The University of Vienna, a public university, was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and the third oldest university in Central Europe. Currently about 92.000 students are enrolled at the University of Vienna, they can select from 187 degree programmes. The University of Vienna does not have one joint campus, the academic facilities occupy more than sixty locations throughout the city. The main building (in this photo) in Ringstrasse constitutes the university's centre. It was designed by Austrian architect Heinrich von Ferstel and opened in 1884.

Deutschmeister Palais

The Deutschmeister Palais or Palais Erzherzog Wilhelm was designed in the years 1864-1868 by the Danish-Austrian architect Theophil von Hansen as a residence for Archduke Wilhelm Franz of Austria, who at that time was Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights (Deutschmeister). From 1938 to 1945 it was the seat of the Viennese SS headquarters, from 1945 to 1974 it served as the Federal Police Department in Vienna, today it holds the offices of the OPEC Fund for International Development.

"Sparkling" Trees

When I took this photo of the trees at Ringstraße two weeks ago, I just wanted to document the atumnal trees and sun, but my camera added a "sparkling effect". No perfect photo, but I like it.

Snowy Trees

Snowy trees on Ringstrasse last Saturday.

Gomperz Palace

This historicist palace on Ringstrasse was built in 1860/61 and purchased by the brothers Max and Julius Gomperz, at that time succesful bankers . The statues on the second floor symbolize the four muses (dance, poetry, painting, music).

Car-Free Day

Yesterday was World Car-Free Day, an event that shall convince people to use public transport, bikes and the own feet more often instead of going by car for environmental and health reasons. In the afternoon and evening a part of the Ringstraße, the circular road surrounding the inner city, was blocked for cars and turned into a big grassland where people could picnick, relax, play...

Goethe (And My Bicylce)

Usually I cycle only on Donauinsel (Danube Island) because it´s near my place and there´s no traffic (aside from other cyclists, joggers, skaters, walkers), but some days ago I gave the cycle lanes on Ringstrasse a try and thus circled the whole city center. I took some photographic proofs of this "adventure", this one shows the monument to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe near Burggarten which was created by Eduard Hellmer in 1895 and erected in 1900.

Guerilla Knitting #1

Guerilla knitting is a type of street art that employs colourful displays of knitted cloth wrapped around public property like trees, street signs or lampposts. The phenomenon, called "yarnbombing" is thought to have originated in the US. Yesterday I saw it for the first time in Vienna on some trees on Ringstraße and I found out that there was a special reason for this initiative: On 19 March 1911 there was the first big demonstration for women´s rights in Vienna. On the occasion of the centenary of this demonstration 100 knitted artworks were installed along its itinerary.

Façade detail #5

As some of you may already know, I love atlantes. If you look attentively at the facades in Vienna, you will discover a lot of them, as for instance on this building on Schottenring.

Ice Rink #2

Vis-à-vis the Town Hall there is the Burgtheater (Vienna´s most important theatre), another gorgeous view for the skaters.