With history and culture around every corner, Vienna is a metropolis like no other. Known as the City of Music for its contributions to the classical music world, it is also referred to as the City of Dreams, as it is where Sigmund Freud made his home. Organized into 23 districts, Vienna is the largest of Austria’s nine states, sits along the Danube, and enjoys being one of the top tourist attractions in the world.
Each of Vienna’s districts contains a part of the city’s rich past. The Innere Stadt, or First District, is surrounded by a boulevard that stands where medieval fortresses once did, and is home to the country’s parliamentary building and Vienna’s city hall. Additionally, there are few residents in this area, but a significant number of employees, due to the tourism enjoyed by this district.
Within the Leopoldstadt, Vienna’s second district, you can visit the Wiener Prater, one of Vienna’s premier amusement parks and home to the Riesenrad, the oldest functioning ferris wheel. The second district’s landscape includes views along the Danube and the splendorous Augarten park.
If you have always wanted to visit medieval times, you can get a glimpse in Vienna’s third district. Belvedere Castle and its lush gardens, for which this Landstraße district is loosely named, is frequented by tourists worldwide. The city’s Botanical Gardens as well as the Rabenhof Theater are here, too.
The fourth district, the Wieden, is home to Karlskirche Church, a baroque structure, and the Karlsplatz, a heavily relied upon hub of transportation that borders the First District. The embassies and consulates of several countries also reside here, as does the oldest graduate school in the world. Also found here is the Wien Museum, which describes Vienna’s history from prehistoric times until the present day.
Vienna’s fifth and sixth districts, the Margareten and Mariahilfer respectively, offer theatre goers and ardent shoppers opportunities to satisfy their appetites. When not taking in a bit of retail therapy or a show, visitors can explore the Church of St. Florian and travel the city by way of rather accessible modes of public transportation.
Neubau and Josefstadt, Vienna’s seventh and eighth districts, boast the Imperial Palace, iconic churches, hipster hangouts, and the MuseumsQuartier (MQ). History abounds in an assortment of museums within the MQ, including the Leopold Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Kunsthalle Wien exhibition. You can catch the annual Wiener Festwochen (summer festival), and International Dance Festival here, too.
The Alsergrund, Vienna’s ninth district, is home to the Votivkirche Church and Palais Liechtenstein. This district offers a bit of everything, from palatial royalty to Gothic architecture. For the cerebral tourist, there is the Freud Museum and a historical museum of medicine.
Vienna’s 14 remaining districts feature cemeteries, train stations, museums, churches, and fuse the old with the new, and native flare with foreign influence. Combined, they all add to Vienna’s growing attractiveness to people the world over.
Date: 28/01/2018
Text: Vienna is the must Beautiful city in the world
Rating: 5 out of 5